What am I in for? What will it be like? How long will it take? How can I prepare myself?



The keyword for your LASIK procedure is “Relax.” Here’s exactly how it will go:



You should expect to be with us for about an hour on the day of your procedure. Some centers rush you through, but Dr. Walters is never in a hurry when it comes to surgery. He insists on verifying every important detail on the day of the procedure itself.



When you arrive on the day of your surgery, we’ll check you in and get the final testing and paperwork out of the way. We’ll provide oral relaxation medication, and then settle you down in the pre-operative suite.



Most of us here have had LASIK ourselves so we really do know what it’s like. We’ll help you feel calm and relaxed.



We’ll give you some eye drops to prepare your eyes and give them time to take effect. Then we’ll take you into the laser suite.



You’ll be in the laser suite for around 5-10 minutes. Dr. Walters will talk you through every step of the procedure, and tell you exactly what is going to happen along the way. He will first create the flap and will then use a laser for correcting your corneal irregularities.



The actual procedure takes just seconds per eye. You will see a small light to focus your attention, and you should know that there is virtually nothing you can do that might mess up the procedure. Dr. Walters uses lasers with advanced eye tracking technology so that even the slightest eye movement is detected. If you were to turn your head or move your eye out of range the laser will instantly stop until your eye was back in exact position again. Lots of people worry that they’ll blink or twitch and ruin everything, but that is simply not an issue.



You will feel slight pressure on your eye as the lasers do their work and no pain. And that’s it. You’ll start seeing better right away. Patients are usually amazed to read the clock on the wall of the laser suite immediately after the procedure. Expect your vision to be somewhat blurry for a few hours while the eye drops wear off and your cornea rehydrates.



For the rest of the day you will need to go home and sleep 4-6 hours to help the healing process get underway. We’ll provide eye drops for you to use and protective goggles for when you sleep. Some people find this is the hardest part of the whole experience because we’ll ask you to sleep on your back, recline on pillows or in a chair so there’s no risk of bumping your eyes while you’re asleep.



We’re on call 24/7 if you need us. Your eyes might feel a little dry after the procedure but you should feel no pain at all. After a long and restful sleep the night of the procedure you will wake to a whole new world the next morning.