The LASIK Vision Institute

I came for my 1^st consultation which was scheduled over the phone by their call center for an 11:30am appointment.
Upon arriving I stood around for a bit till someone noticed me and told me to sign in and then I completed the initial paperwork.
Upon being taken back for my exam, I was asked to remove my contacts. Then I was passed on to the gentlemen that would perform my pre exam testing. He was very friendly, but I wasn’t too sure on his experience level based on some information he was telling me which I had never heard from any doctor I’ve seen in my years of eye exams.
The first test they did had me look into this crazy spinning wheel that made me feel so dizzy and was hard to focus on. Absolutely awful and an outdated machine.
Next I was taken into an actual exam room where he performed more testing. Then came the «lens 1 or lens 2» exam. Midway through the receptions interrupted twice. When the exam went on he moved the lens and I could see absolutely nothing and he was frustrated with me because I told him I couldn’t see anything. The real doctor then walked in and went over my exam results.
I was informed that I was not a candidate for LASIK and would need PRK due to cornea thickness. When I received a 2^nd opinion at Eye-​Q LASIK center, my cornea thickness was fine and I am a candidate for LASIK.
Then the doctor told me that my appointment would not be able to be completely finished today because they were closing in 30 minutes and would not have enough time to dilate my eyes and give me the exam. I live out of town and made arrangements for a driver because I was told I would be dilated!
Upon being told to reschedule my appointment, I was then given a price breakdown and asked to schedule for surgery in 1 week. Even though my exam still hadn’t been completed!
They quoted me at $ 2950 without lifetime warranty, and $ 3700 if I wanted lifetime warranty. This was WITH 20% discount!!! I won’t mention other prices. But for what I experienced with LASIK vision institute, they are not worth spending that extra money and most certainly are not the best deal in town. I was repeatedly told by their staff that they are the best at what they do and other doctors refer their patients to them. I was also told they are the only ones with the LASIK machine that can perform work on eyes with high prescription. Which was absolutely false.
Price isn’t an issue when it comes to my health, it is foremost being with an experienced staff and Doctor as well as being comfortable and feeling safe. I felt none of these here and will not be getting my surgery here. I felt I was lied to and being pressured to move quickly with them.
If you’re schedule for surgery or have an appointment, I urge you just to check out another doctor and make sure you’re making the right choice that feels good for you.

So I do a LOT of research before doing something like this, especially something as drastic as getting surgery on my eyeballs. After a horrible dentist experience I had done based on 5 star Unilocal reviews, I am VERY wary of Unilocal reviews on a medical business that all sound the same (for example, they all say «I recommend this surgeon for this procedure» almost like it’s copy pasted?). So I noticed the Lasik Institute had zero reviews and I did my research on them anyway. Even if it cost a little more, I wanted the BEST for my eyes because. they’re my EYES lol. I read on their website that they employed the top 1% surgeons on Lasik nationwide and had performed over a million surgeries. This sounded good to me, so I went ahead and scheduled a consultation.
Everyone was very sweet. Front desk receptionists, the financial department and all the doctors were extremely friendly. My consultation was free (bonus) and I even got a % off my surgery because I scheduled it quickly. The consultation was painless and the doctors seemed to know what they were doing, and answered all my questions. My surgery for Lasik was set for three weeks!
There are two types of Lasik, the quick one were you are okay the next day, and PRK, where you are required to take a week off from work to heal and there is pain the first few days. I had to have the PRK because the top layer of my eyes were too thin to have the original Lasik. Oh well, I thought. Sidenote: I had a root canal a week prior and smartly held on to my pain meds.
I went in for my surgery 3 days ago with my boyfriend. Again, the staff at this place are extremely friendly and nice, I was SO NERVOUS! I waited to go in and was then led into the surgery room by the surgeon and his assistant. Both VERY nice people. They had given me a flier with my surgeon’s name and some of his background that I read so I did trust him. Surprisingly, the procedure only took about 10 minutes, if that. I followed directions, there was ZERO pain because of the numbing. Again, I had done LOADS of research before my surgery so nothing surprised me. one thing I noted was the smell during the surgery. You can literally smell your eyes getting lasered! Super gross LOL but I held my breath for the 7 seconds and it was done!!! I could SEE!!! They placed the protective lens on my eyes and inserted the artificial tear duct things for me and I actually broke down crying which surprised the surgeon. I was overwhelmed from being so calm during the surgery when I was actually scared to death, and also from the fact that after nearly 20 years of blindness, I could see. I could see people, I could see the walls and posters, I could see the instruments in the office and it was such a miracle. I could barely choke out a thank you to my wonderful surgeon through my hysteria before I was led outside to the car to go home. Amazing!!!
I know my review is crazy long but I figure if you are serious about lasik you’ll read this whole fricken thing… Anyways, they warn you about pain the first couple days and GOOD LORD I can’t even describe it. The second night (I had my procedure Saturday morning, and the pain came Sunday night) and I was writhing and sobbing horribly from how bad it hurt!!! Apparently this is normal… but wow I don’t think I’ve had so much pain in my life! Luckily I had Oxycod left over from my root canal but they do give you numbing drops and prescribe a pain reliever before the surgery. TAKE THIS THE FIRST COUPLE DAYS!!!
Right now, it’s three days after my surgery and I’m having the typical dryness and a little blurriness but I’m taking the medicated eye drops they prescribed so it takes a week to be able to see properly. I know once the protective contacts come out this coming Saturday (one week) that I’ll see almost perfect. I am honestly SO HAPPY about my procedure and my life has really changed. I love the Lasik center and their staff and the financing was easy for me to do, interest free! So yeah. Go here! And also… for my consultation, SURGERY, and post op, I probably had a waiting time of ten minutes COMBINED. Super professional and I feel very much cared for here. Thank God I chose this place, especially after reading reviews on some other lasik centers… yikes lol
*edit: I also want to add in here that they offer a lifetime warranty on your eyes. So basically, as long as at least ONCE a year you visit them for a check-​up (which I’ve done my whole life at optometrists for contacts and glasses) they can make sure everything looks good, and if the lasik procedure needs an upgrade or something altered years down the line, they’ll fix it for free. The only stipulation is that you HAVE to have an exam once a year and if not there, you just need your eye doctor to fax over the information so that your yearly log is complete.