📍Las Vegas, NV. USA.

Background

My eye prescription is -9.50 in contacts and -11.50 in glasses. I’m in my early 20’s and my eyes have always caused me issues. Whenever I wear glasses, I get eye strain and migraines and contacts are the best option for me however, they aren’t always reliable. All it takes is an eye irritation to throw me off guard and my eyes can’t take contacts because my eyes are burning and my mind can’t stand glasses because of eyestrain.

I’m not a doctor so please take this piece with a grain of salt. I’m only speaking from my own experience.

Every year since I was a teenager, my eye doctor told me I would have to eventually get Lasik. In high school, I was at -7 vision. When I got into my early 20’s, my eye prescription jumped down to -9.5 and I no longer qualified for Lasik or PRK. I had no idea it was possible to not qualify for Lasik because a person’s myopia (near sightedness) is too high.

Implantable contact lens “ICL” surgery is what it sounds like, it’s a permanent implant in your eye to correct your vision. There isn’t any reconstruction with ICL. The biggest difference between Lasik and ICL is Lasik is nonreversible and can change over time. With ICL, if there is ever a problem with your implant, it can easily be removed and replaced if needed.

My eye doctor at Insight Eye Care, Dr. Steed, recommended for me to get Implantable Contact Lenses as opposed to Lasik due to my high prescription. After my eye surgery consultation at Wellish Eye Institute and NV Eye Surgery, he was right. I didn’t qualify for Lasik or PRK and having Implantable Contact Lenses was my only solution.

I decided to go with NV Eye Surgery for my procedure because I could tell from my consultation, they had a high level of care. Dr. DeBry performed my surgery and this was also the doctor that Dr. Steed recommended for me.

The other eye surgery place I had visited prior to NV Eye Surgery, Wellish Eye Institute, didn’t examine my eyes as much, didn’t ensure my prescription was correct, and didn’t have me meet with an eye doctor during the free consultation. NV Eye Surgery had me meet with an eye doctor, Dr. Mu, during my free consultation to have me ask any questions or concerns I had, in addition to running tests to ensure my eyes were in good health. This investment from NV Eye Surgery from the free consultation locked in my decision to go with NV Eye Surgery.

The Cost

My eye surgery was $5,200 USD. It could have cost as much as $6,000 USD but thankfully, I had little to no astigmatism which made my surgery cheaper. Eye surgery isn’t covered by health insurance because it’s considered a “cosmetic procedure”. The only reason I was able to afford this surgery is because I took out a 401K loan and I opted for a Healthcare Flexible Spending Account “FSA” through Wageworks. For more information about HSA, click here.

The two eye drops (Prednisolone and Ofloxacin) and two pills of anxiety medication (Triazolam) were additional expenses and thankfully covered by my insurance. Both eye drops were about $10 with my insurance. If I didn’t have any insurance, Prednisolone would have cost me $52.82 and Ofloxacin would have cost me $72.85. The two pills for Triazolam cost me $2.52 with insurance and would have been $9.83 without insurance.

Schedule / Timeline

  • Consultation (After the consultation, I booked my surgery and started to make payments for the following year).
  • Two months before my surgery, I had a dilated visit at NV Eye Surgery with Dr. DeBry. They took all kinds of photos of my eye to make sure my eyes were in good condition to have an implant.
  • A week after my dilated visit at NV Eye Surgery, I had a dilated visit with my regular eye doctor, Dr. Steed. This was the hardest part of the process because I had to be out of my contacts completely for two weeks and depend strictly on my glasses. This was the hardest for me because my glasses give me migraines and throws me off balance but I powered through!
  • Two weeks prior to my surgery, I had my laser appointment at NV Eye Surgery (known as Laser Peripheral Iridotomy/ Laser PI / LPI). A driver was required for this appointment. They drill tiny holes in my iris to ensure there isn’t any fluid build-up after I get my implant(s). I was given Prednisolone eye drops to put in my eyes four times a day for the following 7 days.
  • Eye drop schedule 3 days prior to surgery – I was told to put in Prednisolone eye drops and another eye drop called Ofloxacin twice a day with 5 minutes in between each prescribed eye drop).
  • My Surgery Date
  • One Day Post-Op with NV Eye Surgery
  • One Week Post-Op with Dr. Steed (my regular eye doctor)
  • One Month Post-Op with Dr. Steed

My Experience With My Laser Appointment

(the last appointment prior to my actual eye surgery date)

As mentioned above, my laser appointment was two weeks prior to my eye surgery date and the purpose of this appointment is to drill small holes in your iris to provide your eyes with circulation so there is no fluid build up.

Going into this appointment, I was very nervous and I wasn’t expecting how quick it would be. I was pulled into a room to check my eye pressure and to take various eye drops, including eye numbing drops. Every bit of light bothered me when I took these drops and I could barely see anything. I couldn’t watch the tv when they pulled me into a second waiting room and I couldn’t even read my phone.

The equipment for the laser was upright so I didn’t have to lay down. Dr. DeBry told me I had thin irises so it wouldn’t take a lot of “zaps” to complete the job. I held my hands on the handles that were on the equipment and Dr. DeBry had one of his staff members hold my left shoulder lightly to make sure I wouldn’t move. After 7 “zaps” on each eye, it was done! It felt like a rubber band snapping at my eyes. Once I got home, I took some Aleve and was able to see fine after.I woke up however, my eyes felt uncomfortable after the first day but fine after that.

The Day of Surgery

I was scheduled for a call time of 7:00AM. They instructed me to take one pill of anxiety medication when I was on my way to the office and the office would see how I was doing before they would instruct me to take the second anxiety pill, if necessary. Since I was being not being put under anesthesia, I didn’t need to fast. I want to say everything from start to finish took an hour, the procedure itself took 30 minutes. It was extremely quick.

They immediately put eye drops in my eyes, took me into a room to lay me down for the procedure. I saw a bunch of lights and different colors but I honestly could not see a single thing while the procedure was happening. They did one eye at a time, while covering the opposite eye. There was no problem at all “looking up” or looking away, as I was afraid of because there was no where else for me to look as simple as that sounds. I was told to take my eye drops every 2 hours until my one day post opt appointment. I was given my implant cards and goggles after my surgery. I got -12.5 implants in both eyes.

The remainder of the day, it felt like I was seeing things through a disconnected television, all black pixels, even though I could actually see objects instead of just colors and shapes (how I would normally see with no contacts or glasses).

Day One Post-Op

I went back to NV Eye Surgery, Dr. DeBry evaluated my eyes to make sure everything looked okay. He had me read a vision test board. I was seeing much better than how I would normally see without contacts or glasses but it was very hard for me to see far away. The first major difference I noticed was I was able to read my phone without having my nose touch my phone (like how I normally would have to read my phone without glasses/contacts). Dr. DeBry said my vision would get better every day as my eyes heal. I was very nervous about this considering I wasn’t seeing as good as I would have with contacts in. Day two post-op was the same- I could read “close up” but not far away. By day three, I could see far away and read everything other people could around me. I had to test others “Can you read that?”.

Week One Post-Op

I went to my optometrist, Dr. Steed and he said I have BETTER vision than 20/20. He advised me to continue to take my yearly eye exams because my vision can change. The only side effects I have had up until this point is dry eyes when I wake up and a bit more glare in my left eye. I was told this would clear up overtime.

A photo of me after my 5th grade graduation.

I say can GOODBYE to constant migraines, eye strain, and for the time being, goodbye to contacts and glasses. If I need additional corrective vision as I get older, I’m okay with that because I know it’s not going to be nearly as bad as my previous prescription and thick glasses. The fact that I can WAKE UP without being blind and see and go to bed at night without having to remind myself to take off my contacts is the biggest gift. My vision was beyond “Oh I need a little help seeing”. It was “If I don’t have glasses on, I am useless because I can barely see something 5 inches from my face”. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment or message me on Instagram @whenyoureheree.

2021 Update – A Year After My Surgery

I still have 20/20 vision!