Two weeks ago today, I had LASEK eye surgery and for the first time since first grade, I can see without the help of glasses or contacts. Plus, I can see so much better than I ever could with said glasses or contacts and my doctor said it will only continue to improve. It's still a little hard for me to believe...
Here's how it all went down:
My friend Kim had the same surgery a year or so ago and had been raving about the results. Upon her urging (and the urging of several teachers at school who had also had the same procedure successfully performed), I booked an appointment for a free consultation at the same clinic at which Kim had her surgery, about which I had heard (or actually, read) nothing but rave reviews. After having a battery of eye tests performed over the course of a couple of hours (and being told that my eyesight would eventually regress to the point that contacts were no longer a viable option - with my near sighted-ness and astigmatism, my vision was somewhere around -12 in both eyes...), I decided to take the plunge (in true Noelle form - having done little research, but somehow finding myself in a fantastic situation...), scheduling my surgery for three weeks later during my school's midterms.
While it may seem like a pretty big deal to have surgery in another country, especially voluntarily, I couldn't have been more comfortable with my decision. Both of my nurses and my doctor spoke impeccable English, and made sure to fully explain each step of the tests, procedures and recovery to the point that I didn't have any questions. Several of the doctors at my clinic had even had the procedure done themselves by other doctors at the clinic, which was a major selling point to me. Korea is the leading place in the world to have this procedure done and since my doctor alone had performed over 20,000 surgeries, I felt like I was in pretty capable hands...
The day of the surgery, Toni and Dionne went with me (Toni drove me to all of my appointments! What a peach! And, she insisted that my nurses take pictures of the whole process, so it's thanks to her that this process was properly documented...). I arrived around 3:00, had a couple more tests done and by 3:45, I was laying on the operating table, about to have my corneas reshaped. I was fully aware of what was going on during the entire surgery (and the things I saw were pretty crazy!), but I can honestly say it didn't hurt at all. But, (and they told me this would happen), during the laser part of the procedure, I could smell a really strong burning scent (since, you know, that's what was going on...) - pretty gross, but totally worth it.
Immediately upon the surgery's completion, I could see (not totally clearly, but that's so not the point)! I was so surprised and excited and honestly, dumbfounded. I had to lay in a recovery room for about half and hour and then I was free to go. Just like that - HUZZAH, Noelle can see.
For the next five days, I literally laid on my couch in the dark, listening to audio books, podcasts and movies (while I was awake, that is) and imbibing as much vitamin C as I possibly could. The first two days were really comfortable - zero pain, but more anxiety over accidentally rubbing my eyes or somehow screwing something up. The next two days were uncomfortable - nothing I couldn't handle, but nothing I'd want to go through on any kind of regular (or irregular) basis. By Saturday morning (my surgery was on Tuesday), I was totally comfortable again. I have to put in several kinds of eye drops on a regular schedule (and will have to continue to use them for the next eight months!), and other than that, my life is totally normal.
Also, for almost two weeks, I wasn't allowed to wear eye makeup. If you know me well at all, you can imagine how traumatic this was at first - I've never even considered leaving my apartment sans eye makeup in the year and a half that I've lived here, so going to school on Monday morning with no eye makeup was a little crazy. Students and teachers alike were staring at me, trying to figure out why I looked so different. It got to the point that I had to start each class explaining why I wasn't wearing any makeup, which made for some pretty funny situations. I got asked if I had had plastic surgery, if there were no boys at school that I needed to impress and my favorite, "Teacher! Is it really you?" Ohhh high school girls.
Anyway, I'm overjoyed with the results and would agree with everyone to whom I talked about this surgery that this will prove to be one of the best decisions I've ever made. Seriously, this girl is a happy camper.
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