3-year Lasik review

I had it done at the end of February 2023, and it was LASEK. My eyeballs were oval-shaped, so I already had astigmatism, and my vision was around -4? It was really bad. I went because of a recommendation from someone around me, and I knew absolutely nothing at the time, so I didn’t compare clinics or anything, I just booked it right away. The surgery itself ended quickly. As soon as I went in, they peeled off the cornea, zapped it with a laser, put in a protective lens, and that was it. I never smelled the grilled-squid smell people talk about. After that, I expected it to hurt a lot, but it really didn’t hurt at all. On the day itself it didn’t hurt much, just felt like my eyes were throbbing a bit. The throbbing got stronger 3 days later, but it still wasn’t as painful as people say. And I was told not to open my eyes or look at bright light, but honestly I was bored so I kept opening my eyes a little and using my phone, and my vision is still good lol For about 1 to 2 weeks, eye stinging was worse than eye pain, so I wore sunglasses even indoors. Even the light coming through the sunglasses stung my eyes, so I even wore a hat pulled down low. From week 3 onward the stinging got better, and to prevent side effects I kept wearing sunglasses until the 1-month mark. Up to now my vision is still between 1.0 and 1.2 for both eyes. Since my vision was so bad to begin with, they had said I wouldn’t be able to reach 1.5 anyway, and my first post-op vision was around 1.3? It only dropped a little, haha. When my condition isn’t good, glare gets worse, but it’s still better than the days when I couldn’t see in front of me at all at -4! The best thing is not having to worry when going to the swimming pool! If I wear contacts, I get corneal inflammation, prescription goggles are too expensive, and it’s embarrassing to wear them when going out haha The downside is that dry eye definitely got worse. It’s not to the point that I can’t open my eyes, but for about a month after surgery the dryness was so bad that if I opened my eyes first thing in the morning, it felt like my cornea was being peeled off Now it’s just, 'my eyes feel dry.' And I can’t wear colored contacts! Some people wear them anyway, but I’m too scared to wear them haha... My pupils are really small, so I want to wear lenses, but I paid a lot for this surgery and still just can’t bring myself to wear them. For people who can’t give up contacts, I wouldn’t recommend it..! Personally, since I’ve had bad eyesight my whole life, I’m extremely satisfied and happy with it!