My Lasik Experience

*Scroll to the end to see the detailed procedure for lasik surgery

A while ago, I just did lasik at Eagle Eye Centre, Mount A. To be exact, it was 2 weeks. It seems like the impossible that I would do lasik as I am always so paranoid about things. I remember when I first tried on contacts at the optical shop. It was like this...

Optician: Ok, now you have to dry your hands with a dry towel and balance the contacts on your index finger and put it into your eye.

Me: Erm, do I always have to use a dry towel? Can I use tissue instead?

Optician: ._. of course you can!

and my friend was like laughing away at the side.

I remember how I first thought of lasik to be SOOO sooo scary. A friend of mine described the lasik procedure like this.

First...imagine your eye as a coconut. Yes, a coconut.

It is nice and round. Basically, what lasik does is to create a thin flap of the cornea so that the inner cells could be lasered in order to shorten the length of your eyeball. (Note that the end of the flap is still attached to the eye. It is not cut off completely.) Well, short-sightedness comes from your eye ball being too elongated such that the light rays could not focus at the right point, resulting in blurriness. 

So my friend was describing it...

"You know, lasik is sooo scary. Imagine the doctor makes a mistake and your thin flap is entirely cut off! It's like the coconut, when you ordered from the counter and sees that the top part is missing. Ouch"

And all of us were cringing at that moment.

From then on, I could not imagine my eyes subjected to such horror.

However....I decided to embark on this miraculous journey one night because my friend was supporting me to do it and somehow my contacts rolled to the back of my eye that night. It was just so coincidental. Or rather, it's a sign.


Ok, now let me describe a little on the types of lasik one could opt for. There are 2 main types, at least that I know of, being available now in the market.

1. The bladeless lasik which most people go for it. It's painless and recovery is real fast. You can practically wake up with perfect eyesight on the 2nd day after operation. It is indeed like a miracle. One that I always dreamt of from young.

2. The EPI lasik. This is a little more complicated. It is much more painful and recovery takes a much longer time.

Now, you may ask, why would anyone opt for pain?

Reason being, your cornea has to be thick enough in order to do the usual bladeless lasik as a flap is created. If your cornea is too thin for even a flap to be created, you go for the EPI lasik. In the EPI lasik, the surface of your cornea is being exfoliated. As a result, the cells have to regrow from scratch, taking a longer recovery period and is more painful. Typically you need about 300+ microns of cornea thickness left to be safe after the surgery. Well, most people have cornea thickness of at least 400+ I guess, so it's not that likely that you have to be subjected to the pain of the EPI lasik. However, there is one good thing about the EPI lasik. As your cells regrow from scratch, when your eyes fully healed, it will be as if you had not done lasik at all. Of course your eyesight is now perfect. You can rub your eyes all you want, and play contact sports without the fear that your flap would get dislodged. Because, you do not even have a flap! Your cells regrow from scratch.

However, if you did the usual bladeless lasik, the flap NEVER heals completely. It is not significantly weakened, but it's not exactly the same as before. You have to be careful not to rub your eyes too hard (though the doctor says you could rub how hard you want after a month, people are usually very paranoid about doing that) and there is a very very small chance that your flap might get dislodged in future. But that chance is very very small. Imagine walking down a road and you fell, hitting your eye right into a nail. That would definitely cause you a dislodge. But even if you didn't do lasik, your eye probably wouldn't survive too. haha. Or more realistically, imagine walking down the road, and something hits you right in the eye. Ouch.

So, is it safe? What if your flap is "over" cut  like the coconut above? Well, that is a REAL concern if you opt for the mechanical blade procedure. In the mechanical blade one, there can only be one cut made. A mistake, and you are gone for life. Unless, you do a cornea transplant. You can't reverse the procedure. So... if the doctor "over" cuts, like OPPS, then too bad.

But with the advances in technology, no one goes for that procedure now. Because, there's now the bladeless lasik! This is very very cool and you got to pay real attention to this. I didn't know it until the doctor explains to me. In the bladeless lasik, the machine will first create bubbles under the cornea which is where the flap is intended to be created. If the flap is not perfect, the doctor will not go ahead and lift up the flap. Then what happens to the bubbles?! Well, it will dissipate within an hour or so and your cornea will be back to normal. If the bubbles created are perfect, the doctor will go ahead and lift the flap, and the flap is created. This way, there are rooms allowed for mistakes! I mean, not that the doctor would want to keep creating bubbles and let it dissipate if he didn't placed it accurately, because that is an ultimate waste of time and affects his reputation. But well, you can't deny that fact that doctors are also humans. They can also make mistakes. Who can guarantee a 100% success? Hence, knowing this creating bubble thing makes me much more at ease.

Another cool thing about the machine is, it will detect your eye during the operation. If your eye moves off, the machine will stop completely. Phew.

Ok, after so much introduction on lasik, let me describe what happened on that day. I did the pre-lasik assessment and lasik surgery itself all in one day. Most clinics doesn't seem to provide this one day get-it-all-done thing but Eagle Eye does. I did it under Dr Julian Theng, and he is really good and patient.
By the way, Dr Julian Theng only operates on Thursday, so pls take note of that while making appointment.

Pre-Assessment Procedures


The first test to be done is the cornea thickness checking. I was brought to a cold and dark room and asked to put my chin on the machine. Those that resemble the ones at the optical shop for eye checking.  I was asked to stare at the blue rectangle light inside the machine. The light rotated and I heard some clicking sound. Totally painless and fast.

The second test is the usual eye degree checking. It is exactly the same that you do when you are checking your eyesight using the machine at the optical shop. Look into the machine and observe an image being focused.

The third test is the air pressure test. This was the only test that was "thrilling". The assistant will tell you to rest your chin on the machine and open your eyes BIG. Then, a gush of air would hit your eye. The gush of air isn't painful at all. It's the anticipation of it that makes it scary. My eyes couldn't help but squint at the thought that a gush of air will shoot my eye. Of course, if the air didn't shoot your eye because you blink or turn your head, you have to do it again.

Now, the last test is the more accurate way of checking your eyesight. You are asked to read the usual alphabet chart on the wall. The optician will then slot in some lens for you and ask you to read the letters. A test for astigmatism was also done. You will see dots on the wall, and she will ask you if it's clear etc.

Lastly, dilating eye drops will be dripped into your eye to facilitate the checking of your eye by Dr Julian Theng later. So what will this dilating eye drop do to you? After a while, you will not be able to focus on near objects. It's as if you have long-sightedness. The physical observation of your eye is that your pupil enlarges. Btw, an interesting fact I heard is that, when you look at someone you love, your pupil will dilate. hahaha.

Then you will wait outside and rest.

The next stage is whereby you will meet with a opthamologist and he will have a discussion with you regarding lasik. If you have any questions, you can clarify with him. He will also look at the test report of your result, and advice you on the type of lasik you could do.

He said that my cornea is VERY THICK. It's like 580 microns or so. So even if I cut my cornea twice, no problem. lol. So, he advices me to do the painless bladeless lasik.

Being the paranoid me, I asked a lot of questions like:

Can I bathe after doing lasik?
Can I BBQ?
How dry will my eyes be?
Will I become blind?
Later get infection how?

etc etc.

He was very patient and explained to me all about it. I felt much more assured. He mentioned that there's a kind of complication that might arise for a particular group of people, but I was very very low at risk of it. Not to worry.

So after meeting him, I went to meet Dr Julian Theng!

He asked me to look into another machine again to check my eye nerves. There was a bright light and the image was enlarged and captured on the wall. I told him i have really dry eyes, or so I thought. Because after doing lasik, your tear ducts are damaged and your eyes becomes dryer (though it will heal with time), I was afraid that my eyes are too dry for lasik. Dr Julian Theng said that most patients who thought they have dry eyes, have severe dry eyes, but actually the dry eyes are still considered acceptable. Not too severe. Still can do lasik. As my degrees are (L)350, (R)400, Dr Theng is very confident of achieve a 6/6 for me! :D

So... after some thought. I arranged for an appointment in the afternoon at 5pm. What I like about Dr Theng is, he doesn't give me the pressure to agree immediately for lasik. When I told him I needed to think for a moment, he was still very friendly and smiling etc. I can feel his sincerity as a doctor, not the least bit profit-oriented.

Then I went for lunch, went to J8 (cause there was shuttle bus) and chill out before going back to Mount A for the op at 5.

Lasik Operation Procedure
First of all, I was brought to a room to wait and relax before surgery. The assistants there helped to dress me up in a paper drape and a paper shower cap. There was soothing music to listen to as I relax on the couch.

The assistant then dripped some anestatic eyedrops for me and cleaned my eye with iodine. It feels cooling and you can smell a bit of that iodine, the smell like those in labs. She explained to me the procedure later.

Dr Theng came out shortly, and brought me in...

I was asked to lie down on a structure that looks like those when you got for dental appointments. I wasn't sure if the anestatic drops were enough as I could still feel a bit. As part of the procedure, Dr Theng put in a stronger eye drop for me and I could feel no more. I mean, the eyes only.

Now, Dr Theng had to get ready my eyes for the operation. He taped my lashes gently using those surgical tapes. Next, he used this gadget that could open up my eye and prevent it from blinking. You should not fight against it or try to close your eye. If not, you might get abrasion on your eyeball later, which appears as red scars. But don't worry, the red scars would still heal eventually.

Dr Theng first operated my right eye. I was encouraged to blink as per normal, if not the left eye would dry out and my eyes would start twitching which is no good if I miss the alignment.


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Now, it officially BEGINS!
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He lowered the machine above my right eye. There will be a suction force felt and I would see pitch darkness for 15s. You can only feel some pressure on your eye, no pain. Dr Theng patiently count down for me for teh 15s before I regain my sight. He told me it would be hazy and blur after that as the flap is already created. 15, 14, 13, 12, 11.... and very quickly, this procedure was over.

Now that the flap is created, comes the laser part. I was told to stare at the green light above me. 30s is all it takes. Again, Dr Theng was very nice to countdown for me and reassure along every step. During the lasering, you can smell a bit of a burnt smell. It's normal, so don't freak out. That's your cells being burnt.

"Jinci, you are doing well. 15s more to go! Keep it going!"
"Jinci, the flap created is perfect! I'm sure everything will be perfect."
"Don't worry, things are going perfectly fine!"

Then, one eye is almost done! He then use some brush to clean my eye, brush off all the dead cells etc. I felt a cooling sensation. Last part of it is to put on a contact lens for me to protect that flap. It will be taken out the next day.

Same for left eye and all is done! Some people mention that they feel a scratch on their left eye when doing lasik. The explanation is that after your right eye has completed the procedure, your left eye is anticipating something to happen to it. Hence, it got a little more sensitive, so you feel something. But, I didn't feel anything at all! So, the key is, stay calm and relaxed. Don't worry.

Immediately after my lasik is completed, Dr Theng asked me the time from the clock on the wall. I could already make out the time! it's like 5.20pm or so. Though it is still hazy because my eyes have just been operated on, generally, I could still figure my way around.

GREAT!


And that marks the end of my lasik op day!!!

Stay tuned for updates regarding my day after visit and things to avoid after your lasik operation!




Please leave a comment if you think this post has been helpful to you! Appreciate it :)