I. CAN. SEE. EVERYTHING.

On December 8, 2011, my life changed forever. I went from waking up virtually blind with the need to immediately put my contacts in to consistently reaching for my glasses every morning unnecessarily. I got Lasik Vision Correction (I'll call it LVC from now on--not sure if this is official. I might have made it up). This whole thing came to mind because I had my first annual follow up this week.

Here's what happened:
1. The doc dilated my eyes:
After he put 2 drops in each eye he said, "I should have only put 1 drop in each eye. Your pupils are already big." My brain thinks, "Fabulous..." Basically, he made me Puss N Boots in human form. Thanks doc.
He told me everything looked perfect, my eyes are healthy, and my vision is 20/20. That shows a little bit of regression from my 20/15 vision post surgery. Whattttt upppppppp! (Listen, I'll brag because I lived for more than 20  years without being able to see. Now I can see, so I shall brag. Deal with it.)
2. There is no two.



Here's why I think everyone, who needs contacts or glasses in order to survive, should get LVC.
I chose to invest in LVC because, well frankly, I was sick of dealing with glasses and contacts. It was impossible for me to see without correction--impossible. (If I knew how to say 'impossible' in other languages, I would right now just to get my point across.) I started wearing contacts when I was 13-years-old because glasses aren't the best accessory when you are a dancer. Stage lights and reflective surfaces are not friends. Plus when you get sweaty, they start to slide all over the place and it's highly annoying. This presented a problem because I couldn't wear glasses while dancing, and my vision was so bad I couldn't see two elephants if they were standing in front of me without glasses.  
My only choice: contact lenses. Luckily, contacts worked well for me for the most part. I never experienced dry eyes or other big problems...for the first 10 years. Then all of a sudden it was like my eyes started rejecting the contacts. It got ridiculous. Eye infections, dryness, overall annoyance...just not a healthy situation.

So the little devil on my left shoulder (I say that because my right side is dominant and I'm dominantly an angel :-D...shut up), kept whispering creepily, "lasik surgery...lasik surgery...LASIK SURGERY!" So naturally, I listened to it and did my research. No time like the present, eh? (That "eh" is for my Canadian friends.)

Honestly, my only real debt are my student loans. There's a lot of them. It's disgusting. So I saw this as an excellent opportunity to not only be able to see like a normal human being, but also to build my credit by financing the surgery.

BEST. DECISION. EVER.

The process was so organized and simple for me. TLC explained everything in detail for me and made sure I understood every step. It was a very personal experience, and I never once felt nervous or afraid. They ran all the necessary tests to make sure I was eligible for the surgery (there are some corneal necessities) and scheduled me. Done and done.

2 Negative things (but don't worry, the pros DEFINITELY outweigh these cons):
1. I had to wait in the waiting room for a LONGGGGGGG time on the day of my procedure. Two hours of just sitting there is a little much. But once they got me prepped, it was so quick. They gave me a happy pill, and I just chilled out and started thinking funny thoughts like how I wasn't feeling the happy pill at all when in reality, I TOTALLY was feeling it (don't judge my run-on sentence...it doesn't judge you.)

The actual procedure was only like 10 minutes. Alright people, I'm not gonna lie to you. It feels really weird. They give you these numbing drops before they do all the strange things to your eyeballs (eyeballs is much more fun to say than eyes). A few times, everything goes black, but they warn you first so it's totally fine. Out of the entire procedure, I would say I felt 'pain' for maybe a total of 30 seconds. It was very quick. I don't know exactly what they were doing; and frankly, I don't want to know. The doc warns you right before the painful part starts. The rest of it just feels like pressure or just all around weirdness.

2. The first night kinda sucks. Basically, your eyes are trying to heal themselves from exposure to the laser so it only feels okay when your eyes are closed. Even with the awesome (lies) sunglasses they give you, you just HAVE to close your eyes. There is no other way to explain it. That's why I suggest opting for an afternoon surgery--then you only have a few hours before you have to go to bed. You have to put different eye drops in your eyes for a couple weeks, but the drops feel good so it's not something you forget. You also experience a little bit of trouble at night (like halos around lights), but that goes away in a month or so.

One day after surgery, I could see perfectly.
One week after surgery, my eyes felt normal for the most part.
One month after surgery, the night vision issues went away some.
Three months after surgery, I felt normal.

The best part...drum roll please.............................
Waking up for the first couple of months and reaching for my glasses every morning to realize, I DIDN'T NEED THEM!

So to all of my friends contemplating LVC...DO IT. It was worth every cent. I recommend TLC because they provide a lifetime guarantee with any TLC in the nation. Pretty awesome.

Awesome.