I had LASIK performed back in March '99. I was nearsighted; contact lens prescription was something like -7.5 (BAD!).
Back in '99 LASIK procedures were just starting to be done in the states, so I had mine done by a doctor in Canada. He had over 10,000 surgeries under his belt.
It sucked at first. Vision was a little blurry, and my near vision was really bad. Big halos around lights at night, and hazy in dimly lit rooms. Outside in the bright sun, it was crystal clear. Very light dependent. The brighter the better.
Slowly but surely my vision improved. Lubrication of the eyes was very important to the healing process in the first several weeks. It helps control the healing process. I could not notice improvements week-to-week, but rather month-to-month. After the first year, it was very good. After 2 years it was damn near perfect.
At the time of the surgery I was 35, and never had a problem with my near vision. The first 1 year after the surgery, I had a hard time reading medicine bottles, small news print, etc. It is much better now, but the doc did tell me that the surgery did accelerate the nearsightedness that most older people get. At 39 now, my nearsightedness is more like a typical 45 year. Still slight halos at night, but I'm pretty much used to them.
All things consider, I'd do it again in a heartbeat. After wearing and fighting contacts and Coke-bottled glasses for 20 years, it is very liberating. Want to see what time it is in the morning? No problemo! Even though I wore contacts since 16, they could be a pain. Blink the wrong way and they'd pop out. Glad they're a thing of the past!
I'm sure the techniques and technologies have improved in the past 5 years, but I am not up-to-date on them.