Friends used to wave 'hello' at me from across the room and I had no idea who they were. Friends and family feared getting in a car with me if I was ever the driver; they used to make fun of me for always having missing car hubcaps (from hitting street curbs). Chances are, if there was a hubcap on any street in Houston, it was probably mine. That's because I was blind as a bat - and unfortunately, I hated wearing contacts and could never find my glasses. 'Squints' was my nickname since high school and consequently, I have scary wrinkles.* <br><br>Fortunately, I met Dr. Paul Mann at a large gathering, and he eased me into the idea of getting LASIK, which I never knew was an option for people with astigmatism. After reading their reviews on Yelp - many from credible or Elite Yelpers - I knew I was in good hands. Also, they have locations all over Texas, but Houstonians are fortunate to have THE Dr. Matt Mann and Dr. Paul Mann right here in H-town. <br><br>My consultation, pre- and post-opp appointments, scheduling, meeting with their account/finance consultant, etc. were all flawless. And the surgery itself was painless. I had my surgery in the morning, went home, took a nap, and that same evening Ubered over to Feast With The Beast at the Houston Zoo. Yes, I had to wear wonky sunnies at night but I looked coo' like the Terminator. <br><br>My surgery was in Nov 2013, and 2+ years later I have better than perfect vision (on occasion that might suck because I can see every flaw in the mirror). However, Dr. Paul Mann also operates The Botox Bar, so there ya go. Blind no more and wrinkle free!

Great service all the way through from my eye exam in the Humble office to my LASIK surgery in the Fannin office! Had surgery yesterday and 20/20 today. Couldn't be happier.

First off, I am so thrilled I made the decision to go through with LASIK. My prescription wasn't that bad to begin with, -1.25 and -1 roughly, but it was definitely a pain and costly to buy and insert contacts every day. I did the math, and over the next 20+ years I would spend over $12,000 on contacts alone. The cost of LASIK ($5,000 originally or lower with a Yelp deal and vision insurance) can seem daunting, but they provide you with two programs which you can choose from to set up 18 month no interest financing! That comes to less than $220 a month. If you can front $220 a month, you NEED to get LASIK if you are a candidate. I was very nervous about the procedure, and I hope after reading my review, I can put you, a potential LASIK candidate, at ease and ready to make one of the best decisions in your life. <br><br>The first appointment I had was to see if I would be a candidate. Kristin, the receptionist, is honestly by far one of the nicest people I have ever met. She is a sweetheart, cares about you and your procedure, and is always smiling. I actually ended up looking forward to seeing her when I walked in and was sad she wasn't there the day of my first post-op. Aside from Kristin, I was a little unimpressed with the wait time at my first appointment. I was at the office for almost 2 hours.. At this appointment they put you through 3 tests without contacts/glasses to check your eyes, then sit you in a chair to do the letter test, dilate your eyes, and then do the letter test again. All in all it's easy and you'll have an answer if you're a candidate or not. If you are a candidate, you can schedule your surgery right away, which Joan helped me with. She was nice and answered any questions I had. I actually was able to schedule my surgery 10 days later, which was great! If you wear contacts, heads up that you'll have to stop wearing them AT LEAST 7 days before your surgery for your cornea to go back to it's original shape - if you don't have glasses anymore the office will have some for you to borrow. <br><br>The next appointment you'll have will be a day before your surgery. This is to double check all the tests from the consultation and answer any other questions. It was pretty quick and left me excited for the next day. You'll also have to have picked up your eye drops by today from your pharmacy because you start putting the anti-infection drops in your eyes the day before your surgery. As a warning, these do leave a little bit of a nasty taste in the back of your mouth, but you only put the drops in for 6 days - it's worth it! <br><br>I was scheduled to arrive at the office at 3:30 on the day of my surgery. I ended up leaving around 5:30 - there were many people getting it done that day and it caused a little bit of a delay. They checked my eyes once more I think, then took me into one of the rooms and gave me an 800mg of Ibuprofen and 10mg of Valium. We waited for this to set in and then they brought me in to the operating room. They also put numbing drops in your eyes so you won't feel any pain. They keep the room fairly cold so you'll want to wear a sweater, but once you lay down on the reclined chair they'll give you a big stuffed animal named Jenny and cover you up with a blanket. <br><br>At the first chair they will cut the flap and it honestly looks gray and kind of like a kaleidoscope. I think this is the part where you'll feel a little bit of a suction. It's definitely not comfortable, but it's definitely bearable. This only takes a couple minutes, maybe less, and then they will rotate you to the other machine that does the actual procedure. Your head will be down in a little divot, and I believe the doctor may be holding your head too and moving it to where it needs to be. Dr. Barker was great and the whole team as well - they talked to me during the process, which kind of kept my mind off of what was going on. One thing that I was especially worried about was holding my eyes open - don't worry about it. You don't even the feel the need to blink and it doesn't hurt keeping them open. They make sure you are comfortable and at ease. Each eye of mine took 7 seconds underneath the corrective laser. You stare at a cluster of green dots while it corrects your vision. I was in the chair for less than 10 minutes. <br><br>Once you are done they check your eyes to make sure everything looks good and send you home with covers over your eyes and sunglasses and advise you to sleep right away when you get home for AT LEAST 4 hours. Since my surgery was around 4:30, I just slept until 8 AM. It did take me a while to fall asleep because my eyes were in a little bit of pain, mostly just discomfort but they give you numbing drops. When I woke up I could not believe my vision..It's absolutely perfect, no pain. <br><br>I really enjoyed everything about this entire process, especially my new eyesight! Don't be worried about the procedure, and don't let finances stop you - just do it, you'll be happy you did.