LASIK in Korea

This post serves to remember/share my experience with getting LASIK eye surgery in Korea.

June 23 - I talked with a fellow Tongyeonger about her experience with LASIK in Korea. I knew she had gotten the surgery a few months prior, so I was really interested to know how it went. She told me about her clinic (Good Morning St. Mary's in Busan) and told me just how amazing it was. She let me know about the procedure, costs, and overall experience. After talking with her, I felt like I didn't need to wait until summer vacation (as I had previously thought) because the recovery time is only 2-3 days...meaning if I did it on a Friday afternoon, then I would be able to go back to work on Monday!

June 29 - I called Good Morning St. Mary's in Busan and made an appointment for a LASIK consultation. They let me know that it'd take about two hours for the whole process.

June 30 - I headed to Busan for my LASIK consultation. It was quite easy to get to the clinic...I was able to take the bus to Sasang station, then the subway directly to Seomyeon. The map made it really easy to find the place, especially since it was really close to the subway exit (#13). When I walked in, I was really surprised! The place was huge! It was so fancy! And there were lots of ladies at the front desk. They greeted me by name and were expecting me, which was quite comforting. I filled out a few forms (general information) and then started the examination process. It consisted of a large variety of eye tests...measuring and examining and checking out my eyes. In the final step, my eyes were dilated and then the doctor checked it all out to make sure my eyes would be ok for the surgery. After that, I talked with one of the ladies I had met in the beginning of the appointment and she went through the process with me. She spoke English well and was very helpful with any questions I had. I felt really comfortable about the whole process.

July 6 - Surgery day! My appointment was for 4pm, so I left school early and headed to Busan for the surgery. When I got to the center, the doctor checked my vision again to make sure it was the same as the week before. After that, I waited for a bit until I was ushered into the surgery area. The space was divided into three sections...a waiting area, the actual room with the surgery machines, and a 'recovery' room. The first step was getting a ton of different drops in my eyes. These drops helped numb the area around my eyes and prepare me for surgery. After that, I was led into a room for the actual procedure. I laid down on the first machine and the doctor positioned it over me and told me to look at the star stickers they had placed on the machine. He put some thing in my eye to keep it open so that I couldn't blink during the process. This machine was used to cut my cornea with a laser. (My cornea was too thin to be cut with a blade.) Each eye took about 15 second maybe...it was really fast. Then they led me to the second machine, which was the actual laser machine to correct my vision. I laid down and the doctor put another thing in my eye to keep it open. Then he used some tools to open the flap of my cornea. After it was ready, the laser machine was lowered and I was told to stare at the lights above me. Then they started the machine, and I swear it only lasted a few seconds! I couldn't believe it when they told me it was finished! After that, the doctor replaced the cornea and smoothed it out before going on to the other eye. It was SOOO fast! I couldn't believe it! I had read that it smells like burning hair when the laser is correcting your vision, which was true. It did smell like that! After that, I was escorted to the recovery room, full of recliners, and told to sit with my eyes closed and just wait. After about 30 minutes, one of the clinic workers took me to my motel to sleep! It was that easy! I could see after the surgery, but not clearly. It was quite blurry at first. At the motel, I just tried to keep my eyes closed as much as possible and rest my eyes. I found that I was pretty sensitive to the light on that first night...so I pretty much just listened to some podcasts with my eyes closed and tried to sleep.

July 7 - The day after my surgery, I had an appointment with the doctor at 10am, so I woke up after a comfortable night of sleep. I had to sleep with some eye protectors on my eyes so that I wouldn't touch my eyes, but they didn't hinder the sleeping process! My vision was still pretty blurry, but not so much that I couldn't get around. It kind of felt like I was walking around without my glasses, so my instinct was to put on my glasses, but that wouldn't work since the prescription was way too strong now. I was able to walk around and go have breakfast before my appointment. At the appointment, the doctor checked my eyes closely to make sure they were doing alright and then I was on my way! It was short and sweet! After that, I went to the store to do a little shopping and then headed back to Tongyeong on the bus. I tried to rest my eyes a bit, but they weren't hurting or anything. When I got back to Tongyeong, I came home and was able to watch TV and relax. I even met up with some friends for dinner, and there weren't any problems.

July 8 - Still a little blurry vision, but it was getting better. I could watch TV and use the computer a little bit. I was able to walk my dog, Riley, and function normally.

July 9 - I went to work without any major problems. My vision was still a bit blurry, but nothing that hindered me from going back to work. I could still see just fine, but I just had to focus a bit more than before. The doctor said at my appointment that it would take some time for my eyes to adjust so I'm not worried!

July 14 - I went back to Busan for my one week checkup. The doctor said everything looks good and my cornea is very clear. He just said to keep using the medicated eyedrops until they run out and then I'm good! He also said to keep using the artificial tears pretty often to keep my eyes wet. Besides that, he said my vision should continue to sharpen and to come back for my 3-month check in October!