The process of lasering my eyes (LASIK)

Due to requests, i’m gonna write a little bit about my Lasik experience!! So it’s been a while actually, i did it a year ago, so I’m not going to remember every tiny detail but I’ll try to give a general overview so you guys reading can know what to expect 🙂

First of all, when should you do LASIK? Officially any age above 18 is fine, i’ve known people who did it as soon as they turn 18. I was 20 when I did it and it was fine because i know my eyesight has been stable for a long time and isn’t likely to increase again. Also choose a decent time, preferably during a break week from school or a time when you can take a day or two off work. Doing it on a Friday is ideal of course, then you can rest the weekend and maybe take a day or two off. After the operation i was told i can read emails already the next day as long as i put plenty of the medication and eyedrops, i just have to refrain from things like swimming, sports etc.

And then where? You can find private clinics or local hospitals that offer LASIK services rather easily. I’d recommend Shinagawa as the clinic to go to. I don’t have a basis of comparison but my experience was pleasant so I’d recommend this clinic 🙂 It’s a private clinic so it might be pricier than local hospitals, but then again it’s also more specialized as a whole clinic 🙂 It’s located at Wheelock place, also quite convenient, 5th floor! And it’s a pretty clinic!

For Shinagawa, they have talks every month or so, check their Facebook for when the talk is upcoming and RSVP for it. At the end of it they’re gonna waiver the $100+ consultation and pre-op checkup fees so make sure to attend the talk first! It wouldn’t take long, less than an hour for sure! But to get the complimentary check up you have to register for a date within a month’s time from the date that you attended the talk. So attend the talk only when you think you’re ready to book a pre-op checkup 🙂

So I chose a time period almost right after my semester ended last year, around May. Went for the talk and they clarified all our doubts. To me i’ve already decided i wanted to do LASIK so my most important decision was which laser to use and which type of cutting. So um to explain things simply, LASIK consists of two steps.

1. They cut a flap along your cornea. There are two ways to do this, using the knife or using a laser. The doctor was discouraging the knife method of cuz because the laser was more expensive, but there was truth in what she said too. The knife method is riskier because it cuts less cleanly and sometimes cuts too much or too little. An unclean cut could result in the laser later on deflecting and shit, basically it could mean your eye wouldn’t be totally corrected. Too little means they have to run the knife through your cornea AGAIN (my heart can’t take this), and too much means they could cut the layer off altogether and er you lose a part of your cornea unless you stitch it back on.The laser on the other hand follows coordinations set by the doctor to cut the depth length and width of the flap, and is generally more clean and accurate. I obviously chose this one haha, price difference wasn’t that great for me to even have second thoughts. I’m sorry if i exaggerated the knife one i don’t mean to be so biased, and seriously i think it’ll go fine even if you choose it 🙂 i’m just a paranoid rabbit.
2. They lift the flap and shoot the laser into your eye. Hooray. At his stage I had to choose between two types of laser technology, one is just faster and tracks your eyeball better. So meaning if your eye shifts it can follow your eye in lightning speed. But i didn’t think that was necessary because the other one sounded pro enough, so i saved myself some moolah at this stage.

So yeah these were my two main main issues. I’m kinda lazy to go through the technical terms and details but you can find that out on their website and they will tell you during the talk 🙂 I’ve already decided at this point what i wanted but yep needa go checkup first to see if my eye can be operated on.

I went through with booking an appointment for pre-op.  The checkup took maybe an hour or so? They peered and prodded my eyes for about an hour and then sent me to watch another video. At this point a lot of things have been done to my eyes… basically, they’ve put numbing eyedrops so they can touch my cornea without me wincing and they also put eyedrops that dilate your pupils so they can check better. But these mean that your pupils will be dilated for pretty much the rest of the day. So choose a day where you have nothing much to do. After all the prodding I finally met the doctor and she went through with me basic procedures and discussed my eye. My cornea is of normal thickness and there were no other complications, so i can go ahead with it. She did however discuss a lot with me whether i should do my right eye (degree of 0.75) because it was the lower limit for surgery. She said that in my case the risks outweigh the benefits so i shouldn’t do it. She recommended me doing my left eye first and if i can’t handle it later on, i can go on to do the second. I actually really wanted super perfect eyesight and wanted my right eye to be correctd too, but i decided she knew best. I liked her because she’s not all out for money, she gave advice that made sense from my point of view.

Also don’t freak too much about the risks! Yes those obscure risks about extreme dryness, blindness etc do exist but it’s really very rare. She told me i have 98% chance of perfect eyesight on my left eye (degree of about 3.5). 98% chance of perfect eyesight, not of a successful op. The 2% just indicated i might not be corrected to perfect, that i may be under or over corrected. Which, if I want to, can be re-corrected with a follow up surgery. So don’t worry too much 🙂 I’ve been in that position where i research non stop and act all paranoid hahaha.

random pic of shinagawa clinic @ wheelock just to brighten up the post

So I went ahead and booked a time to do my LASIK! Yay!

Rest well before the actual surgery!! Also don’t wear makeup perfume etc for a few days prior, they’ll brief you on that. I actually didn’t rest well the night before because long story, after sem party and people got drunk and i had to take care of them yknow usual stuff, but yeah PLEASE GET A GOOD REST BEFORE LASIK! Hahaha.

So the day came around and my dad accompanied me. It’s recommended you have someone with you to send you home afterwards because you might be kinda blind for a while. Not literally but yknow, it’ll hurt.

Damn it’s awful that i didn’t take any pictures so i can’t visually show you guys the clinic, the steps and processes etc.

So I was escorted to a room where they would do some more checkups on me and gave me numbing eyedrops. They then instructed me on the procedure again and gave me calming pills. LOL. Yes they give you those, i guess if you’re reallly scared you can ask for more. It’s probably why i wasn’t scared somehow during the op.

They brought me to the first operation room where they will cut a flap in your cornea. Here they inserted a suction cup thing into my eye to keep it still, like you can’t move or blink, neither do you feel a desire to… idk i guess it’s because your eye is being sucked so you don’t really tear up or feel like blinking. LOL. sorry i’m just second guessing biology here. This part was a bit painful the sucking thing hurt for me and I was wondering if its because i didn’t get enough numbing eyedrops or something went wrong and i wondered if my eyeball is gonna get sucked out. Sigh.

But anyway that went okay. They did the laser thing and i just kept very still. You don’t feel a single thing with this one. Then they lifted the suction and told me to keep blinking to get the air bubbles out from the flap. I blinked for over 5 minutes lol they kept coming back to check but my air bubbles were very persistent. FInally after blinking myself to exhaustion they came back and told me i can proceed to the next step.

They brought me to the laser room and instructed me on what to do. Basically i had to keep my eyes on one particular spot. Before they began i kinda shifted a bit and they stopped everything and readjusted the machine etc. They’re very accurate with their work so don’t worry 🙂 Then they started to laser my eyes and were counting down in the background. less than 15 seconds!

And then they were done. They brought me to a little private cubicle covered by curtains and asked me to lie down and rest. at this point my vision was dreamy, kind of like seeing everything in white light. I rested for a while before they took me to the doctor, and she sat down and told me that the operation went successfully. I could read emails the next day already, but had to use the eyedrop medications as suggested. She gave me little plastic cups to use as eye shields and told me to go home.

I met my dad outside and he drove me home. Remember to someone around to send you home, you’ll realize very soon why. On the way home the sunlight was kinda bright and although I wore sunglasses, it kinda hurt my eye. I closed my eyes and slowly the pain began coming back, the effects of the numbing eyedrops were wearing off. I would say try to get back home within an hour of your surgery because that’s when the pain slowly starts to seep in. Put your eyedrops the moment you get home, put your eye shield on, set your alarm hourly, and sleep. As this is considered nap time and not really your sleeping hours, you have to continue putting eyedrops hourly so don’t forget that!! Sometimes the eyedrops will be a little painful to put but it’s normal to sting a little.

me everyday after lasik

Everything else went smoothly from then, although I kinda rubbed my eye rather furiously and unconsciously during my 2nd night, my flap stayed in place haha. Went back to the doctor for subsequent follow up check-ups and she asked me if i have symptoms of dry eyes, which surprisingly i didn’t yay!! She told me about a week after that my vision was more than perfect and im like…..

I didn’t know more than perfect vision existed. Wells. Then a week or two after that she told me my flap healed completely and i just need to use the moisturizing tear drops, not the medications anymore. Until now, I still have perfect eyesight so I’d say my $1600 was well spent 🙂 the vulnerable period when your eye degree can worsen after lasik is about three months, so i’m well after that time zone. Hopefully it’ll stay this way as long as I take proper care of my eye~

Oh yeah as for halo effects that you may have heard before, yes i did have that for about a month but it disappeared really quickly for me. I’m one of the better success stories and it’s hard to say if the same will happen for you. My brother actually had really dry eyes and had to pay for extra medication because it was so bad. So it’s not even a family thing, I think. Haha.

But overall, it’s a really safe procedure and Shinagawa did it well. It’s getting more affordable too, i heard you could do it much cheaper in certain places. i went with Shinagawa because it’s the clinic my dad went to, and I like their professionalism. Eventually my brother and friends all went there too HAHA. So far I think they all still have perfect eyesight. I’d proudly recommend their clinic.