Lasek has a longer recovery time than Lasik and is generally more painful. After lasik, most people find they have clear vision almost straight away and can return to work the next day if they want to. However, your vision may fluctuate for a while as your eye recovers, you may suffer from eye dryness (for anything from a few weeks to more than a year if you're unlucky), and some people find they have a couple of weeks of mild visual effects before this dies down, too (including mild starbursts or haloes at night, so if you've had your eyes done by someone reputable and find this, it's best not to panic as it is more likely than not to go away over time). Generally, the effects are mild, so wouldn't normally, eg, prevent you from driving safely. Some people never notice any of this, never get dry eyes and wonder what all the fuss is about, of course... Others find they get all the problems and they don't ever all go away. You may also get subconjunctival haemorrhaging, which looks unpleasant but is totally harmless - just takes weeks to clear. Other side effects are very rare indeed, and long-term problems are very rare (provided your suitability for the surgery was properly assessed prior to going ahead, of course...). If you are like me, you will research them anyway and get into a blind (!) panic about it, convinced you'll end up needing a corneal eye transplant, and then for some obscure reason go ahead with it, anyway. Incidentally, I now have vision 2 lines better than 20:20 and no sign, yet, of needing a transplant, but I hopefully have another 50 years or so to live in which to suffer any number of unpredictable consequences, so watch this space.
After Lasik, you have to be careful about picking up anything heavier than a bag of sugar in the initial period (can't remember how long) after the surgery, so would need to be careful about picking up children!!! Also, you have to sleep in an eye mask for about a month afterwards. This is to protect the flap they create in your eye as part of the Lasik procedure - you wouldn't want it dislodged!!!!!!!! Small children and toddlers also do have very poke-inclined fingers, so it has been known for some paranoid types to wear protective DIY goggles at home when playing with their kids for the first few weeks!... I don't think any of the Laser Eye centres advise this one, though! Also, in the first month, you are given steroid drops and antibiotic drops (first week only for antibiotics) to take on a regular basis (and may also need dry eye drops), which may require you to keep your eyes closed for a short period several times a day. As for the number of follow up appointments, that partly depends on where you got it done and how straightforward the recovery process is... Hopefully, you would have had the sense to research the best place with the best equipment and the best surgeon so as to minimise the chance of ever having to go through the whole hideous procedure again and to minimise the risk of any unwelcome consequences/reassure yourself that your surgeon is also competent to deal with the complications and not just someone who creates the problems!
ps before you are assessed for your suitability for laser eye surgery, you have to have gone without contact lenses for a period of time, as CLs affect the shape of the eye, so you need to be CL free for long enough for your eyeball's natural shape to be apparent, otherwise the measuring equipment will get it all wrong...
pps I don't regret having my eyes done - it's fantastic to be able to see clearly, even in the rain... and wasn't as much of a problem as it may sound from the above to have your eyes done whilst looking after small children.