I have the Best Husband!

I have been wearing glasses since 4th Grade, which is what, 8 or 9 years old?

(That's me with the terrible outfit and longish hair)

Since then I have spent hundreds, if not thousands of dollars on frames, lenses, contact lens, solutions...etc.

I had never really considered laser eye surgery as I had a friend who had the procedure in Canada in the early 2000's and had a terrible time getting her vision stabilized without glasses or contacts, even after two touch-ups, or "enhancements" as they're called in the business.

Here in Portland it seems like there are Laser Eye clinics everywhere, there is even one on the main road we take to go to work, to play soccer, to get groceries...etc. Lately I had noticed that my tolerance for wearing contact lenses had significantly decreased, to the point that I wasn't even able to wear them for 6 hours. I guess it was bound to happen that eventually this procedure would peak my interest and I would find myself going through a battery of assessments to see if I qualified for a LASIK procedure.

I chose Teplick Custom Vision for my first foray into the world of Laser Eye surgery, as the website boasted it had performed the procedure on numerous TrailBlazer players (NBA players who have money and go to the best places), several optometrists, and other healthcare professionals.

I called, made an appointment, and was told to wear glasses the day of the appointment, to allow my eyes to return to their normal shape. I thought nothing of this request as I usually wear glasses for most of the day at work and then change into contacts at lunch if at all. During the appointment at Teplick I went through a few questionnaires and several assessments including tear production, pupil size measurement...etc.

I eventually met with Dr. Teplick himself, and he told me I was a great candidate for the LASIK procedure as I am right in the middle of the vision statistical bell curve at -6.25 (-10 being is almost legally blind and laser eye surgery might not be successful, and -1 is almost too small of a change to be noticeable). That made me feel great, and they said they would give me some money off the price for participating in a survey post-operation. I felt great up to the point where the receptionist/technician told me it was going to cost $3500.00.

They wanted to book me right away for the procedure, but I knew this was going to take some thought and discussion with my then-fiance, so I took a folder of information and pricing and went home to talk it over.

Spending $3500 on eye surgery during a year where we are planning a wedding, attending a wedding in Costa Rica, and traveling home to Canada for Christmas seemed crazy to me - working on-call was definitely earning me more money but I was also spending more on healthcare.

This when I realized I have the best husband in the world. After reading the risks and benefits of the procedure and stating his concern for my safety, he announced that the cost wasn't a big deal because as long as it was reasonably safe and I made an informed decision, he would pay for half.

So with my husband behind me 100% and even willing to help out with the bill, I am checking out other clinics and doing research about going to Canada for the procedure.

That night he got upgraded from a hand massage to a full-body extravaganza!