This post is definitely WAY different than anything I’ve ever posted on here before, but that’s why I’m so excited about it! I don’t personally wear glasses or contacts, but my mom, brother, and many of my best friends do…and now I’m marrying someone who does! It only felt right to take you on this LASIK journey with us.
I always try to bring you guys content with VALUE, so I thought…why not document something that I know is on the top of many peoples’ wish list? I get to go through the journey with Brennan side-by-side, so I’m going to let you guys in on every little thing I learn.
LASIK is one of those things that is talked about as a future option when money isn’t so tight ( most common fear of young people who want LASIK ), but if we sit down and find out the details of it all, that part may not be so intimidating after all! So…here we are. Let’s talk about LASIK 🙂
Many of you are very familiar with my fiancé ( woah still feels so weird to say that not gonna lie ) Brennan, but you probably don’t know that he’s worn glasses / contacts for most of his life.
Though I personally think he looks very good in his glasses, with how many sports he plays and his line of work ( he’s outside daily ) glasses just don’t make sense. And come to find out, he actually has EXTREMELY dry eyes, so contacts are not an easy solution for him either.
I still remember at the end of our first date his eyes got SO RED and dry from wearing his contacts all day long, and when he started rubbing them they just seemed to get worse! I was so concerned, but he assured me that nothing was wrong and it was in fact just his contacts. I’d never seen anyone react to contacts this way, so I couldn’t help but feel terrible for him. And even with side-effects like these almost daily, he’s endured them for nearly 18 years at this point.
MORAL of the story, Brennan + contacts just don’t work very well together, so…it’s time for them to break up.
Enter: his journey with LASIK!
I have 2 friends ( Paige + Courtney ) who have both gotten LASIK done at SchneiderLASIK in Corona, so after talking with both of them about their positive experience and perfect results, we decided it was time to start the process.
It’s hard to choose a doctor for such an important procedure, but after talking with actual patients of Dr. Schneider and also seeing such insanely great reviews on Yelp, we decided it was worth a try to see if Brennan was a candidate for LASIK!
What’s nice is that you can start the process by visiting the SchneiderLASIK‘s website to do a self-test at home. After you complete the test, you’ll start receiving emails that talk more about the procedure and what it would be like for you to go through the process yourself. The next step is an in-person consultation to test your eyes and make sure the procedure is right for you.
We went to Dr. Schneider’s office last week on the way home from Big Bear for his Brennan’s in-person consultation. The office was easy to find and the parking was great ( when you live in LA, finding out that your destination has a free parking situation is almost like finding a unicorn in the wild ). Not to mention the team was OUTSTANDING. They were SO dang sweet, all-smiles the whole time, and made the entire process seamless.
After a standard 1 page medical questionnaire, it was onto the testing room.
Brennan went through four different eyesight test.
1. To determine his prescription
2. Tear Film Evaluation
3. Evaluation of the curvature and thickness of his corneas ( the site at which the procedure is performed ); this was the worst part for Brennan because you had to keep your eyes open for 20 seconds without blinking! Other than that, the previous tests were a piece of cake.
4. Standard vision test
After we went through the testing process, it was time to watch a 60 second video of the procedure and wait for Dr. Schneider to arrive with the results.
Before seeing the quick video that walked us through each step of LASIK, I used to be really scared of the idea. But after seeing it visually explained in a matter of seconds, it is 100% WAY easier than I ever imagined.
The procedure is done with lasers on a machine that is so advanced that it won’t even START the procedure if it isn’t calibrated perfectly according to the patient about to undergo surgery. It isn’t even possible. It just won’t start. And if your eye happens to move mid-procedure, the machine moves WITH you. #bless
Another cool fact is that if there were to be a power outage during the procedure, there’s a back up generator so you wouldn’t be affected whatsoever. Again, #bless.
Not only are there processes set in place to keep your procedure moving seamlessly, but did you know the procedure itself is done in SECONDS? I’m not exaggerating; the first step of creating a flap on the top layer of your eye is about 15 seconds, and the second step of fixing your prescription is about 6-8 seconds. In under 30 seconds per eye you could be back to 20/20 vision. ISN’T THAT INCREDIBLE?!
Finally, it was the moment of truth: Dr. Schneider walked in with the results of Brennan’s tests and HE PASSED. He was an ideal candidate for LASIK, and we were overjoyed.
The good thing is that Dr. Schneider is so experienced with his practice that his office doesn’t just offer LASIK. They specialize in 7 different procedures, so even if you AREN’T a good candidate for LASIK, there are other options for you that he will recommend based off of your personal needs.
A few other points that Dr. Schneider made that I thought were worth noting:
- Your optometrist is most likely going to keep telling you that it’s not the right time for LASIK because think about it…if you fix your eyes, you won’t keep coming to see him aka paying his bills. It’s best for you to ALWAYS get a second opinion from an ophthalmologist because they’re going to tell it to you straight: either you’re a candidate for LASIK or you’re not.
- LASIK is a big chunk of change up front…but how much money are you spending monthly on contacts? Contact solution? New glasses frames when you lose / break your current pair? How much is it worth to solve your impaired vision rather than choosing temporary solutions all while enduring the constant dry eyes/rubbing/discomfort contacts bring?
- Why wait until you’re in your mid 30s-40s when instead, if you’re a good candidate in your early 20s, you can enjoy 20/20 vision SOONER than later? You just have to be 18 to get LASIK done…so stop letting your eyes “get worse” before you talk to a specialist about your options.
- If you add up every single eye doctor visit, contact reorder, contact solution purchase ( especially those unexpected ones when you forget your solution on a trip ) glasses frames ( cough cough yes those designer frames you had to have that are SO cute but a few hundred dollars ), is it REALLY that much more affordable over time?
- Contacts are damaging your eye with every wear…better to STOP the damage ASAP and instead solve the issue with a more permanent solution. We were shocked to see the state of Brennan’s eyes after such long contact use; it’s no wonder his eyes are dry and in pain after a day of contacts! They’re going through a lot and let’s face it…you need to treat your eyes as best you can because they’re the only eyes you’ve got.
- Last but not least…think about a life where you didn’t have to touch your eyeball every single morning and evening and you could fall asleep without forgetting to take your contacts out * mic drop *
Now, I know this is coming from someone who DOESN’T wear contacts, but I can’t help but think that these would all be selling points for me. And just to see Brennan’s face light up ( see below photo for proof ) at the thought of having perfect vision literally brought me to tears. Who am I?! TEARS people, I cried REAL TEARS because I’m so happy for what’s to come for him!
The last question we had was the obvious: how much does LASIK cost?
Let’s break it down because you know I like sharing all the details with you.
So first of all, to do both eyes you’re looking at $5400 at ScheiderLASIK.
I know that’s a big number…but reference the above when thinking about how much money you’re ACTUALLY spending throughout your contact-wearing life.
The BEST part about this is that you don’t have to pay this all up front, and you don’t have to worry about accruing interest for 2 years. If you finance through Dr. Schneider’s office, you get 24 months to pay off your surgery bill with absolutely 0% interest, and nothing down!
And I know this is short notice, but their office let me know that they’re offering a 12 for $1200 off deal the month of December: if you donate $12 to one of two charities their office selected ( one is to help babies, one is to help animals – WIN WIN ) you get $1200 OFF YOUR LASIK PROCEDURE!!!! ISN’T THAT MIND BLOWING?!?!??!! CAN YOU EVEN THINK OF A BETTER DEAL?!??! I literally could not wait to share this fact because WOW I just can’t even deal.
So for $4200, new perfectly seeing eyes could be YOURS this month. 🙂 Happy Holidays to you!
ANYWAYS – that’s all I have to say for now.
Brennan’s surgery is this Tuesday afternoon, and I’m going with so I can take more notes on the start to finish process! PLEASE let me know if you have any questions and I will check with the office while I’m there!
Stay tuned for more updates! xo
