What a month it has been! After volunteering at the APG, I went to Yunnan, China for a 10-day tour with my family. It’s a nice period spent with my family, and to see the world. I love seeing the world.
After seeing the world through glasses since 1998, I finally seized the chance to get rid of spectacles!
Three days ago, I finally completed what I have had wanted to do for a long time, which is to go for lasik surgery. My parents, relatives, and even some friends had done the procedure, and I was very certain I wanted to do it too. The desire swelled in recent years as I’ve picked up running, and nothing spoils the running experience more than sweat-stained glasses even before hitting the 1-km mark. I finish all my runs in a literal blur because I perspire so much!
I’ve actually had a one to two-year break from wearing spectacles. When I was in Primary 5, my parents gave me this thing called Ortho-K lens which were something like temporary braces for your eyes. I relished seeing without spectacles in the day, before the vision slowly became blur in the evening (and I have to pop back the hard contact lens to sleep). After a while this became ineffective (and hard lenses were uncomfortable) so I reverted back to glasses.
Anyway, long story short, I thought it’ll be nice to share a bit of my Lasik experience here in case any of my friends may be considering it. (TLDR: It’s totally worth it, go for it!)
Pre-checkup
I didn’t really do any research when it came to Lasik. I only knew that I wanted to do it, at a not-too-pricey rate. So fancy, expensive ‘new’ technology didn’t appeal to me. What I wanted was a reliable doctor though. The decision to choose a clinic and doctor was simplified as my parents did their Lasik in 2009. Since their results were satisfactory, I just headed back to the same clinic and doctor, (the Lasik Surgery Clinic at Paragon, under Dr Marc Tay).
After the China trip, one of the first things I did was to call the clinic up to book a pre-surgery evaluation. The purpose is to check if I was a suitable candidate for Lasik, and if so, what kinds of Lasik were suitable.
As I wanted to do my Lasik quickly, I booked my pre-evaluation on Monday (21 Dec), two days after returning home. The whole thing took around four hours – mostly waiting time – and it was pretty trouble-free. There were many different tests done, mostly to check your degree and to check cornea thickness and stuff like that. We were also made to watch some videos on Lasik, kinda like watching the videos after passing your driving test.
The coolest thing about that day was when they dilated my eyes with some special eyedrops which basically made everything in close range blur. A bit like lao hua. It was thus not unsurprising to see many patients doing the pre-evaluation using their phones like an arm’s length away from their face. A preview into the future, I guess!
The last part of the pre-evaluation check was meeting the doctor to discuss options. I was relieved to know that I can do all types of Lasik the clinic offered, so I picked the cheapest one – bladeless/Intralase standard (non-wavefront) Lasik. It also didn’t hurt that there was a $300 student discount for all treatments (super awesome!)
I set the actual surgery appointment for two days later – on the 23rd of December, at 2:30pm. I was pretty excited.
Actual surgery
On 23rd December, my mum and Chelsea accompanied me to the clinic after lunch. I guess it was a bit deja vu for my mum to go back to LSC. The whole process on the 23rd was actually a lot more efficient than on the 21st.
I was quickly escorted to the waiting room, was given this pill to calm my nerves, and put on surgical overalls (it was a day surgery after all). When I entered the room, there were 4 other patients already inside. I was then briefed on what to do during the surgery, and more importantly, what to do after the surgery. Then Dr Marc Tay entered the room, and the first patient was called in.
I guess this was when I started getting a bit nervous (frankly I think I may have been too fidgety if not for the little pill) because I could hear sounds coming from the operating room behind me. (The sounds were coming from the laser machines) Before long, however, the first patient came out – without glasses – and the second patient was escorted in.
We were literally pieces in a production line. And I was the last one for the 2:00pm slot.
The first patient was then administered antibiotic eyedrops by the nurse (the eyedrops that we have to apply for 10 days after surgery), and then was allowed to go home, wearing a pair of pretty cool-looking protective goggles. (That’s it!)
After around a hour of waiting, it was my turn. The nurse put some numbing eyedrops in my eye (which I think were only half-absorbed) and sent me into this room with bulky machines and a reclining chair (not unlike going to the dentist).
The whole process was WEIRD. Thankfully it was quite fast.
The first step involved creating a flap using some lasers that will create air bubbles in the cornea. There was some suction involved and it was somewhat uncomfortable. Not painful, but just uncomfortable. I had to stare into this machine with a lot of holes of light, and twenty to thirty seconds later the flap was created. (It helped that the nurse and Dr Tay counted down because I could definitely feel the suction)
Right eye first, then left eye.
Then the reclining chair turned and I faced a different machine. This was the one that would do the actual Lasik.
Dr Tay put the scary ‘eye clamp’ thingy (I don’t know how else to call it) so that my right eye was always open. I could see from my right eye even when both my eyes are ‘closed’. I was then told to stare into the blinking red light (that’s what everyone told me when I asked what was the process like, and really, it was staring into lights).
The scary part (for me) was when the doctor opened the flap and everything became super blurry. Then the lasering process began. I couldn’t even find the red light in the beginning because it was so blur! But slowly I could see a very very blur red blinking light and I tried my best to just stare into it despite feeling quite uncomfortable (it’s just a foreign feeling to be seeing almost nothing) ‘cos I know it’s important not to screw it up.
(It should be noted that Lasik carries very low risk compared to other kinds of surgery)
After 42 seconds (that was not too long but definitely not too short), the process was over. Again, the countdown helped.
After the laser was complete, Dr Tay took this little tool to fold the flap back (you can really see the whole process) and he started to do something like a spreading action, like spreading butter on bread or something. I guess he was trying to eliminate air bubbles (just like when you apply a screen protector on your phone). It’s not painful, but I could feel a bit of the action. And again, it’s just weird.
I think my brain was having a hard time trying to accept what was happening. But really, not physically painful.
A few more eyedrops on the right eye, and then the left eye. Because my degree is lower in my left eye, the process took 38 seconds, but it was scarier because I knew what was going to happen.
Then it was over. Dr Tay then checked my eyes through a microscope and he said its fine and then I was escorted out of the operating theatre.
Other places have this practice of allowing the patient to rest in the premises for a short period before returning home, but I didn’t have to. After the operation, I removed the operation overalls and was allowed to go home.
And back home I went.
Post-op
Everyone has a different experience post-Lasik because everyone has different eyes and thus different recovery patterns. I guess I took after my mum because I teared A LOT immediately after Lasik. Chelsea very nicely waited with me while my mum got the car and the entire time I couldn’t open my eyes because everything was TOO BRIGHT. And I was tearing and feeling very uncomfortable.
The ride home was the worst. It was around 4pm, hot sun, down Bt Timah Road where there was a jam because of some Downtown Line related work. Even putting on sunglasses and covering my eyes with my hands didn’t work.
I was relieved to reach home but the hours after that were frankly very tiring also. I was supposed to apply the antibiotic eyedrops once every hour on the day of surgery, and I looked forward to each passing hour for the eyedrops because my eyes were so dry and I was seemingly unable to produce any more tears. I couldn’t open my eyes but I also couldn’t sleep because it was uncomfortable.
(I was prescribed sleeping pills but didn’t take them because I thought it was near dinner time and I wanted to take dinner, hahahah)
Over time it got better, and literally, as each hour passed I could stand opening my eyes for a few seconds longer. It was slow, but at least it was progressing. Dinner was an extremely quick affair before I retreated back to my dark room.
Anything electronic like the iPhone was too bright for me, even at the lowest brightness setting. I used Siri to reply to Chelsea’s messages (hahaha!).
I slept early, around 8.30pm, with the sleeping pills. I was also given plastic eye guards so I wouldn’t accidentally rub my eyes at night (which would be extremely troublesome).
Next day
Waking up the next day, I was so relieved to find myself no longer tearing or feeling too uncomfortable. I took off my eye guards and realised (again) I don’t need spectacles to see anymore!
I headed out and saw how beautifully sharp everything was. It was quite unreal, especially since my specs are also mostly in bad shape (with scratches and dirt). I could make out the detail in the trees in the distance. It was so beautiful.
My near vision was bad though, so I couldn’t really read anything on my phone or on the newspapers. But at least the brightness didn’t sting my eyes.
Everyone has a follow-up appointment on the next day after Lasik, and I was no exception. I headed to Marc Tay’s (other) clinic at East Shore Hospital, where I was checked for my visual acuity. No idea how I fared but I think not too bad (should be quite close to perfect). He says that people recover around 70% of their vision the next day after Lasik, and around 90% 2 weeks later. Full recovery is about one month.
The most fortunate point about my case is that I didn’t experience much dryness in my eyes anymore. It was such a marked contrast to the few hours after the procedure. Different people would have different recovery experiences, but I must say my experience so far has been beyond what I had expected and wished for. Very thankful.
Today
My vision has been steadily improving and I’m pretty much back to my usual routine, being able to view things close up and far away. Near vision is a bit blurry at times (it takes time to stabilise) and very near vision is not perfect yet, but things like night glare and halos are already at an acceptable level. I was well enough to meet Moyi and Letts on the 24th in the evening, and yesterday (and today) I went to Orchard to see the lights with my family (and Chelsea today) with no issues whatsoever. I also started driving day and night with no problems! 🙂
Hopefully things continue smoothly as my eyes continue to recover. 🙂 Thanks to the student discount, the total monetary damage for everything (including medication and GST) is around $2.9k for both eyes, one of the cheaper bladeless procedures around! 😀
Swee Life 