Warning – the next paragraphs are a bit graphic, and I don’t recommend reading this if you are about to get Lasik eye surgery—you’ll be better off not reading this prior the operation.
So, I had my Lasik eye surgery done last Friday, and it was scary as hell. The operation itself was actually very short—I think the time between laying down on the operating table, and getting up was maybe like 8 minutes or so, but the fact that you are fully-wake and seeing every move the surgeon is doing to your eyes ain’t a pleasant experience.
For those who don’t know, during Lasik eye surgery the ophthalmologist is cutting into your cornea to create a thin flap, then opens up the flap, and shoots a Laser beam into your eye to evaporate some tissue which results in a reforming corneal stroma. The flap is then repositioned by the surgeon and off you go seeing clearer due to the reformed cornea.
Well, the laser part of this operation isn’t a problem. It’s really just like someone shining a light into your eye, and the process was only 10 seconds per eye anyways. However, it’s the process of cutting your cornea and repositioning the flap that is very uncomfortable and downright scary.
First, the surgeon attaches a clamp to your eye that holds your eye lids to prevent you from closing your eyes. He then puts some eye drops that act as a local anesthetic and numbs the area (though you could still feel everything). Now comes the scary part, when he uses some kind of mechanical device to cut the flap in my eye. That device makes that commonly-known drilling sound you are already accustomed to from your dentist visits. You could then actually see the surgeon move the device over your eye from right to left for your right eye (or left to right for your left eye) like a lawnmower. Seriously! During this process you can actually see the world around you start becoming blurry along the path that the device leaves behind. At some point, you also lose parts of your vision. Next, you are asked to look at the red dot (though it was just a blurry red area for me, and I am like “where’s the red dot?!”). A blue laser shoots into your eye for ten seconds (which neither was painful nor unpleasant). Then, to reposition the flap, the surgeon uses some kind of knife-look-alike and pokes into my eye. He then puts a small fan near my eye to it dry out, and before you realize the operation was already over before it has begun.
As mentioned, the operation itself is pretty quick—maybe like 1-2 minutes . The first eye wasn’t much a problem, because I didn’t really know what to expect and was just surprised along the way. However, as the surgeon moves on to my left eye, I knew exactly what was ahead of me, and I was scared like sh*t!
Nevertheless, I survived the operation. It was painless and quick—just very uncomfortable and something I’d rather not do again. After the operation, I was able to see much clearer already without glasses, but a lot of things were still very blurry. After the operation, I had my friend Bao T. Ngo drive me home, and after taking a sleeping pill, and slept all the way until the next morning.
As I woke up the following day I noticed that things are still a bit blurry, so I start to worry and try to remember if they told me whether that’s normal or not. At any rate, I started the routine of putting inflammatory and anti-biotic eye drops into my eyes every 2-4 hours, and drive myself back to medical center for the post-op check-up, during which they concluded that my flaps look all nice and where they are supposed to be, and that my eyes are still swollen (as expected) and that this correlates with my blurry vision (which was also expected). My eyes still feel a bit itchy, but my weekend just went on as though nothing has happened--did schoolwork and readings, worked on the computer, drove myself to a birthday dinner and played bowling with friends.
It’s has now been 2 ½ days since the operation, and my vision ain’t exactly 20/20 just yet, as my eyes are still swollen, but I am already going around without glasses (well, I did have to buy and use sunglasses though). My vision is improving every day though, and I expect that by the end of the next week, I should be seeing pretty clearly (and probably 20/20). I still have to do eye drops at set intervals for the next two weeks, so that’s a bit of a hassle and have to skip out on my weekly volleyball and racquetball for a while, but come April I’ll be worry free and join the millions of patients who don’t regret having Lasik eye surgery done.