I started wearing glasses since the age of 8. Basically, everyone who knows me remembers me as wearing glasses all my life. All the pictures of me has me with glasses on, even this...
This was me when I was in Korea, so young and already having myopia of around -6.25 diopters both eyes. It is now that I have decided that I would take a huge step to correct my eyes, and to get rid of the need to wear glasses, at least for the next 30 years before presbyopia kicks in.
With our current technology, there are many eye refractive surgeries available. Ever since 2 months ago, I have been doing tons of research to find out the best and most non-damaging surgery that can help correct myopia. After a long search, I narrowed down to 2: epilasik and relex smile, both of which do not require the need to cut a cornea flap. I booked my first appointment to Singapore National Eye Centre (SNEC) for an eye check up and also to talk to an eye doctor. There was a whole series of tests, requiring you to stare at hypnotic machines, bright lights and have air pushed against your eye. Unfortunately for me, I was assigned a doctor that was not trained to do relex smile, so he was not the best person to ask about questions regarding relex smile. The eye test at SNEC requires the administration of a kind of eye drop that dilates your pupils so that the doctor can see inside your eye. This eye drop causes temporary presbyopia and increased light sensitivity, which rendered my eyes pretty useless for the rest of the day. The results of the test showed that my eyes are perfectly healthy; I have thick corneas and I can do any kind of refractive surgery I want. Over the next few days I was so stressed as to which surgery to go for. After looking at others' blogs and their experiences, I have finally decided to change clinic to The Lasik Surgery Clinic at Paragon Medical. Just for your information, there are only 2 clinics in Singapore (note date) that offers relex smile, which was these 2 that I visited.
I did the test all over again at Paragon Medical, with the same results. The nurses at Paragon Medical are a lot more friendly. They really treat you like family. The overall feel of having the same nurse following you throughout all the tests was a lot better than visiting different rooms that does different tests. It made me feel that I was safe and in the right hands. The eye drops to dilate the pupils were also weaker and I can look at nearby objects after 6 hours. I was assigned to Dr. Marc Tay, senior consultant. He is really nice because he answered all my questions very frankly and honestly. Admittedly, I was asking questions that was impossible to answer since you can't know the long term effects of relex when it is only out for 5 years. Although he is a senior consultant, he charges no fees for consultation at Paragon Medical and even told me to email him over the weekend if I had more questions regarding the surgery. I really, really recommend this doctor. He just has this aura of calmness and coolness in him. And for the ladies, he is pretty handsome too... So after talking to him, I scheduled the surgery to be on 12 April 2016.
Everyone gets nervous on the surgery day and I was no exception. The nurses here were really kind and friendly, which made me really more comfortable. They were also extremely efficient. 10 minutes after I checked in, I was already sitting on a comfy chair and going through all the preparation procedures, which include alcohol swabbing of the the eye area, gowning up, swallowing a pill, which was supposed to be an muscle relaxant, and dripping numbing eye drops.
Was trying to smile for my selfie although I was super nervous. Not long after, I was told to come into the surgery room. I can't see the doctor because I was almost blind without my glasses. All I did was follow instructions given by the nurse and doctor. Right eye was first. I lied down on the bed, which moved me towards the doctor (I presume). Everything happened really fast. He taped back my eyelashes, inserted some metal grips (all of which I can't see and barely feel). I could then barely make out a machine moving horrendously close to my eye. I could look into the machine and see a green light, after which I can hear the female voice of the machine saying suction on. I barely felt the machine sucking my eyeball. Due to my own reflex, I kept trying to blink, and I felt I did, although I most probably didn't because the metal holders are in place. The next few moments was the most important, and all I did was to stare at the green light with all my might, and see the green light slowly get covered by white misty cloud. After 'suction off', the next step was for the surgeon to remove the lenticule that the machine had made in my eye. For those of you with itchy hands who went to watch youtube how this actually looks like in real (not the advertising videos), you will be horrified. But I will reassure you, you won't feel anything, and you can only see shadows of stuff moving around, and then very rapidly, the white misty thing is removed. I told the doctor "Wow, that was pretty fast!" That made him chuckle a bit and gave a remark "Yea, it really is, isn't it." The same procedure happens on the other eye. I don't know why I became slightly panicky again for my left eye. I can still remember the doctor saying in a reassuring way: "Calm down Alan, you're moving too much."
After a quick 15 minutes or so, everything ended. I was told to sit up. I immediately realized that far objects are a lot clearer than it used to be, which was truly amazing. The doctor had a look into my eyes using another machine and then said "Alright Alan, the operation went perfect!" I heaved a sigh of relief as I went out of the room to degown. My eyes did not tear after the surgery, and were not red. This was the best part about ReLEx SMILE. You would usually tear less, there won't be much eye redness reducing discomfort to the minimum. After the numbing eye drops wore off, I can feel some stinging in the eyes, but it was not unbearable. While waiting for my mum to arrive, the very nice nurses kept asking me if I need food and water, which I am really grateful. They offered me biscuits and Char Siew bun from their own pantry and kept me entertained with their jokes. I really enjoyed their company. On the way home, I was wearing glass goggles to protect my eyes from accidental hits. I could see nearly everything, except it was like walking around in psi 400 air, minus the smell. What fascinated me the most was that I can see far objects pretty clearly. At night, I put on the eye shields myself and went to sleep. I advise to take the sleeping pills they give you only if you are still tearing, or is too uncomfortable to sleep normally.
When I woke up the next day, everything was a little clearer than before, maybe psi 100. This of course made me super excited and grateful. I met Dr. Tay again for the post operation check up. Everything was perfect, no infections and everything, and I am well on the way to recovery. Things are really looking good (literally!), as I can even sit down here and write this blog. Special mention goes to my new friend, who was praying for me throughout the operation even though we are about 200 km away from each other.
Over the net few days, my vision was described to be about 75%. Things are slightly blurry, no matter whether far or near. My vision actually fluctuates, and is not consistently becoming better. For the prescription on the next checkup, the nurse said that I have 6/6 vision, which was faster than most people. The results from the machine showed 25, 75 degrees however. I had dry eyes, which does not feel uncomfortable, but affects vision.
One month after the surgery, the whitish mist cleared up. All that bugs my eyes now is dry eyes when I stare at books or the computer screen for too long without blinking. My night vision has already recovered. Really hope this dry eye issue will go away soon!
[To be continued]
