Sunday, June 13, 2010

Cosmetic surgery? Laser eye surgery - consultation day

 
 Goodbye to glasses and hello to circle lens?


Anygirls here are short-sighted, long sighted and with axis? I am short-sighted since the age of 6 and it doesn't get any worse. I'm a -10.5 with axis and basically I go blind with I don't wear glasses. It is so bad that i can't play with circle lens as they're just not strong enough for my eyes.

Reason why i do this post is so that anyone out there thinking of laser surgery can be more informative. not many post is dedicated over the pre-consultation, and despite the high successful rate, the internet is filled with horror stories. I find it a bit despressing that always the negative wins over the positive. How many stories we read about preventive jabs are great  but the horror stories about how painful it is?

My first impression was the sales pitch of these clinics. If you search, many clinics offer different kind of discount. Half price, referral etc. However, one needs to take care of is fixed price policy. The price shouldn't fluctuated because you have a higher prescriptions. But the price should be the same to anyone if it is a -1 to -10. Why? there's no difference to the techniques they used, after care. A flap to the eye still need to be created and the laser still need to go there and burn some tissue off.

I went with the one I know of. It is a clinic that is round the corner to my university and it's been there since 2003 (that branch at least) it is still there now so I have no problem finding where it is. The clinic is hmm fashionable shall i say? free hot drinks, relaxing chairs, cute sales great advisor and optician who knows their job.

I was given a 2 hour appointment because of  my high prescriptions and a need of further testing to see my suitability to IoL. the easy test, all involve shining super bright light on your eye, a puff test (its a bit like blowing sudden air to your eye) and various balloon watching test determine your current eye prescription. I was then lead to a qualified eye surgeron for further testing.


My drops that numb my eye
Then I do further eye testing to see what prescription I need. then the moment of truth. Numbing your eye and poking eye test....
My doctor put some yellow drops to my eye, which is the same they'll use on the day to numb my eye... then further testing can be continued. I saw a poking instrument, I asked 'are you going to poke my eye?' She said, 'No...' with hesitation.

 Unsure when she poked my eye but she did and i didn't even know. That numbing medicine rocks!

So the verdict, which the doctor explained in details... 

  1. my prescribtion is still do-able under laser but not IoL
  2. I have thicker cornea meaning that usually in my case I am not consider as borderlin case, but I have plenty of tissue to burn, and if my eye-sight is not corrected to 100%, they can still operate on me again
  3. My eyes are in an odd shape that is oval rather than a sphere shape. That means there's not enough room for lens insertation and I'm not suitable for that procedure
  4. I cannot use the latest technology which is called wavelength because it will take away more tissues. Doctor think is best to use the simpliest method and give me a chance if a further corrective operation is needed
Then I was whisked to the sales person. now, be careful, they are sales.. They don't care if you're just there for fun or serious. All they want to do is to get you booked in so that you can't say no. I am now booked in for a surgery two weeks from now, but I have asked them to call me again to decide then. You must think of as many excuse why you are not up for it at that little room where the sale is spining their pencil... 'I need to arrange someone to pick me up and hence they need to take a holiday' is a good excuse. 'I might be able to pay in full but need to just check if I can withdraw from my fixed deposit' is another good one.

For me, there's nothing to say no. I'm -10.5 and I am totally blind. In fact, my eye test is all free because of my high prescription, I'm just a little step away from calling myself disabled.

So I have booked in to have a laser surgery in 1 week. There's a long list to do... I'll be working my butt off from now

6 comments:

  1. Good luck and I hope it all goes well for you. I've had quite a few friends who've had it done and reckon it's the best decision they've ever made. I'm a little apprehensive about going for a consultation myself because the puff of air in my eye is very off putting haha! Also I'm so used to wearing glasses I reckon I would miss them!!

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  2. thanks Lazy A. it is all becoing rather a reality. My to-do list before surgery is getting ever long!

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  3. Brave girl, good luck with everything! I've been wanting to do lasik for so long...imagine not having to deal with contact lenses on my wedding day (my eyes are really sensitive, it itches and irritate after a few hours when I wear contact) BUT I am a chicken :)

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  5. hey hun~ good luck and please let me know how it goes. i've been thinking about it for a long time. I'm not far off you. I starting wearing glasses since 9yrs old. Now my prescription is -10. I can't remember not wearing glasses or contacts. I'm really squirmish. that is the main reason why i havent looked to far into it. i pass out from a little flu jab.. i dont know if i can take someone prodding my eye. xx

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  6. hi Kalai,
    i'll definitely do a journal when I can. I'm only 36 hrs away from my surgery. to tell you honestly, I'm totally scared to see my dentist and i have not seen him for 10 years now. I cried and scream when I see a needle. I can't stand it.
    Since the eye surgery does not involve a needle, I am fine for it at this moment. I tried the numbing eye drop and it is ok. The problem is the suction and the temporary blindness during the surgery which scares me. And I scare myself too much reading horror stories how horrible the surgery can go wrong.
    Everyone says it'll be ok, and I hope for the best.

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