Thursday, February 18, 2010

Sober LASIK in Korea

I don't know what other kind of LASIK there is, maybe there's a kind of LASIK on mescaline or a variety of LASIK in Southeast Asia where opiates are used (that would have been SWEET). But no, in Korea it's plain old sober LASIK with nary a valium to calm the nerves that must creep upon anyone when they're about to get a thin slice of corneal and epithelial tissue flapped for a laser to etch. Good thing we got some Valium in Vietnam.

The operation was treated with a casualness rarely afforded medical procedures. Payment was not tendered until after the operation itself and the next day as the entire cost of the procedure could not be deducted from my bank account on one day. Included were eye drops, three follow up appointments (one of which I skipped yesterday), two pre-op appointments, and as much coffee (real coffee) I could drink. In the US it's harder to get into see an ENT specialist.

As soon as it started it was over. The discomfort crept in around the edges of the topical anesthetic, but my vision was nearing perfect, and the pain ended after about 6 hours. Right now it's 20/20. It's difficult for me to focus near or far, I figure that will get better as I adjust to life ankyang opssoyo. The haloing effect is definitely with me, but we'll see if that gets better or worse with time. One week to the day, almost the hour, in it's a pretty good decision. 1.7 million won to visual freedom.

2 comments:

  1. I could give up drinking for a year too if I had enough valium to see me through.

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  2. Hey! I just found this and I was curious if you could tell me where you got your LASIK done. I am thinking about doing it but I leave Korea in 5 weeks... you think it's possible to fit it in before I go (with all the pre-op and post-op appointments)?

    Thanks!
    Amy

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