12 hours after LASIK, I was watching TV before I went to bed. As I felt myself dozing off, I nearly wanted to get up to remove my lenses. Until I realised I wasn’t wearing any. Hahaha. Not used to sleeping with clear vision lah.

Less than 24 hours after LASIK, I woke up and saw the time clearly without having to reach for the alarm clock. Despite my mum telling me otherwise, I drove myself to SNEC for the review. “I can see what…”

Verdict: The corneal flaps created yesterday are no longer visible. No pain. No redness. No excessive dryness. No significant halos at night.

6/6 for my right eye!

6/6 (-1) for my left…

Minus one because I couldn’t see one of the numbers on the last row clearly.

Good enough to shout WOOHOO!

In the meantime, I’m instructed to use the antibiotics eyedrops every four hours for a week, and lubricant eyedrops every now and then for a month. I’m supposed to be very gu-niang when I bathe, in order not to let any water enter my eyes. And oh, I’m told to stay away from water sports and other contact sports like soccer, which really isn’t difficult at all…

A big THANK YOU to Dr Lim Li and the team of friendly and professional nurses and counter staff at SNEC. Those of you who are curious about the fees, click here. You might want to note the 0% installment plan at the bottom of the page.

I’ll be back on air tomorrow.

Hey folks, nothing went wrong during the operation! Muahaha.

I must say LASIK is one of the best inventions ever. And also one of the freakingly grossiest procedures I have ever went through. (The stapled haemorrhoidectomy I did last Nov is equally yucky. But at least I was totally unconscious then…)

I went to SNEC with a totally blank mind. The IM conversations, SMSes and calls, including a particularly sweet one, made me excited for a while. A short while. Generally, I was sleepy and just wanted to get it over and be done with. My heart beat was constant throughout the two hour wait. None of those “what if” scenarios flashed across my head. Sort of like queuing to buy a can of Coke, you know? Yes, my nonchalance did startle me for a while.

My pulse only started racing when I was asked to lie down in the LASIK suite. This is IT! This is really IT!

For me, the grossiest part wasn’t witnessing a flap being created in my corneas- I mean how often do you see someone holding something that close to your eyes and literally cut and fold something back while you don’t feel any pain? I couldn’t stand the part where they had to use a metal object to keep my lids open. Wah lao!

Anyway, the laser pulses began its work soon after. Low heavy sounds were heard- not the Star Wars kind. “Keep staring at the red light”. Ok ok. And soon, the surgeon was closing the flap. It was almost like windscreen wipers on your eyes. Amazing!!!

There was about a minute’s pause before the second eye was fixed. And I was allowed to leave ten minutes after.

*Post Op*

Generally ok.

I’m told to apply lubricating eyedrops every 15 mins, and antibiotic eyedrops every 2 hours. The surgeon I could sleep and skip the lubricants, but I’d have to strictly follow the timings for the antibiotics.

There has been no pain till now. Just felt a slight pressure on my right eye before I napped, but it was ok after I woke up. Eyes aren’t excessively dry, and there’s no redness. I don’t know if it’s actually 6/6 now, because I’m wearing shades and my eyes are constantly in a watery state because of the eyedrops. I think there should be no major post op complications. And even if it’s not a 6/6, it should be very close to 6/6.

Cool.

Now that this is done and out of the way, should I do botox or liposuction next?

Didn’t sleep well last night. But I guess I’m not likely to fall asleep while they ‘open up’ my cornea.

I’m now sitting here looking silly with a blue sticker above my right eye to indicate that it will be fixed before the left.

3 patients before me.

People, This is IT! Woohoo!

Best SMS from HS:

Tee Gong, Dua Pek Gong and Tu Di Gong, please por bee our vainpot ah beng Cruz ping ping an an for lasik later, and come back with chio eyes

The SMS is much appreciated. Though I object to the adjectives she used.

HS:
How how?

Cruz:
What? Today is the PRE consultation lah.

HS:
Chey! Waste my power leh.

What? My previous post was titled Pre LASIK Consultation right?

Anyway, thanks! Haha.

I went through a series of tests this morning. Everything was normal. Except…

Cruz:
Oh! They said my left eye is 250; right eye 300.
And erm, I’ve been wearing 325 lenses since forever.

A:
Well done.

Moral of the story: If you buy lenses off the shelf like I do, please do regular checks.

Later, eyedrops was used to dilate my pupils. I was happily MSN-ing away on my phone when I suddenly realised I couldn’t see the screen unless it was held a metre away! Because the other patients had eyedrops repeatedly applied, I was quite amazed a single drop in each eye did the job for me. And while that dilated state could haunt patients for up to a day, I was ok by the time I stepped out of the centre. I could have drove myself to and fro instead of spending $31.40 on taxis…

After a longer than expected four hour wait, I got the results.

Ladies and gentlemen, I will be going for my LASIK operation ten days later! And because mine is such a simple and easy case, I’ve been given the option of doing both eyes on the same day. Great!

I began wearing glasses in Primary 3/4, and switched to contact lenses when I was Secondary 3. I took like an hour to push those lenses in on the first attempt! Haha. Shortly, there were monthly disposables and then dailies. While there were two or three red eye incidents, the condition of my eyes is generally ok. No major infections etc. Heng ah.

I’m so happy to go for LASIK because there is a prevalent risk in wearing contact lenses and I don’t like wearing glasses at all. I did contemplate getting a nose job to *cough* look better and to prevent glasses from sliding down my bridge. But Christopher Lee said my nose has “福相” and I shouldn’t reshape it. Oh ok. Anyway, LASIK is cheaper than a nose job lah.

As for the costs, a consultant can settle your problem at less than $3,000 while a senior consultant usually charges less than $4,000 at a public hospital.

Oh yes, anyone using Focus Dailies +3.25? No need auction lah. I have two or three boxes to give away. Mail me if you need those ok?

Edit: Ok, Both boxes given away! =D

The two key phrases that keep appearing in my blog would be

1. HUAT AH

&

2. POR BEE.

If you don’t mind, I would like all of you to shout POR BEE with me. Haha.

As you might have noticed from the NY pictures, I was wearing specs the last week in preparation for tomorrow’s consultation where I’ll have a comprehensive eye examination, assessment of my refractive error, a computerised mapping of the shape of my cornea and a personal consultation with a Refractive Surgeon. This meticulous process is crucial in determining my suitability and safety for LASIK.*

I was more than pleased to be assigned a female surgeon. Somehow, I feel ladies are more, erm, delicate, careful and less chor-lor than males. Haha.

And oh, thanks to everyone who gave me loads of advice after I mentioned that I would wanna do lasik. I chose SNEC eventually cos I presumed my friend has done all the research. And in case of any *choy* unexpected occurrences, he would have all the emergency numbers at his fingertips.

This just means that everyone else who wanna do lasik should not take this entry as a testimonial ok. I’m going to SNEC just because I’m lazy to do my own research.

For now… Por Bee I’ll pass the tests tomorrow…

* Text from SNEC