Once the ten days were up, we went to the hospital to get a whole battery of eye-tests done on my eyes. We landed in the morning around 9.00a and were told that the tests would take a bit longer than than half a day (it wound up taking more than that).
AIE has streamlined the testing process a lot. The test themselves did not take too long - but sometimes the waiting did, thanks to the huge crowds. They ran a whole series of tests - I really don't remember what they were. But none of them were uncomfortable or painful.
Finally, around some 3.00p in the afternoon, we were told that I was a good candidate for Lasik surgery. I was to report at the hospital at 9.00a the next morning. After some final tests, the actual surgery would be done. I could probably be heading back home after surgery later in the noon.
Phew - I was actually going to get the surgery done? Wow!
That evening, everything went normally. No one at my house was unduly anxious or perturbed. I did a last google check to hunt down news of anyone who became blind after getting lasik done - but nopes, couldn't find anything. Oh well, worst case was not going to happen then - I was good!
That night I slept quite well, not excited but wondering curiously if that day had really been my last day of wearing spectacles.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Monday, January 14, 2008
First step
Within hours of deciding to get the Lasik procedure done, we called up the Aggarwal Eye Institute (AIE). We chose them because AIE is pretty famous all over India for their Lasik procedure. They have been in this field for a very long time and I was confident about trusting my eyes to them.
When we called them, we were told that Zyoptix was the latest in Lasik technology and they use Zyoptix technology in their hospital(though, throughout this blog, I will be using Lasik to refer to this procedure because the term Lasik is more well-known).
We were told that I would have to be without contact lenses for a minimum of ten days - this had something to do with allowing the cornea to come back to its original non-contact-lens shape. After those 10 days, I had to go in for evaluation.
They would then conduct a series of tests on my eyes after which they would let me know if a) I had to be without contact lenses for a few more days and come back for re-evaluation or b) if I was good to go for lasik. If option (b) was the result of the evaluation, I could have the Lasik surgery done the very next day.
The next ten days, I was back to my nerdy look of old with glasses and everything. But that of course, did not interrupt anything (I was on vacation and my days were of course, packed!). In the mean time I located friends and family who had undergone the lasik procedure to get opinions from them.
The feedback was unanimous - irrespective of which hospital they had got their lasik surgery done, ALL of them were extremely thrilled with the results. They all also said that the surgery itself was pretty painless and nothing to worry about (ha and double ha, more about that later). Most of them did say that I would have to be good to my eyes a couple of weeks after the surgery. But they all added that they did not think that going back to the U.S. two weeks after the surgery would not be a problem at all. This was pretty much what the eye professional had said over the phone too.
Nevertheless, I started doing my own research on google too. My biggest worry was that I might go blind in case of some surgical failure - I usually tend to worry about the worst case scenario first. But try as I would, I could not find anything on the Web that said that Lasik can lead to blindness - it could read to really bad sight in case of rare complications, but not blindness. Okaaay - one worry crossed.
Actually that was my only worry. Since everyone I knew who had undergone this process
before me assured me it was a piece of cake, undergoing the actual surgery did not worry me too much (in retrospect, I am glad it was that way).
So with my glasses on, I waited for ten days to pass before I could go for the eye tests.
When we called them, we were told that Zyoptix was the latest in Lasik technology and they use Zyoptix technology in their hospital(though, throughout this blog, I will be using Lasik to refer to this procedure because the term Lasik is more well-known).
We were told that I would have to be without contact lenses for a minimum of ten days - this had something to do with allowing the cornea to come back to its original non-contact-lens shape. After those 10 days, I had to go in for evaluation.
They would then conduct a series of tests on my eyes after which they would let me know if a) I had to be without contact lenses for a few more days and come back for re-evaluation or b) if I was good to go for lasik. If option (b) was the result of the evaluation, I could have the Lasik surgery done the very next day.
The next ten days, I was back to my nerdy look of old with glasses and everything. But that of course, did not interrupt anything (I was on vacation and my days were of course, packed!). In the mean time I located friends and family who had undergone the lasik procedure to get opinions from them.
The feedback was unanimous - irrespective of which hospital they had got their lasik surgery done, ALL of them were extremely thrilled with the results. They all also said that the surgery itself was pretty painless and nothing to worry about (ha and double ha, more about that later). Most of them did say that I would have to be good to my eyes a couple of weeks after the surgery. But they all added that they did not think that going back to the U.S. two weeks after the surgery would not be a problem at all. This was pretty much what the eye professional had said over the phone too.
Nevertheless, I started doing my own research on google too. My biggest worry was that I might go blind in case of some surgical failure - I usually tend to worry about the worst case scenario first. But try as I would, I could not find anything on the Web that said that Lasik can lead to blindness - it could read to really bad sight in case of rare complications, but not blindness. Okaaay - one worry crossed.
Actually that was my only worry. Since everyone I knew who had undergone this process
before me assured me it was a piece of cake, undergoing the actual surgery did not worry me too much (in retrospect, I am glad it was that way).
So with my glasses on, I waited for ten days to pass before I could go for the eye tests.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Brief history
I have been wearing glasses for the longest time. Since fourth grade - when I was about eight years old, though I believe I had probably needed glasses even before that :-). I had myopia (short sightedness).
As is the case with myopia, as I grew older, my eyesight "power" (which is how the refractive error is referred to colloquially) grew with me. By the time I reached high school, the "power" in my eyes had stabilized to around -6.00 in each eye. In the first year of undergrad college, it was deemed okay for me to start wearing contact lenses.
Though it took a little getting used to, I was soon proficient at slipping contact lenses in and out, cleaning them, taking the whole paraphernalia whenever I went anywhere. I loved my contact lenses and the wider view of the world they afforded.
Four years later, I was set to leave for the United States. That was when it struck my parents and me that probably would be the best time for me to get the Lasik procedure done so I could be free of the nuisance of contact lenses. However, a little bit of research and talking around convinced us that considering I was going to a foreign country, it probably was not the best time for me to go after a eye surgery (however minor it would be) in case there were any post surgery complications.
So though I had already done a battery of eye tests at the Aggarwal Eye Institute in Chennai and had been deemed as a "good" candidate for Lasik surgery, I decided to forgo the procedure at that time.
Fast forward six years to 2007. I was visiting India for a four week vacation. On the second day of my vacation, my mom suddenly came up with the idea that I should probably get my Lasik surgery done that time since I would have enough "healing time" during that vacation as compared to my other shorter duration vacations.
The ball was set rolling.
As is the case with myopia, as I grew older, my eyesight "power" (which is how the refractive error is referred to colloquially) grew with me. By the time I reached high school, the "power" in my eyes had stabilized to around -6.00 in each eye. In the first year of undergrad college, it was deemed okay for me to start wearing contact lenses.
Though it took a little getting used to, I was soon proficient at slipping contact lenses in and out, cleaning them, taking the whole paraphernalia whenever I went anywhere. I loved my contact lenses and the wider view of the world they afforded.
Four years later, I was set to leave for the United States. That was when it struck my parents and me that probably would be the best time for me to get the Lasik procedure done so I could be free of the nuisance of contact lenses. However, a little bit of research and talking around convinced us that considering I was going to a foreign country, it probably was not the best time for me to go after a eye surgery (however minor it would be) in case there were any post surgery complications.
So though I had already done a battery of eye tests at the Aggarwal Eye Institute in Chennai and had been deemed as a "good" candidate for Lasik surgery, I decided to forgo the procedure at that time.
Fast forward six years to 2007. I was visiting India for a four week vacation. On the second day of my vacation, my mom suddenly came up with the idea that I should probably get my Lasik surgery done that time since I would have enough "healing time" during that vacation as compared to my other shorter duration vacations.
The ball was set rolling.
The mandatory introductory post
I underwent the Zyoptix (an advanced version of the Lasik eye surgery) procedure in March last year (2007). Both before the surgery and during the post-surgery healing process, I had tons of questions about a lot of things related to the procedure. Besides talking to the doctors, google did help me a lot in finding answers to my questions.
I am hoping writing about my experience will give some idea to other persons considering the procedure about what to expect. That said, please do read the disclaimer on the right side-bar.
That's it, that's the introduction. The only thing that remains to be seen is how regular I will be in updating this blog :-).
BTW, for those who want the one-line summary: I am extremely happy with the results of the Zyoptix surgery!
I am hoping writing about my experience will give some idea to other persons considering the procedure about what to expect. That said, please do read the disclaimer on the right side-bar.
That's it, that's the introduction. The only thing that remains to be seen is how regular I will be in updating this blog :-).
BTW, for those who want the one-line summary: I am extremely happy with the results of the Zyoptix surgery!
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