33-year-old nurse Emily Colorado has been wearing glasses since she was in junior high school, but after working in the ER with 12+ hour shifts, she decided to get laser eye surgery to avoid the hassle of adjusting her frames or trying contacts that dried out her eyes.

Still, the fact that patients have to be awake during this surgery can be a little daunting. In our video above, we follow Colorado through her Lasik eye surgery, getting an up-close look at the 10-minute procedure.

In those 10 minutes, Colorado's corneas are re-shaped to create 20-20 vision. “It’s one of the safest procedures done in medicine,” Neda Shamie, MD of Maloney-Shamie Vision Institute, says. With a stabilizing ring on one eye at at time, Colorado’s lids are open as the bed rotates and a laser creates an ultra-precise clear flap that is soon folded and positioned in place over the eye.

After the procedure, Colorado felt the normal effects of slight blurriness and dryness, but she was able to go about business as usual. She was even able to read the digital time on her TV box without straining her eyes — the dream. “Patients can go back to work. They can drive. They can really get back to their life with excellent vision,” Dr. Shamie says.

20/20 vision leaves Colorado with one less thing to worry about. “It’s so nice and refreshing to not have to worry about waking up the morning and putting contacts on. I’m 33 now. I’m able to see like normal people...The fact that I’m here now and able to see normal and clear, it’s amazing.”

Press play on the video above to see Colorado’s Lasik eye surgery up close and personal.