My darling friend April talked me into getting Lasik done. Mostly she planned everything and said I needed to come too. We both have friends who went to Korea and got their eyes done at this clinic so we did that too. April did all the emailing and coordinating so all I had to do was show up and throw my money at them. April is still in Iwakuni, so it was a great way for us to get together, as well. So, here is the long version of how it went down:
On Wednesday, two shrieking women dashed madly into each other's arms and jumped up and down in the middle of baggage claim at the Seoul (Incheon) Airport. The Military hotel, Dragon Hill Lodge on Yongson base in Seoul has a free shuttle bus from the airport to the hotel, and we managed to get on the 5pm bus and were at the hotel at 6:30.
Thursday morning we used the Lodge's Travel Desk's assistance to figure out a route to the Glory Seoul Eye Clinic and we were quite delighted to navigate the subway system to get there, although it did take twice as long as expected (cost was $2 to our stop, which was right next to the clinic building). We did not care, we were still victorious!! And a little delighted that Gangnam was the exit station.
We walked in about 10:15 and signed in. It was an assembly style operation. I think they said they do 800 surgeries per week in there. It was busy but they moved quickly. I went from one station to the next and then to the next and the next. They were very nice and very professional and I had the same guy walking me through everything. They measured everything possible with my eyes. Then we met with the surgeon who explained the results of all the testing. My eyes were at a 7, which means my prescription was freakishly high and my glasses excessively thick. They said they won't do Lasik after 8, so I was just under the limit. My corneas were nice and thick, so I qualified for Lasik. April also qualified, even though she had thinner corneas; her eyes were nowhere near as bad as mine so she could get way with thinner corneas. (If my corneas had been as thin as hers, I would not have been able to do it.)
Once they explained all the options and we enthusiastically shouted Yes, Yes, to Lasik, we went downstairs and eagerly paid. In case anyone else wants to go do it (and I highly encourage you to!!), the total cost was $1200 for both eyes. And we could have walked away and paid nothing if we opted not to do the surgery.
It was about 12:30 by the time we finished paying because April's card wasn't going through and she had to call USAA to try to sort it out. We had just enough time to run around the block to pick up our multiple eye drop prescriptions ($60 for all that) and grab lunch. We were back at the clinic about 1:15. We checked in, went upstairs and got lovely hair nets. I felt like the lunch lady.
We had a super awesome attendant. She spoke good English and explained the process and walked us through everything. She sat with April while I went in. I was nervous. The problem with having a doctor who does not speak much English is that you can't be a baby. I told myself that it would only be 10 minutes and I could handle 10 minutes of discomfort. I put on my big girl panties and got on the table. The lights were so bright I had to close my eyes. They put a bunch of drops in my eyes and wiped down my face. They covered my left eye and told me to open wide and popped something in my right eye to keep it open. I had had visions of wire grabbers, like in the movie Minority Report, but it wasn't like that and bad at all. I couldn't feel anything. Then they pushed down on it till my vision went black. I was definitely okay with not seeing anything!! All I could feel was the intense and really uncomfortable pressure and I counted in my mind because I knew it wouldn't be more than 30 seconds, and it wasn't. Then they did the other eye. It was so fast and easy and I was so excited! Then I found out that it was just Part 1 and I had more to go. Yikes!
Next came the worst part. They opened the flap they just cut into my eyeball. It was the scariest thing for me and I struggled so hard to be still. It was over pretty quick and then it was on to the next machine. I was lying on the table and they just rolled me over to it and told to stare at the green light. They did something to keep the eye open, I don't know what and it wasn't painful and it did not freak me out, so it was fine. He said "17 seconds" and I counted down while I smelled my eyeball burning. The smell was bad and gross, but I didn't feel anything and all I could see was the faint green light. So it was not bad at all! They did the other eye. And then there was the closing of the flap, which was better than the opening of it.
Then they said I was done and I could sit up and get down.
But I was a little lightheaded from all the stress so it took me a minute. I could see, but not well. It is hard to describe. It was fairly clear but really foggy. I went out and waited for 10 minutes for April and then we compared notes and made sure we understood what to do with all our prescriptions. (Antibiotic drops 4 times a day for a week, anti inflammatory eye drops 4 times a day for a month, lubrication drops every 10 minutes for the first day, then every 30 minutes for the next few days, until the 3 bottles were gone. Then minimum of 4 times a day for the other lubricant drops for at least 4 weeks.) And we were done! We walked out the door about 2pm, all finished!
We took a cab back to the base, but had to walk on since the cab wasn't allowed on base. It was weird, being able to see but not see fully. We made it to the hotel and did our frequent eye drops. The numbing stuff was wearing off and my eyes were burning a bit and felt really tired. April was in more pain. We had hoped we could do sightseeing, but no, we were definitely not up for that! We took naps. My eyes felt better a few hours later, no more burning or pain, just fatigue, and kind of sore from all the pressure on them earlier. April had more of a feeling like she has something in her eye, but no more pain that evening.
Friday morning we headed back to the clinic for a follow up appointment at 9:40. They had put a protective contact lens in after the surgery so they removed that. I felt like my vision went down a notch after it came out! They assured me it would come back. The doctor said 2 weeks (and the awesome attendant lady said a month) till everything was all settled and as good as it would get. Our eyes were proclaimed to be looking good and we were good to go! That was all.
We were feeling good and our eyes were seeing well so we wanted to do some sightseeing. We took a taxi to the Korean War Memorial and it was awesome. I was really glad we could do something wile we were in Korea. It was worth visiting and I would go again. We went back to the hotel and got our stuff and took a taxi to the airport ($65 flat rate). The free shuttle schedule was not conducive to our schedule. We could have taken the subway or a taxi to a bus, but the straight taxi was fastest (and probably only $20 more) and we were worried about how long it would take. We got to the airport in plenty of time and parted ways. April went back to Iwakuni and I flew to Okinawa. I maybe should not have parked at the airport because then I had to drive myself home.... in the dark.... with my new eyes. Yep, the haloing was bad.
It has been 6 days now and I am still loving it so much! Why did I not do this sooner?!! I can see well and it is almost perfect now. I still need a little time in the morning before I can read small print, but I am thrilled with the results. I am using my eye drops religiously and the worst issue is sometimes feeling like I have contacts that have been in too long and I want to take them out. Then I put in my eye drops and it feels better. Light seems brighter and I wear sunglasses whenever I am outside. I will schedule a follow up appointment with my eye doc for a month out and see how they are doing. But overall, I am really happy with it. April says she is really pleased as well.
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