I’ve always wanted to have lasik done, I’m not really sure why I’ve never done it, it was just always something I said I wanted. This year I decided to make it my ‘New Years Resolution’, stop saying I want it, and get off my ass and do it!

I’ve always been a patient of Bond Eye Associates so that was the first place I started researching on ‘who to do the surgery’ and the first thing I learned was that Dr. Bond was the very first doctor to bring lasik surgery to Peoria some 20+ years ago, so I called and scheduled a free evaluation. This is done to see if I was a good candidate for the surgery, they also took measurements, gave me an exam and I sat down with Dr. Bond to ask questions. I was already confident this is where I was going to have lasik done but as I was waiting to meet with Dr. Bond I looked around the waiting room and saw a picture of my boyfriend Jared Leto, to me that was a sign, Bond Eye was the place for my lasik.

After confirming I’m an excellent candidate for surgery, the next step was to have my eyes dilated. This is a little different dilation than what is normally done on routine exams, this dilation lasts a longer and the purpose is so that when they do the exam you can’t squint and they can get the most accurate prescription of your eyes. Makes perfect sense, this is something you don’t want screwed up! My eyes were dilated for almost three days and the day it was done my vision was very blurry-even with my glasses on I couldn’t see very well. Personally, I felt this was the worst part of the ENTIRE process because of how long it lasted. There was no pain, it was just uncomfortable and awkward feeling. This was also the appointment where I filled out all the paper work, was given in depth details and where I asked probably about a million and one questions. What was great is no matter how much I asked they were super happy to answer all questions and didn’t rush me at all. I was also given all warnings, precautions and anything else I needed to know at this appointment.

Surgery Day was Friday (2/9), I arrived at Bond Eye at 9am, I walked out the door just after 10:30, and was home in bed by 11:15am! The hardest part of this day, was I couldn’t have coffee that morning, seriously that was my biggest struggle. I did have a driver because I knew I was going to accept the Valium that is offered to help you relax. Once I arrived, I was taken to a nice little relaxation room, given the medication, I was lead through my take home kit with all my post-op instructions and medications. This is also where they started numbing my eyes with drops, they do this quite a bit to make sure you don’t feel a thing.  I knew the medication was kicking in when I started acting goofy and before I knew it they were walking me back to the room to have the procedure done. Of course on the way I had to stop at my Jared Leto picture and blow him a good luck kiss (yes I really did do this, I know I’m a dork, I don’t care). Once in the room, they got me comfortable, gave me more numbing drops and then start prepping my right eye so it remains open. I felt nothing, no pressure, no pain, no discomfort and then they told me everything that was going on; “you’ll hear a little noise” , “You’re going to hear us saying numbers”, they also warned me I may smell a burning scent or I may lose sight for a second (none of those happened or if they did I didn’t notice them) and before I knew it they are done with my right eye and then it was on to my left. In the prepping open process I did feel a little big of pressure and I spoke up so they just gave me more numbing medication and back to feeling nothing and once again before I knew it, it was over. I felt like I was in that room for maybe 5 minutes, it went soooo quick. After they took me back to relaxation room, they put some drops in my eyes, warned me I’d need to add drops on my way home because I will feel burning, this is the one and only time I felt any kind of pain/discomfort the burning of my eyes on the way home. However, it was so manageable and not horrendous, i was told to take the sleeping pill and go to sleep and that would help. They also gave me pain medication so I did go the pharmacy on the way home to fill that just in case I needed it (which I did not).

While I was at the pharmacy I took the sleeping pill so it would be kicked in by the time I got home, once home I put in the drops they told me to, my super sexy bug eye mask and went to sleep. My phone rang about 4:30pm and that’s when I woke up, answered the call and when I hung up I was thinking oh geesh its 4:30…even tho I could still sleep some more, I’m going to make myself get up so I can sleep tonight and I can finally have that cup of coffee. I got up, put more drops in, made coffee and just sat on my couch thinking “Holy crap…I can see!” Later that evening when it was bed time, I took the 2nd sleeping pill they gave (they said that you should take it bedtime) and went to sleep. Woke up Saturday morning with zero pain, discomfort and continued how I normally live. I drove to the follow up with Dr. Bond, then went directly to the gym, worked out, took Pip the wonder dog to the dog park. There really was no change to my normal routine, it was life as normal, Sunday I even drove down to St. Louis and back to take in a St. Louis Blues game! I was really amazed at how well I could see at the game, I could see the puck and action perfectly fine with no straining.

Honestly, I can’t say anything bad, that’s the God’s honest truth. They warned a lot of dry eyes and that doesn’t really seem to bother me, I put the drops in once an hour like I have been instructed, more if I feel I need them and I feel great. I haven’t seen any halo’s, reading has been fine, there’s been no pain or discomfort at all. Sometimes I do want to rub my eye so I have to really be cautious I don’t and instead use the drops. I was laughing at myself last night and this morning because last night before bed I thought “oh I need to take out my contacts….wait…no I don’t” and then this morning when I woke up I thought “where are my glasses….oh wait….yeah I don’t need those”.

I have my next post-op appointment at Tuesday but so far so good and hello 20/20 vision!

Lastly, I keep getting asked about the cost…it’s really best if you give them a call and schedule the FREE evaluation because depending on your situation, each individual is different, the cost can very, my price may not be yours. I can tell you the cost covers all the pre and post-op care for 2 years. Bond Eye Associates is offering 18% off if you have your procedure by April 20th (see the picture at the top of the page). 

~Anna Kinkade