LASIK at Shinagawa – Part 2
Before The Day of Operation
You should not wear soft contact lenses for 3 days, soft toric contact lenses for 7 days and hard (rigid gas permeable) lenses for 14 days before the operation date.
For ladies, you need to cleanup all eye makeup thoroughly 4 days before the operation date. No eye makeup (eye liner, mascara, eye lash extension, and other foreign materials used on the eyelid) as well for 4 days before the operation date.
LASIK Operation (Monday, 1st April 2013)
I have my LASIK operation on Monday, 1st April 2013 (not an April’s Fool joke). My appointment time is 9.15am but I need to come 15 minutes earlier to do the registration.
You are advised not to drive (duh) and it is better to get someone to accompany you because you will have hazy vision after the operation. Please also bring along sunglasses, as your eyes will be sensitive to sunlight after the operation.
You need to come with a bare face, meaning for ladies no makeup, skincare and no perfume on your body. The operating theater might be slightly cold, so wear a jacket.
Once you have registered, you will be asked to make payment. After payment, you will need to sign 1 form (2 forms in my case because of LASIK Xtra), which basically acknowledges that you know the risk and side effects of the LASIK operation. Similar to an indemnity form.
Once that is done, your name will be called and you will be ushered into the preparation area where they will test your blood pressure and you have to take 1 sleeping pill for relaxation. Your eyes will be numbed as well with numbing drops.
Once all the effects has taken place, you will be brought into the operating area where you have to remove your shoes and wear the provided slippers and put on a patient gown over your current clothing.
While waiting for the doctor to arrive, numbing drops will be used on your eyes again; by now your eyes will be so heavy that it is very difficult to open. The doctors arrived and will do 1 last check to your eyes. If everything is good, you will be brought to the 1st operating room where the flap will be created.
After you lay down on the operating bed, the doctor will put a suction cup on your eye to hold it in place. Your eyes will be too numb to feel anything.
It takes 17 seconds to create a flap for each eye. There is no pain and you can’t see anything while the flap is being created (unlike the LASIK procedure). You will hear the nurse in the background counting down.
Once the flaps have being created, you will be brought back out to the operating area. You can still open your eyes and blink, as the flaps are not opened yet. In fact you are supposed to blink for 30 minutes for the bubble under your flap to disappear before you can have your LASIK.
The doctor will do one last check to ensure that the bubbles are gone before ushering you to the LASIK operating room. Same thing happens here, the suction cup will be placed on your eye to hold them in place.
It takes 25 seconds to correct each eye and there is no pain. You will only smell a pretty strong burning smell because after all there is a laser burning your cornea tissues. The nurse in the background will be counting down as usual.
Because of my LASIK Xtra, my procedure is slightly different from the rest. After my cornea has been reshaped, VibeX is applied for 1 minute to the surface of my cornea. The flap is then replaced and the VibeX is thoroughly washed off the eye. The Avedro KXL system is then positioned over the cornea and ultraviolet light is shone onto the cornea for 90 seconds.
For the rest who does not need the LASIK Xtra, your flap will be replaced and you have to stay put for about 3 minutes for the flap to stick firmly and minimise the chance for flap slippage later.
After the operation, you will be taken back outside to the preparation area to rest for 30 minutes. They will also pass you all your medication and teach your how to apply them.
Basically you will get the following:
- 1x Bottle of Cravit (for anti-inflammatory)
- 1x Bottle of Pred Forte 1% (for anti-inflammatory)
- 2x Boxes of OptiClear UD (for lubricant)
- 2x Eye shield
- 1x Surgical tape
- 5x Lorazepam 0.5mg (sleeping pill)
- MC (if you requested)
By now, you should have about 75% clarity of your vision back and please return home to rest immediately! I spend about 90 minutes in the clinic on that day, came at 9am and left at about 10.30am.
You are supposed to keep your eyes closed as much as possible on the first day and hence I went home and took a nap, but woke up every hour to put the 3 eye drops. You need to put them at a 5-minute interval.
For the next 1-week, you are not supposed to rub your eyes, put on makeup (for the ladies) or let water, soap or shampoo into the eye.
Also before you sleep at night for the first week, you need to wear your eye shield, to prevent accidental rubbing of your eyes when you are dreaming!
In total, I paid S$4,219.64 for the package and that includes the following:
| Item | Quantity | Packaging | Price (S$) | Price After 7% GST (S$) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IntraLase Wavefront LASIK – Wavelight Allegretto Laser (both eyes) | – | – | $2,888 | $3,090.16 |
| LASIK Xtra (both eyes) | – | – | $1,000 | $1,070 |
| Cravit | 1 | Bottle | $8.32 | $8.90 |
| Pred Forte 1% | 1 | Bottle | $16.27 | $17.41 |
| OptiClear UD | 2 | Box | $26 | $27.82 |
| Eye Shield | 2 | – | $3.00 | $3.21 |
| Micropore Tape | 1 | – | $1 | $1.07 |
| Lorazepam 0.5mg | 5 | Tablet | $1 | $1.07 |
| Total | – | – | $3,943.59 | $4,219.64 |
Because I opted for 12 months interest free installment, I will be paying S$351.71 for the first month and S$351.63 for the next subsequent 11 months.
LASIK at Shinagawa
