Lasik Patient Testimonial

Glasses For A Little Girl…

I think I was about eight when I went for my first eye exam, and nine when I first got glasses. I remember that I had trouble in school — you know, seeing the board and writing. My writing was horrible, my handwriting, and so they were doing all sorts of tests thinking there was something wrong and finally just realized I needed glasses. Contacts I used when I was in my twenties. I was eighteen when I first got contacts and wore them until I was about thirty.

The Problem With Contacts…

During my teenage years, my vision worsened but then pretty much stabilized once I reached my twenties. I was nearsighted with astigmatism. However, I didn’t teach when I was in my twenties; I worked in business, and when I started teaching, all the dust in the classroom got under my contacts. I could only wear hard contacts, you see, because my astigmatism was so bad, and the dust would get under the contacts, so I couldn’t wear them in the classroom.

Active Mom Blues…

You know, I could just never see perfectly. I’m pretty active. I love to bike ride and run and swim. Well, I couldn’t swim with my glasses, so I couldn’t see. And I have four children. So if I was in the pool or at the beach, I couldn’t see them. I’d be like, where are they? So I basically stopped going in the pool or the water so I could see them. I couldn’t wear contacts anymore. I hadn’t worn them for years.

Concerns About Surgery…

Well, I had first heard about PRK, the older form of corrective surgery. But I wasn’t willing to risk it then. It was too new. This was fifteen or sixteen years ago. Over the last five or six years I started meeting people who had laser surgery and started researching it. I decided I wanted to go that route because, even with my glasses, I could never be corrected more than 20/30 or 20/35. The astigmatism prevented correction to 20/20. So the possibility that the surgery could fix that sounded wonderful.

Uh, Can I See The Doctor…?

I was nervous — just the whole idea of having something done to your eyes. Of course, you hear the horror stories. But the more research I did, I felt a little more comfortable. I then saw three different doctors. Well, I can’t really say I saw three doctors. I went to three different places. Two of the other places, I didn’t see the doctor who would do the surgery. I saw an optometrist, who just examined me and said I was a good candidate and that I would see the doctor on the day of my surgery. But I didn’t like that idea. I mean, I feel that with any of my healthcare, I want to know who is going to be taking care of me.

Finding Dr. Right…

Right from when Beth answered the phone, she was just very pleasant and kind. I went in and Dr. Kelly spent so much time with me and went over everything and I felt very comfortable about doing it. Then I scheduled my surgery, but just beforehand my mother passed away, which was a difficult time for me, naturally. I had to cancel and ended up putting it off for about a year. When I was finally ready again, I called and Dr. Kelly gave me just as thorough an exam. He completely remembered me — and there were things that we had talked about that were beyond anything he put in his records, because I teach and we had talked about literature and he remembered a book I had recommended for him to read to his own kids. And I thought, wow. I was just very impressed with all the time he spent, the level of attention he provided and, again, I felt very comfortable about it.

Let’s LASIK…

I hadn’t told anyone at school that I was getting LASIK until the day before the surgery and everyone was giving me their advice. One woman I work with, her sister-in-law had gone to Dr. Kelly, and she said, "Oh, my sister-in-law loved him.” So that was just another boost. And then, the next morning, my husband came with me. I was a little nervous. He let my husband in and told him exactly what he was doing and spoke to me throughout the whole procedure as he was doing it, so that eased any fear for me.

My Procedure…

It really was no worse than having a glaucoma test during a regular eye exam. Right after the surgery, my eyes were a little uncomfortable — it kind of felt like when I had contacts years ago. The next day, I thought, Wow, I can see. And for the fun of it, I put my glasses on and I couldn’t see with them. It was really amazing.

Amazing Grace…

I had the procedure done on a Saturday and that Tuesday night I went to a Holy Week service at our church. We have a really long church. It’s about 110 feet long. I think I sat in the second row. And I turned around and I saw the clock in the back of the church and I could read it. I was with my twelve-year-old son and I said, "Kevin, I can see the clock!" He goes, "Okay, Mom." But I could never see the clock before and this was a church that I had been going to since I was ten. I could see. It was so amazing. And I don’t need glasses in the classroom anymore.

Glasses For Another Little Girl — But Not For Life…

My daughter is farsighted. She’s eight now. And it was a little hard because she said, "Well; Mommy, why don’t you have to wear your glasses anymore?” So I told her, well, when you’re older and your eyes are ready, you can see Dr. Kelly. It’s something to look forward to, right?

If you are ready to experience life without glasses or contacts, please contact us today to schedule your free personal LASIK eye surgery consultation at Kelly Laser Center.