In 1998 I had the chance to "throw away my glasses" and undergo LASIK. At the time, LASIK was not an FDA-approved procedure, but was being performed "off-label" on lasers that had been approved for another refractive procedure called PRK. LASIK is performed by cutting a flap into the cornea, flipping it back, burning tissue from the middle layer of the cornea (called the stroma), returning the flap to its original position, smoothing it into place and wait for healing to take place.