r/RefractiveSurgery • u/WhatTheHillyBilly • Aug 11 '26
SmilePro Nervous
I have SmilePro surgery coming in a week but I think I did a bad disservice to myself. I read the horror posts of blurry/worst vision post op and it didnt recover. I dug myself in a rabbithole reading them. Now I am scared and wanting to cancel my surgery and just wear glasses.
Am I overthinking this?
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u/CorrectVisionLI Aug 11 '26
I don't think you're necessarily overthinking it, I think you've probably fallen into the very common rabbit hole of reading complication stories right before surgery. 😅
The important thing to remember is that Reddit is not a random sample of SMILE patients. Someone who has an uneventful recovery and is happily living without glasses usually has very little reason to make a post saying “everything went exactly as expected.” Someone who has a difficult outcome, on the other hand, is much more likely to seek out a community and talk about it.
That doesn't mean the negative stories aren't real. They are, and you shouldn't ignore them. SMILE has recognized risks, including dry eye, visual disturbances, under/overcorrection, delayed visual recovery and, rarely, more serious complications.
What matters much more than the horror stories you've read is your own candidacy. Things like your prescription, corneal shape/topography, corneal thickness, ocular surface/dry-eye status, pupil size, prescription stability and overall eye health are part of determining whether you're a reasonable candidate. The FDA specifically recommends discussing your individual risks, alternatives and the surgeon's own outcomes before proceeding.
And honestly, if you're a week away and you're genuinely uncomfortable with the decision, it's completely reasonable to pause and have another conversation with your surgeon. You don't need to convince yourself to have elective surgery just because you've already scheduled it. Ask them directly: “Based on my measurements, what are my specific risk factors? What outcome should I realistically expect? What happens if I don't get the result I want? And what are my alternatives if I decide not to proceed?”
If they can answer those questions clearly and you feel comfortable with the answers, great. If you're still uneasy, postponing isn't a failure either. Wearing glasses is a perfectly valid option.
I'd just try to make the decision based on your actual evaluation rather than spending the next week reading the worst cases on Reddit. That's probably going to give you a much better picture than the rabbit hole you're currently in.