Lasik In Korea

Lasik is something I’ve wanted to do in Korea since before I came.  I knew it was a common procedure and that it was significantly cheaper than the US.  I didn’t plan however to get it done this February until about a week before I actually got it done.  From February 16th to the 24th my girlfriend and I planned, booked and bought everything for a trip to the Philippines, but about a week and a half before we were supposed to go, she was told by her school she had a mandatory teachers workshop on February 19th. She couldn’t go and I didn’t want to go without her, so instead I decided it was the perfect time to do Lasik.  Had I gone on the trip I would have waited until next February.  A friend of mine had just got it done three weeks before at the place I had thought to, so on the 14th I scheduled an eye exam.

Since my eyesight wasn’t bad, I  have normal pupil size and cornea thickness, three procedures were available for me to choose from: 1st generation Lasik with the longest recovery time and a strict three drop routine for three months, 2nd generation Lasik, where a flap on the cornea is manually created, or 3rd generation SMILE Lasik, the newest and least evasive with the fastest recovery time. It was also more expensive by $1,000.  The price gave made me pause, I wanted to do SMILE, but the cost of it was a month’s salary and I had just got back from Sri Lanka.  The assistant saw this, went away and came back and said they could take $100 dollars off if I do an interview the day after the surgery.  I said yes, choose the doctor who has been performing the surgery the longest (7 years) and scheduled it for the following day at three.  I could have done it the same day, but the next day was my schools graduation and even though there was only 1 student in the 6th grade class, I wanted to be there for him.

The Day of the Surgery

At the doctors office leading up to it I was terrified, nervous, everything that could go wrong I imagined happening to me. From what I wast told before, there is a moment during the surgery in which you loose vision in your eye for thirty seconds. I read how these thirty seconds could feel like minutes. As I sat in the waiting room I tried taking deep breaths with my eyes closed counting to thirty attempting to prepare myself for what was to come. My heartbeat was uncontrollable, within fifteen minutes I had to pee twice. While I sat there waiting, two people underwent eye surgery and I was able to witness the procedure. I tried not to look and focus on breathing, but through giant clear windows it was hard to ignore. Accepting the fate which was about to befall me I relaxed a bit, that is until they called my name and I laid down on the bare MRI-like bed in preparation for the surgery.

Head strapped in, numbing eye drops in, teddy bear clenched in a hug at my chest, the doctor said, “Look at the green light for 24 seconds and don’t move your head even when it disappears.” I thought my heart was going to rip through my chest and fall onto the floor. I felt a slight pressure on my eyeball, but besides that there was no feeling.  The green light disappeared and I continue looking into nothingness, “16 more seconds, keep looking,” the seconds ticked by “8 more seconds, almost done” and at 0 the green light came back and the pressure was off my eyeball.  It did’t feel like minutes and it wasn’t like going blind, since it was only in one eye you still have the sensation of being able to see.  The procedure continued, there was a bright light and  I felt as if I was looking at a light  from under a bed sheet, “follow the light” as it moved I kept my eyeball moving to it.  There was no pain, only pressure.  When he finished, he cleaned it off as a window washer squeegees a freshly wet window. It’s weird, it’s as if you are watching it from behind glass.  After, he moved onto the next one, same procedure, same amount of time.  All in all it took maybe 15 minutes.

After the Surgery

Right after the surgery it felt as if my eyes had glue in them, they were so dry and my right eye, still numb felt like it wasn’t closing.  I had to look into a mirror to make sure it was, but I could see! It was a relief knowing I wouldn’t go down as the first documented case of blindness due to Lasik. I was able to see the increased sharpness in my left eye almost immediately, but my right was blurry, like it was covered in Vaseline.  They were also extremely sensitive to light.  Thankfully my girlfriend was there to help me.  We went to the hotel, kept the lights off and drew the curtains to keep the room in relative darkness.  Since I couldn’t look at my phone she helped send messages to my family to assure them I was okay.  That night, sleep did not come easily.

The Day After

With some sleep and morning drops, my eyes already felt better.  Considering I had surgery less than 24 hours ago, everything felt pretty good.  Everything except my right eye, it didn’t feel as sharp as my left and I kept closing my right eye looking at an object with my left and then doing the reverse to see if it looked the same.  I immediately thought the surgeon messed up, but then reminded my self that recovery will take time.  On a positive note, I had no pain and went back to the doctors office for the check up and he assured me everything looked great, just some minor scratches on the right eye due to dryness that will go away.  Following the surgery were certain things I had to avoid:

• no showers or face washing for three days
• no drinking for a week and heavy drinking for a month
• no swimming pool for a month
• avoid night driving for 2-3 weeks
• no baseball or volleyball for 2 months
• avoid computer usage for a long time

Four Days Later

My eyes felt great, but my left eye felt weird and in the morning it continued until it just went away.  Something must have been in it.  Up until this day I had been avoiding all electronics, doing puzzles and listening to podcasts, but I finally caved and decided to play playstation.  I have my old glasses that they fitted with blue light lenses that are supposed to help when lookng at electronics.

Two Weeks Later

I’m extremely happy with my decision and am now down to just using wetting drops. Previously I had to do two others: for a week 7 times a day antibiotics and for two weeks 4 times a day anti-inflammatory drops.  Looking at really bright lights of colors tires out my eyes and typing this is the first time I’m really using a computer and can feel them getting tired, but they feel great.

Costs

2,300,000 won for the surgery   = $2,040

60,000 won for hotel and dinner  = $53

37,000 won for drops  = $33

30,000 won for special lenses  = $27

Total: 2,427,000 won = $2,152