In late August I wrote about being allergic to contact lenses and never being able to wear them again. After several check-ups I opted for Lasik to correct my eye sight so I could do away with glasses, red swollen eyes and major head-aches.
The Short of It:
Early Sept: went for several tests to see if my cornea and eye-ball could take Lasik Surgery
27 Sept: did the right eye …
28 Sept: 6/12 for right eye …. did the left eye …
29 Sept: 1st follow up check up …. 6/7.5 for right eye …. 6/9 for left eye … slight problem of seeing double with left eye but doctor says it should clear
Conclusions is …. I CAN SEE!!! Still need a couple of months for the eyes to stabilize before can say what my final vision is.
Thank you shaoann and fritzq for being there for me sweetness!!
THE TESTS!!
They check your degree plus astigmatism and dilate your pupils to look into your eyes and then map your cornea to see if its thick enough. Quite thorough to see if you qualify for the surgery. I had to go upstairs to see my old surgeon cause I had a retina detachment years ago. He cleared me for the operation and I was set to get my eyes done!!
DAY 1!!
shaoann came with me and we saw his friend Hendro who was also having his eyes done. It was quite worrying when he pulled Shaozie aside to tell him about how nerve-wrecking the procedure was and how he needed to “release to someone about it!!
fritzq arrived shortly and they were all waiting while I went in to have my corneas mapped and eyes dilated. Had a dot stuck over the eye I was supposed to have done. They offered me a valium and i said YES!!!
Hendro took his valium a little late so he came out of surgery still bubbly but you could see him waning as the time passed before his friend came to pick him up. Was quite funny to watch his energy levels drop.
Anyway … into the operating theatre I went … some discomfort as they cut the cornea flap. Lots of eye drops and staring into the red light and out I come tearing and blinking. Couldn’t really see clearly so not sure if the procedure worked. Valium had hit and all I wanted to do was go home.
Shaozie and Fritz drove me back and when I was safely in familiar surroundings, they left for lunch. I fixed myself a sandwich and crawled into bed to sleep. Woke up at 3pm from searing pain in my eyes and it went on for a few hours. I teared and teared until I fell asleep again. Was actually quite worried and SMSed a few people. They all told me to rest my eyes and sleep.
Was up in the evening and trying to do a couple of things. Cooked myself dinner and watched a little TV with my unfixed eye … figured I shouldn’t be tiring my eyes so I crawled into bed at 9pm.
Procedure depicted graphically is below:
DAY 2!!
Woke up at 7am and Shaozie arrived at 8am to fetch me to the hospital. We got there nice and early and Hendro was there too …. about to get his other eye done. This time fritzq, speedo28 and robingoh were there too!!! THANKS for being there LOVES!! You’re all darlings!!!
I could sort of see in the corrected eye but things are kind of weird with one eye corrected and the other eye not.
Same procedure and I come out of surgery and instead of heading straight back, we all went for lunch at Delta market. Eventually everyone ended up at my home and I put on the wonderfully stylish goggles for everyone to see. I’m sure speedo28 will be posting pictures of them here soon.
Anyway … everyone left and I crawled into bed again. Woke up again at 3pm to some tearing but it wasn’t as bad as the 1st day.
By that night … things were clearer and I could watch TV!!! Reading small print like SMSes was still hard but I could see!!! At one point I even felt I had to take off my contact lenses before sleeping but then i remembered!!! I’m not wearing any!!!
Its amazing!!! Stil gotta take time to heal and take care of my eyes but I can see without aid!! It takes a while to get used to getting up in the morning and seeing everything clearly. I’ve caught myself “taking” of my glasses before I lie down or go into the shower.
We got one of these cards to carry around!! Shaozie calls it some badge of honour and says he’ll probably get his done in a few years!!
They say cause of my degree, me eyes will take about 6 to 9 months to stabilize. Keeping fingers crossed all goes well!!
Anyway …. if you want to find out more info .. you can visit the SNEC website.
P.S. : In case you’re wondering … it took quite a while to put this entry together. Not at one sitting cause I didn’t want to tire my eyes out and my vision flactuates so sometimes I can see small print. Sometimes I can’t. Waiting for the time I can look at someone and correctly say if he’s cute or not … or there will be many more incidents of me pointing at old geriatrics on bicycles asking “cute or not ah”??
hey sweetie … yeah … resting this weekend but hoping to be out and about by next week!!!
see you soon la
hope you’re doing well
actually you’re not supposed to wear contacts 1 week before your initial eye tests (they check if your cornea is thick enough for the op)
then 4 days before surgery no contacts
1 week after surgery no eye make-up and must avoid soap water getting in the eye. i bathe using swimming goggles.
you even get a pair of stylish goggles to wear to sleep.
eye-sight stablization really depends on individuals. some air-crew i heard go back to work after 1 or 2 days. but doctors usually recommend about 3 – 4 days at least. if you’re gonna stare at computer screens it may be hard as your vision can flactuate and sometimes you gotta squint a lot to see small print.
gets better as the days pass. today seems a good clear day for me .. guess its also cause got a lot of sun!!!
night time you get a lot of glare from artificial lights but they say that passes with time too
I recommend my fren’s lady doctor!!! he thinks she’s very thorough and sensitive. my guy doctor a bit gung-ho and i think i wud have preferred a ladies’ touch for this kinnd of operation
woah..this is a clear n vivid description of ur surgery.
hmm.so it takes abt 2-3 days to ‘recover’ from the surgery? Wonder does it mean that i have to avoid putting makeup ard my eye area after surgery too.
WIll check out SNEC soon..I long for 20/20 vision too!
Welcome back to LJ!
hope u get to see properly soon !
thanks for well wishes!! hugs
thanks sweets
costs
some people have been asking about costs so thought i’d post my answer here as well:
lasik at SNEC… cost $3,000 to $3,200 (consultant) all in all including eye & cornea tests, consultation, medication plus follow-up check-ups. suggest looking for a female doctor to perform surgery as i believe they are more careful and thorough.
if you get a senior consultant or head of department to do the surgery its more ex …
There are 2 machines i think .. Waverfront and Ladarvision 4000. one is better for high astig and the other for high myopia as it lasers away less tissue. doctors will usually advise.
its not really a lot of pain la .. as shao ann says .. i got low thresh-hold for pain
but its amazing to see again without glasses!!!
ahh.. now i understand what you meant when you said you could see again… sorry din know you went for lasik!
sounds like it was an awful lot of pain.. but glad it’s getting better. and it’s all worth it, no more fumbling with glasses and contacts! so exciting!!
hey hey….. hope your eyes will take less than 6 mths to stabilize.. than you can see everything bright and clear!
i guess the pain varies from person to person. most of my friends didn’t experience anything more than minor discomfort. but they also didn’t try to do anything other than sleep after the surgery!
hope you make a good recovery and gain perfect vision real soon!
*hugs*
Me is 850 myopia + 250 astig for each eye.
Eh, you better come back work fast. I WANT TO DIE ALREADY!
Thanks. hehe =)
wow.. pain like poking eye for 1 hour.. that sounds nasty.
I guess ultimately it is the end result that matters huh. Hope for a speedier recovery. See you in the clubs with your almost perfect eyesight soon.
love all the pics you’ve been posting
hendro got the major pain too … he described it as someone poking your eye for about 1 hour
nurse at SNEC says usually only one eye will hurt
david leong did surgery too and he says he doesn’t remember the pain …guess the recovery of sight is what everyone remembers
according to the card
right = 900 + 75 astig
left = 824 + 25 astig
today is not really a good day .. things a bit blurry
Welcome back to LJ. Sounds like an awful day after surgery! I would probably need an extended dosage of valium for the day after. They don’t provide any pain killers? I don’t recall my friend telling me that he experience pain the day after though. Is it common?
hmm, previously your eyes how many degrees?