Read Cami's LASIK Story, where she reflects on her year after LASIK with Dr. Benjamin. From initial hesitations due to dry eyes to achieving 20/15 vision, her journey is nothing short of miraculous. She shares how the treatment changed her life, including walking down the aisle with clear vision! 💍
A Year in Review
Reflecting on a year post-LASIK surgery and its transformative impact on my life:
I told Dr. Benjamin I would do this a while ago, but I kind of feel like it says a lot that I have kept this on my checklist for a year. I feel like a year is a good amount of time to review a procedure like this and give my honest thoughts and recommendations.
Choosing LASIK with Dr. Benjamin
Let me tell you about my journey to getting LASIK and how I ended up in the amazing care of Dr. Benjamin. After going to an optometrist for years and him advising against LASIK because of my genetically dry eyes, I finally got a second opinion from an ophthalmologist (Dr. Benjamin). I didn’t know the difference between an optometrist vs. ophthalmologist, but once I learned it kind of made sense why my optometrist didn’t want me getting LASIK lol. Because he couldn’t sell me contact lenses or glasses for the foreseeable future if I got my vision corrected :) I mean, who knows, but I am glad I got a second opinion.
I figured being in Los Angeles with some of the best doctors in the world… if anyone is going to touch my big, blue eyeballs, might as well get it done while I’m here. I found this business due to the reviews and they seemed to really know what they were doing and how to talk to clients.
Preparation and Treatment for Dry Eyes
Upon meeting Dr. Benjamin he told me that I wasn’t a candidate for LASIK with my dry eyes, but he could put me through treatments for dry eyes and reevaluate after; and that these treatments had a good success rate for most.
So, I started doing two treatments every other week for about 2.5 months - IPL treatment and Lipiflow. Lipiflow, especially, was a weird painless experience but highly recommend anyone with dry eyes to ask about it regardless of LASIK. I could tell my eyes felt way less dry a couple days after each treatment. There are videos on YouTube that talk about this treatment… Who knew this stuff existed. I’m not gonna lie, it’s an investment to do all these treatments on top of LASIK, but my eyes rarely feel dry anymore so if you’re going to get it done - do it right.
The LASIK Procedure Experience
Finally, I was approved for LASIK. I ended up waiting until the end of year to make sure I saved up the funds to do it and had some time to heal. I also took advantage of an end of year deal they were offering. $1000 off was a pretty nice forcing function to get me to finally do it after prepping my eyes with the treatments. The procedure itself I couldn’t feel anything even though I was awake the entire time (medicated). Even the scary part when bubbles form on your eyes Dr. Benjamin let me know about in advance so when it happened I just went with the flow. I think the worst part was the recovery the few days after and coming home drugged up lol. I remember day 1 thinking omg what did I do to my eyes. My eyes just hurt and felt weird, but omg I could see 20/15 immediately. And then, day by day it gradually got better. It took a few weeks for my eyes to heal, but after 1 month you couldn’t even tell I had surgery. One eye was a bit more bloodshot than the other.
How LASIK changed my life
I can see 20/15. It’s been life changing for the past year not having to worry about contacts or glasses. I just got married and was able to walk down the aisle with clear vision. I only wish I had the means to have done this earlier in life. If you’re considering it - do it! And definitely consider Dr. Benjamin to do it right.
Continued Care for Dry Eyes
Lastly, to continue treating my dry eyes, Dr. Benjamin gave me an extra LipiFlow treatment, and also recommended I try punctal plugs (painless plugs inserted into your lids that help your tears last longer). He placed the plugs in my eyes in under 5 mins. Wild.
A Message to Those Considering LASIK
I heard from people during the LASIK process that they have been nervous to get the procedure so I wrote this to help and because I think highly of this business for changing my life. And, some of the dry eye treatments I would’ve never known about had it not been for them. Again, I wish I would have been able to do this years ago. It is so, so worth it!
Thank you, Dr. Benjamin and staff!
