“Its something that my bespectacled alumni often say, but never actually get down to doing it. LASIK surgery. To those lucky people who may never understand the inconveniences of having blurry vision, laser eye surgery reshapes the cornea to correct short-sightedness, long sightedness, presbyopia or astigmatism. But this procedure is often met with much trepidation, after all we are talking about our eyes here. And so, with anxiety worsened by few horror stories of friends of friends”-Bazaar EditorI am pretty sure there are a lot of people will share the same view as her. I for once was nodding my head vigorously reading her article on LASIK eye surgery. I have been wanting to do LASIK for years. Initially out of vanity and the inconveniences of wearing glasses or discomfort of putting lenses every morning and taking it off every night but of late, due to my dependence on my lenses, it made my eyes really dry and in turn, it causes eye infection. And when I say eye infection, its not a merely a simple eye infection. I could be driving and all out of sudden, my vision goes blurry and I cant even open my eyes. Then my eyes will be inflamed for the next three weeks. My white eyes will be red, blood shot red and its itchy and sometimes I rub my eyes so hard that it will be so swollen by it. Quick check with the GP and I was referred to Tun Hussien Onn Specialist Hospital. The eye doctor drop me the bomb. I will constantly have the eye infection problem if I continue using lenses unless I use glasses or I have to undergo LASIK. I was hesitant. I wanted to console myself that this is only a one time problem. I was wrong. Last year alone, the eye infection keeps recurring every few months or so. It took me at least four bad case of eye infection to make my decision to do LASIK.
I remembered the first time I went to a specialist eye clinic with a friend. He highly recommended the clinic as he and the mother did their LASIK there and he claimed that the doctor is the best eye doctor in town. Trusting his words, I went there with him. To my surprise, the place looks like an abortion centre. The doctor asked me to remove my lenses so he can put some sort of liquid on to my eyes to dilate my pupils. Once that is done, he did few eye test and decided that I am a suitable candidate. Just like that. However, deep down inside me said not to do it. I am glad I trusted my instinct. I just found out recently that you need to lay off lenses for two weeks to get back to its original shape to get accurate power result.
I met Dr Choong at a social gathering. Extrovert and great sense of humour . I could have never guessed that he is an eye specialist. I told him of my problem and he said to drop in his clinic and he will get my eyes checked. I did. The clinic looks like a proper eye specialist clinic. After filling the form, I was ushered to a room, dimly lighted and has few massage chair. The nurse asked me to relax while she puts me the eye drops on my eyes while I was massaged by the massage chair. I had to undergo test after test to determine whether I am a suitable candidate. Turns out I am a suitable candidate. Dr Choong advices me that LASIK is an elective surgery and I should only do it if I am sure of it, bearing the pros and cons of LASIK. I knew I found the right doctor and the right clinic.
On the day of procedure, I came in freshly showered with no fragranced product (that interfere with the laser) or makeup. My eyes were tested again and I was ushered to the operation room, after dressed in scrubs. Dr Choong guided me through the process from the first machine that lasers the corneal flap and to the second where the lasers reshapes the cornea. All I needed to do was to keep my eye square on the blinking red light. The procedure itself is only 20 painless minutes. I was advised to sleep after the operation. Honestly, all you could do is sleep because they put too many eye drops on you that you cant even open your eyes. After three straight hours of sleep, I could see clearly.
I am like the kid who just got a new toy. I keep looking at the distance I am always amazed at how things are so clear now. Although half way through the operation I started to doubt my decision especially when the second machine was making zapping sound. It sounded to me like the blue lights that you see at the restaurant that attracts the flies and it kills the flies immediately. Looking back, I am glad I did not be a drama mama and tell Dr Choong to stop, just because I am uncomfortable with the zapping sound. I don’t think its possible either but I am sure I could be a handful if I do that. Until my eyes is completely heal, I have to live with eye drops and I could not swim or wear eye make up for a month. Thats a small price to pay for a perfect vision. Nothing beats a perfect vision
# Balqesh Abdullah
