Wow. Dr. Updegraff and his staff are unbelievable. I've been wearing contacts for 21 years, and after much persuading from my mom I decided to finally do something about it. My dad was legally blind until he has LASIK from Dr. Updegraff a few years back, and after my mom has watched his quality of life improve dramatically she's on a mission to get every other contact wearer out there to Dr. Updegraff's office. I live in Ireland, but the surgical coordinator, Valerie, helped us schedule the procedure when I was home for just a week. She was fantastic, really accommodating and comforting when walking me through what the day of the procedure would entail as well as a brief overview of the after care. You have to go in for a checkup to make sure you're a candidate, and they're really thorough taking measurements of your eyes, checking your prescription and asking you questions. I found out after about two hours on a Friday that I was a candidate (woo!) and the surgery was scheduled for Monday. The day of surgery you're instructed to come in to the office dressed in warm clothes (tough for August in Florida but luckily it was overcast that day) and no makeup, and you're supposed to prep your eyes by putting some drops in 4x/day the day before. You also can't wear contact lenses for about a week before the surgery. They give you a Valium and instruct you to relax, and they even ask what kind of music you'd like to listen to (I chose jazz) in this reclining pedicure-style chair pre-operation. I panicked when they brought me in the room a bit, so they gave me more Valium and were really understanding when I needed more time. About a half hour later and surgery was underway. Dr. Updegraff walks you through everything he's doing during the surgery, and it's clear he's really committed to what he does. They numb your eyes so it's painless, but you're fully awake which could be unsettling. They have someone in the room who's a designated hand holder, which I thought was a nice touch. My mom was able to watch from the next room, and my fiance could even log in online and watch it live! Talk about advanced technology. The whole surgery take about 20 minutes, and afterwards they outfit you with an aftercare kit of drops, ointments, and super sexy goggles (subtle sarcasm) you have to sleep if for 5 days following the surgery. I had to come back one more time the next day after the surgery so they could check the results, and when I was given a thumbs up they sent me home with a complimentary mug, Chapstick and video of the procedure (which I still can't watch, the camera is inside the LASIK equipment!) It's not cheap - even though I got a family discount thanks to my father's referral, it was still $4,200, but when you work out the cost of eye doctors, contacts, solution and just overall quality of life I thought it was well worth the cost. My eyes healed beautifully and I can see the moment I wake up in the morning, something I haven't been able to do since I was 9 years old. Thank you, Dr. Updegraff! What a great experience.