Yesterday was my second time walking into an operating theatre. (The first time was about 8 years ago when in actual fact I limped in and out of the OT to excavate an ingrown toenail.) This time was for lasik.
Booked the appointment last week and decided to conduct the evaluation and the surgery on the same day to save trouble. As with all operations, no lotions, creams, makeups, perfumes whatsoever was allowed. pretty easy on the getting ready to get out of house part, but i felt so 'naked' walking around in town. (when was the last time you went out to town from home with nothing on your face or hair?)
Reached there pretty early for the evaluation, which lasted more than 2 hours. this is how it went briefly. First, I was asked to fill up my particulars and then waited to be called into the examination area, where a series of eye-power, eye-pressure and cornea tests were done. Eye power test was easy and quite standard. Eye-pressure test was 'shocking' in that a sudden gust of air was shot out into the eye multiple times, i couldn't help but jump at each shot, but luckily it was fast. the cornea test was quite tiresome. it's basically a test to measure the thickness of cornea and hence deduce the suitability for lasik. i don't know if it's the problem of my eyes or is it quite standard for everyone, but it was a long process of "blink, blink, blink followed by open your eyes as big as possible and don't blink for 5 counts". the optimetrist even asked me to rest my eyes before continueing. alright, maybe my eyes are really quite small. after that, some eyedrops were instilled to dilate the pupils and a video on lasik was shown. it was then followed by the last round of tests to confirm the previous results after dilation, before a counseling session was given on the procedure, risks, post-surgery care etc. Lastly, I got the see my surgeon, who recommended me to do the intralase standard, which uses laser to cut the cornea flap instead of the normal blade, because my cornea is slightly on the thin side. Of course, it's slightly more expensive but I decided to follow his recommendation since this wasn't the time to get 'suntie' and go for the cheapest possible. The whole procedure, inclusive of waiting time lasted until about 12 noon when i made my payment and went for lunch and some aimless walking for 2 hours before washing my face and heading back to the clinic for surgery.
Upon reaching the clinic again, I was given a final eye-check on my pupils before going into the resting area right outside the operation theatre. there, i was asked to sign the agreement and escorted to my own little cubicle while waiting for my turn. the nurses helped me wear the surgery gown, shoes and cap, and explained to me how to use the eyedrops after the surgery. I must say they are really friendly, polite, young and pretty! Very soon, it was my turn.
The surgeon greeted me and I was asked to lie on the bed. After that, my head was secured by 2 barriers at the side and the nurse instilled some anesthetic eyedrops. I was then pushed under the 'cornea-slicing machine' and the doctor placed a round circular plastic thing in just the right shape to cup my eyeball. It wasn't painful, but rather quite uncomfortable, as though someone is pressing against your eyeball. it momentarily blinded my vision and i heard the doc reciting some numbers and directions and i guess he's looking at the screen when the flap was created on my cornea. The same was done with the left eye.
That was stage 1. Following that, I was pushed and placed under the other machine, which does the actual lasering. The nurse pasted a huge sticker across my face, with a hole in the centre exposing only my right eye. and i felt the doctor pasting 2 more tapes on my upper and lower eyelids respectively, then using some kind of metal tool that keeps my eye opened. I was then instructed to look straight up into the red light while he carefully flipped open the flap and did the lasering. the laser process only lasted for half a minute. I could hear the "tac-tac-tac" of the machine and smell a burning rubber smell. It didn't feel as bad as the first stage, and my sense of sight wasn't removed. When that was done, the doctor put back the flap, smoothened out any possible bubbles and placed a protective contact lens over it. Then came the most painful part - the tearing off of the sticker! I think they helped me with facial hair removal too! haha
The whole process was finished within about 15 minutes, after which my vision was still blur but i managed to walk out of the OT back into my resting area. I sat there for about half an hour, closed my eyes to rest, listened to what the nurse has to say as she helped me out of my OT attire, placed eye shields over my eyes and waited for her to book my appointment for the first review the next day.
Then i was done! That's how simple it is.
I think i must have looked like an alien as i walk to the taxi stand and waited for cab. The cute and pretty nurse was nice enough to send me into the cab.
being an obedient patient, i tried to sleep right after i got back, but it was quite impossible to at 4pm when i had 10 hours of sleep the previous day, and so i took one of the three sleeping pills prescibed and had a good rest till dinner. and having nothing better to do, i went back to sleep at 10 and was wide awake before 4am! i never knew time passes so slowly when i lie on my bed doing nothing. It's definitely not insomnia, it's the symptom of having had 'too much sleep'.
Went back for my first review today and the doctor took out the protective contacts. yay, i'm done! although my eyes are still a bit red and i've to use those lubricating eyedrops every 2 hours and constantly remind myself not to touch my eyes, everything feels and looks good. can't wait to wash my hair and face tomorrow since i'm not allowed to wash them for 48 hours in case of infection from the water. and no water sports for a month, in other words, no trainings!
Yes, I know I should be busy hiding in the lab doing FYP or at least searching for a huge pile of research material to read up on, but i'm doing nothing! Let me just enjoy the last few days of my holiday...
