NATCHEZ — The surgery began at 9 a.m. She laid perfectly still in total darkness, her sight completely gone. Ten minutes later, Kimberly Johnson squinted into a new world — one with perfect vision, without glasses.

Johnson, along with several others, underwent laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis vision correction surgery at the hands of Dr. Douglas Smith of Eye Center Optical in Natchez.

“I was tired of wearing glasses,” Johnson said. “Dr. Smith said I was a good candidate, so I had both eyes done at the same time.”

Johnson’s entire LASIK procedure lasted only 30 minutes and by 4 p.m. that same day, she no longer needed glasses.

“I could tell a difference right after the surgery,” she said.

Smith has been performing LASIK vision correction surgery in Natchez since May.

“There has been an increasing demand and interest for it in the area,” he said. “People were leaving town to have it done.”

While LASIK technology has been available for years, Smith said only recently has the technology advanced enough for him to be comfortable using it.

“The latest LASIK upgrade is a feature that creates a fingerprint of the eye’s visual error,” he said. “It is much more precise now.”

LASIK surgery involves two main steps. First, a mechanical device is used to split the cornea. A suction device is then used to hold the eye in place while the surgery is being performed. The next step of the procedure is the re-sculpting of the corneal stroma by the laser. The actual correction is a completely computer-driven process, Smith said.

“The laser is removing tissue and creating a new lens shape,” Smith said. “The laser can correct near-sightedness, astigmatism and limited amounts of far-sightedness.”

It was during the first step of the surgery when Johnson said everything went completely black.

“My vision went out for a couple of minutes, but it soon came back,” she said. “During the surgery, all you see is a red light.”

The red light Johnson saw was a beam of light emitted from a 3,000-pound laser device. The laser is a mobile unit that is used on a rotating basis by several surgical eye centers.

“We scheduled the surgeries around the laser,” Smith said. “We usually have it here once a month.”

Smith has only been performing the surgery for three months, but he began his laser education over 10 years ago in New Orleans.

“At that time, the technology was not as good as I needed it to be,” he said. “It’s state of the art now.”

During his first LASIK procedure, Smith said he wasn’t nervous at all.

“I was probably more excited than my first patient,” he said.

Smith said the procedure is usually painless, but there are risks.

“There’s the chance of over correction or under correction,” he said. “If it happens, it can be addressed with a touch-up procedure. There’s also the chance of infection or poor healing.”

Johnson said she has had no problems since having the surgery and would recommend it to anyone who is tired of wearing glasses.

“There’s nothing scary or painful about it all,” she said.

LASIK procedure typically costs anywhere from $1,500 to $2,400 per eye depending on the level of service the eye center offers, Smith said.

“We’re offering it as a premium service,” he said.

“You get post-operative care at no additional charge. There’s also no additional charge to retreat within the first year.”

Eye Center Optical is the only surgical eye center in Natchez that offers the LASIK procedure.

“This is something I’m really excited to offer Natchez,” Smith said. “I look forward to helping as many people as I can.”