Sarah Osolin
Being uncertain of where I will end up in the next few months; with the possibility of heading back to the states, staying in Korea, or hopefully moving to the Gangnam area. I decided it was time to have Lasek done in Korea. There were 3 main reasons. First, the cost in Korea is much less than the US. Second, Lasek surgery is more popular in Korea and surgeons typically handle more cases, thus have far more experience. Finally, the clinic I decided to use has an excellent reputation with foreigners.
About a month before surgery: I had heard when my summer vacation would be scheduled. I decided to do it. The meds I have been on for “Pollution Allergies” had been giving me dry eyes. This had made wearing contact lenses impossible. So I scheduled a consultation.
I hopped on the 9300 bus to Gangnam and an hour later I was there. The staff was amazing. In addition, to speaking fluent English, they were kind and courteous. They performed countless test on my eyes (24 tests according to the reading material). In the end they told me I was a good candidate for lasek. So I scheduled my surgery for July 28th at 3:30pm.
July 27th The Day before the Surgery: to prepare my eyes for the surgery, I used antibiotic eye drops 4 times.
July 28th The Day of the Surgery: I used the antibiotic eye drops once in the morning. Headed over to Gangnam. To my surprised I was one of a half dozen foreigners in the lasek clinic. Anyways, I was greeted by the staff and briefed with a powerpoint presentation of what would happen during the surgery.
Pre-op: I was asked to remove my cellphone, jacket and shoes. My face was disinfected and my hair was pulled back in a surgical cap. I was asked to not touch my face and guided into the operation room.
On the table: The right eye first. The eyelid was pried open with a medieval looking clamp. I didn’t feel any pain, just some discomfort. Then the doctor added some solutions and removed the first layer of my eyeball! No pain, but it was difficult to fight my body’s instincts. Now for the laser, look at the green light. Don’t move your eye. The doctor added a band-aide lens and we’re finished. Repeat on the left. The whole thing took less than 15 minutes!
Post-op: I was brought to a recovery room to rest for 30 minutes. I felt totally fine. No pain. I went home. I wore the most ridiculous protective lenses while sleeping and was fine. I had a hard time falling asleep because the protective lenses were uncomfortable. Sleep time = 2am
July 29th 1 day after the Surgery: woke up at 5:45 my eyes were a little dry added the eye drops and they were fine in 30 minutes or so. I had to get up at 7:00 am anyways for an appointment in Gangnam at 8:50. In Gangnam, the doctor looked at my eyes. He said everything was fine. So I went home. I felt very little pain all day. Every once and awhile it would feel like I was cutting an onion. When I added the eye drops the pain subsided. I went about a normal day. Went to the mall, and had an amazing chicken soup dinner. Around 8:00pm they started to hurt. My eyes got puffy and red the effect of the eye drops wasn’t as pungent. I took two Tylenol ER 650mg tablets. It barely touched to pain and it only got worse. All night I tried to sleep I woke up every two hours or so. I used the eye drops and took more Tylenol every 4-6 hours and vitamin c.
July 30th, 2 days after the Surgery: (I was warned about this) This was a day of tolerable pain, uncomfortable burning but tolerable. The only thing I did was listen to music, to try to relax. I had to keep my eyes closed all day. I drank around 4 l’s of water and ate yoghurt and fruit, like apricots. Food with a strong smell made my eyes burn more. I maxed out on the amount of Tylenol I could take. Around 6:00 pm I started to feel some relief. Hallelujah!
July 31st, 3 days after the Surgery: I slept well and woke up feeling much better, by noon I felt great. The pain was gone and my eyes stopped burning. I cleaned up my mess, (a pile of tissues and 4 empty water bottles) did some laundry and ate some real food. Around 7:00pm I was going stir crazy. I waited for the sun to go down and went for a 2 hour-long walk. The humid air felt great, better than the air-conditioned air I had been sitting in for the last few days.
August 1st, 4 days after the Surgery: I slept well and had no pain, just some discomfort. I felt totally normal minus the band-aide lenses that are still in my eyes and will be removed tomorrow at 10:00 am.
August 2nd, 5 days after the Surgery: went to the doctor this morning. The new cells are growing in nicely. My next check up is on August 10th, 2012.
August 7th, 10 days after the Surgery: I have started to notice my vision is much clearer in the morning, when my eyes are wet, but by the end of the day it becomes blurry again.
August 10th, 13 days after the Surgery: had another free check up. Everything is healling well. And the doctor told me that my vision will be clearer so long as my eyes are moist.
October 5th, 2 months after the Surgery: another check up this morning. I feel totally fine now. no glare. my vision is better then 20/20 and everything is healed. Success.
Thank you dream eye clinic.
