TL;DR - Had ReLex Smile surgery a bout 1.5 weeks ago. Was nervous but stuck with it. Surgery was about 10 minutes pain free. Recovered in less than 24 hours. A little dryness, and vision sharpened over the first few days. Definitely recommend.

Hi all,

I had been considering laser eye surgery, and reading through this subreddit really helped prepare me for it, so I wanted to give my own report. I had ReLex Smile surgery about 12 days ago.

I recently had a virtual eye exam, and found that my prescription was the same as my last exam(2 years ago). I went for a LASIK consultation around that time, but they said I would need PRK since I have 2 scars in the periphery of my cornea in my left eye from wearing my contacts with seasonal allergies. I wasn't ready to drop the money for it at that time, and also didn't get a good vibe from the clinic. My prescription is -2.50 in my left eye, and -3.00 in my right, with a cylinder of -1.00 and -0.25, respectively, and I've been wearing glasses/contacts since I was about 5 years old, and I'm about to turn 32 in a few weeks.

Fast forward to now; I figured since we are in the whole COVID quarantine, I would be able to take the time I need to recover, so I scheduled a virtual consultation at another clinic after I did some research on ReLex Smile. They seemed really friendly and accommodating, less car salesman like, and they told me that I could come in to meet the doctor, get my eyes examined, and get the surgery same day if I wanted.

I continued my research. I looked into the doctor, the clinic, the procedure, the complications, everything. I was pretty squeamish watching the surgeries at first, but at some point I got desensitized. I also read reports and medical papers about some of the complications and their symptoms. I pretty much had my mind made up that I was going to do the surgery.

The day of the appointment, my experience at the clinic went pretty well. Everyone was friendly, and there was less traffic since they were taking a limited number of folks per day. The doctor and assistant checked my eyes, and the doctor said, "OK, let's give you a pill and get you into surgery". I was like "WHOA hold on! I'm not exactly sure if I want to do this". Needless to say, I was super nervous. The doctor had me watch a video describing the procedure and sat with my in his office while I rattled off questions based on things I've read on this forum, YouTube, medical papers, etc. He was very patient, and offered to let me watch a surgery, and said if I still wanted to do it, I could be next, and if not, no big deal either.

About 30 min later, I watched him perform a surgery through the observation window. It was really interesting to see, just like in all the videos. The person who got the surgery was in and out in about 10 minutes like nothing happened. Through that time, I found my resolve and said I'd do it. Next I signed some papers, handed over an arm and a leg, and popped a Valium. After about 15 minutes they had me in a medical cap and laying on the machine with a stuffed animal in a death grip.

They doused my eyes with eye drops for numbing and antiseptic. It's weird because you're never really aware of feeling in your eye unless they're irritated, so I wasn't sure they were actually numb. They used a speculum and pried my eye open. It was a bit of a weird feeling, but not painful or uncomfortable for me. You can still "blink", but your eyes won't close obviously. I was relieved I could do that so it's not like you have to force yourself to keep your eyes open for the time it takes to do the surgery. They slid me under the machine and I saw the green light flashing. I was told to stare straight into it. The machine started moving closer to my face until I could sort of feel the pressure on my face. The machine had docked onto my eye, and I couldn't feel a thing, which was great. I heard the robot voice say "Suction on" or "Suction started", I can't exactly remember, the Valium started kicking in at this point lol. I noticed my breathing and heart rate was a bit slower than before, still nervous, but the edge was taken off. Anyway, I stared into the green light and my vision sort of frosted over, like I was looking through a window covered in ice and snow. This took about 15-20 seconds. Then I heard "Suction off" and I was moved from the machine. They covered that eye and switched to the next. That was another 15-20 seconds of the same, and I knew that next the doctor would need to remove the lenticule. I was super nervous about this part, but it lasted maybe about 2 minutes per eye? My vision was still frosty so I couldn't really see anything, except a faint image of a grey stick moving around my eye. I just tried my best to stay still and focus on my breathing. They put more drops on my eye and I saw him rubbing and dabbing my eye with a little sponge. They moved me from the machine and helped me sit up.

It was over. The whole thing was about 12-15 minutes start to finish

When I opened my eyes, I couldn't see very well, a lot of folks compare it to looking through a steam room. I would say that's accurate, maybe a steamy room or really smudged glasses lol. I still didn't feel a thing, and was relieved. I was given a bag with some artificial tears, funky sunglasses(I brought my own though), and a Tylenol PM. They gave me some quick instructions, scheduled a follow up for the next day, and my girlfriend and I were out the door. My total time in the office was around 2 hours. I had the eye exam, asked questions, used the bathroom, waited for the doctor to prep someone for surgery, perform the surgery, get me set up for surgery, and actually do my surgery.

The Uber ride home was pleasant. The numbing drops started to wear off but there wasn't any real pain, more like the feeling I had a grain of sand in my eye/slight grittiness, and my eyes were sensitive to light when I took the shades off. When I got home I ate something, took the Tylenol PM, and relaxed for a bit. I eventually drifted off to sleep(shades and all), and woke up about 4 hours later. To my surprise I didn't feel much of anything except a bit of a tired feeling in my eyes. My eyes were slightly sensitive to light, but nothing really painful. I just kept the lights off in the bedroom. I could see a lot more clearly, but distant objects were still a bit fuzzy. I ended up playing Call of Duty WWII for a few rounds and kicked @$$ for someone who couldn't see 6 inches from his face a few hours ago. I even watched some TV, but the computer and my phone was still a bit too bright. I eventually drifted off to sleep again.

The next day I could see waaay better. Distant objects were much more clear, and I didn't have any pain, except for some dryness in the morning. I went to the doctor for my follow up and he said I was healing nicely, and that my vision would continue to improve(am I going to get X-ray vision??). I had a few more questions about recovery, and he assured me there was no restriction, I was all set.

I still wanted to be cautious so I continued to wear sunglasses(also it felt weird not having something on my face). I picked up my prescription eye drops from the pharmacy(steroid and anti-inflammatory), and went home and cooked lunch, and carried on as I usually would. I even went jogging the next day with no problem. My night vision was fine as well. I did have a bit of starburst, but nothing serious.

I took the eye drops as prescribed, and used the artificial tears as well. It's been about 12 days so far and my only regret is that I didn't get this surgery sooner. I'm really happy with the results, and definitely thank the doctor and everyone at the clinic for helping to keep me at ease.

My recommendation for anyone considering the surgery are:

• Do your research. Read others experiences through yelp, Reddit, etc. This will give you an idea of what you're in for, and help you manage your expectations
• Watch laser eye surgeries on YouTube. It's hard if you're squeamish, I know, but it will give you an understanding of what will be happening to you(and they are all completely painless)
• Read about the complications. Although these operations are considered safe, it's important to understand and accept what might go wrong in the rare event. It was hard for me to sort of give up control and take the risk and put my vision in someone else's hand, especially since it's an elective surgery. I could have just worn glasses or contact forever. I decided for myself that the benefits outweighed the risks. Read about the horror stories as well as the success stories and be honest with your risk tolerance
• Speak up to the doctor. I scribbled a list of concerns I had and he answered all of them completely and confidently. I had no doubt after speaking to him- Be prepared to invest. Laser Eye Surgery is NOT cheap. If you consider the cost of contacts and glasses and other corrective eye wear, the surgery will pay for itself in a few years, and you will hopefully gain an immeasurable improvement to your quality of life.
• Be patient. Post surgery you will need to give yourself time to heal. ReLex Smile has a recovery time about 24 hours, but everyone is different, you may need a day or 2 to fully recover. And your eyesight will improve as you heal and your brain gets used to its new vision. Don't panic, but report any out of the normal pain or blurriness.