Getting LASEK in South Korea: Part 2

 This is the second part of my LASEK story: surgery and recovery. If you want to read part one, about my consultation appointment, check out my previous post.

It's been just over a week since I paid a qualified stranger to shoot laser beams into my naked eyes. That sounds absolutely ridiculous, but it feels like a modern medical miracle, because I can see clearly without glasses for the first time in a decade. While my eyes are still susceptible to injury (all the contact sports I have never played will sadly have to wait) and my vision may take months to reach literal perfection, it's kind of amazing how well this has worked, and how quickly. I keep having the realization that there are no contacts in there to remove, and the world does feel a little bit newer because of that. I look around a lot at everything, like a stunned baby, and I can understand why people recommend LASEK so highly.

Following the consultation, the surgery itself was pretty straightforward. I returned to Dream Eye Center, and a nurse ran me through a few eye tests again, presumably to triple check the state of my eyes before lasering them. The doctor took another look at my eyes as well, and confirmed that we could proceed with the surgery that day. His manner was encouraging, and overall the staff did a great job of helping me feel at ease. Clearly many patients have a lot of nerves going into this, and I was definitely feeling some of those, but overall I was calm going into surgery. It helped to remind myself that I was doing something positive for me, an act of personal care and forethought that would improve my quality of life moving forward. These reminders helped centre me in my nerves, probably because I haven't always treated myself very well. It felt good to be doing something significant for me, by me. 

Before the procedure, a nurse took my blood, in order to make the coolest thing ever; personalized eye serum. Because it was made with my blood (plasma? I don't know. Science), it would help my eyes heal themselves more effectively. So cool. To prepare for the surgery, she then had me watch a short video about what to expect during the process. In normal Korean fashion, the video featured a number of emojis and exclamation points that would likely be considered unusual for a medical procedure back home. However, the video was effective for helping me understand the steps leading up to and including the eye lasers (and I value emojis for communication, personally). The first step was sanitization. I was put in a cap and overgown, and my entire face was thoroughly wiped with a disinfectant solution, which stung my eyes a little. I was guided into the operation room and laid down, momentarily forgetting to remove my slippers (shoes inside is highly forbidden in Korea, but hopefully my faux pas was forgiven, considering my level of distraction here). I was offered a small stuffed toy to hold, which I eagerly snatched, and I was covered with a blanket. Usually the anesthetic eye drops are pre-administered by the nurse, but in my case the doctor used them at this stage, because I had an adverse reaction to them in my consultation. There was no bad reaction this time- maybe my nerves had somehow overridden my body's concern about the drops, given that I was now directly underneath the laser machine.

The surgery itself was very brief- maybe five to ten minutes total. It was painless, as promised, but pretty uncomfortable. One eye was covered with gauze, and the other eyelid was pulled back and restrained, to keep my eye open. This felt super weird, but was obviously necessary. In the first part of LASEK, the thin top layer of your eye is dissolved. I think this was the part where it looked (from my perspective) like the doctor was brushing a coat of liquid across my eyeball, making my vision temporarily milky. Following this the doctor exclaimed 'laser time!' which, as you can imagine, did not exactly soothe the nerves (though I suppose 'prepare the laser!' or something of that sort would have sounded straight up villainous). As the video had instructed, I tried to stare into the small green light above me, as the lasers did their thing for twenty-something seconds per eye. It was very difficult to concentrate and stay calm, and yes- I could definitely smell something burning. But in a few short, intense minutes, a happy song was playing and I was being escorted out of the surgery room, all the while being warmly congratulated, presumably for skillfully avoiding an anxiety attack on the table. 

I could immediately see better than before the surgery, but overall I felt very disoriented. I was led into a comfortable recovery room to rest my eyes for twenty minutes, and listen to music I had preselected (while I did not personally choose K-Pop, it was an option. I opted for the favourite, classical). A nurse then explained my prescriptions (mostly various eyedrops), and went over the recovery rules with me again. I was sent to the building pharmacy, and then I was free to go. While they instruct patients not to drive themselves home (which would be totally impossible in my opinion), they said I could take the subway, but I chose to take a taxi back. It may have been possible to take public transit, but it certainly wouldn't have been ideal, as I was still feeling very disoriented and light-sensitive. At this stage my vision was also still pretty poor, and it would take a few days to adjust more evenly. I was glad to be spared any navigation responsibilities.

The most important recovery period for laser eye surgery is the first few days immediately after. The clinic advised scheduling three days to rest, but I would recommend taking more time if possible. My surgery was on a Wednesday, and while I felt much better by Sunday, I didn't really up to fully resuming my life until the following Tuesday- almost one full week later. Frankly, my eyes were in a lot of pain for the first few days. The pain was mostly dull, with occasional sharp stabs, and over the counter painkillers (I used strong Tylenol) helped a lot. Basic hygiene presented some challenges, as you have to be very careful not to get water (or anything really) in your eyes; I'm pretty sure at one point I showered with sunglasses on. You also have to wear sleep goggles for a week so you don't poke your eyes or accidentally remove your temporary protective lenses, which makes it hard to get a solid rest. Lights are way too bright, so you may want to cover your lamps with scarves like I did, creating a sort of dimly lit cave in your apartment. Screens are likewise difficult to use, so if you weren't already into podcasts, you're into them now. Personally I napped a lot, and I could tell that my body was working to heal itself.

It's a challenging few days, but it's worth it. Two weeks later, my vision is better than I can remember it ever being, and it will continue to improve over the next few months until it's 20/20. At my one week follow-up appointment, the doctor removed the protective lenses, and told me that the top layer has successfully healed. I'll have another appointment at the one month mark, to check on my progress (and all these appointments are included in the cost of surgery). Many patients report major eye dryness, but so far I only have minor to moderate dryness and discomfort, and eyedrops do help. I find I still need to restrict screen time, as my eyes remain a little sensitive. I can't rub my eyes (of course I want to), but otherwise they feel normal. I'm definitely still getting used to being able to see- I keep thinking I need to remove these contacts before bed. It's a surreal feeling, but a good one. 

Overall, if you're considering laser eye surgery, I can say I'm glad I chose to do it. My vision will soon be perfect or better, and I'll never have to buy contacts or replace glasses again. If I require a secondary surgery (which is unlikely), I can obtain it for free at this clinic (though of course it's located in Korea). In my case, LASEK abroad was about half the cost I would have paid at home in Canada. The recovery, while painful, was short and manageable, and so far there are no concerning side effects. If you have any questions about the process, please comment here or message me on instagram (@thefrannable)!

Thanks for reading,

- frances :) <3