Better than 20/20: My Lasik Surgery Experience

I would just like to begin this by saying that Lasik is one of the best things I have done for myself in my 20’s. I have been wearing glasses since I was 12 – which is about half of my life! It’s been a pretty big inconvenience in my life, but I got used to it. I even tried contact lens for a year or so, but that was even more of an inconvenience, so I went back to glasses. I’ve been hearing about lasik from the past few years, but with the price it comes with, I was just non-committedly saying I’ll have it done one day. I absently check a few clinics from time to time that do Lasik and when I saw a promo that halved the price, I said, “You know what? This is a sign. Let’s do this.”

It has been a little over three months since I got my lasik surgery at Shinagawa. And honestly? No regrets. It was so worth it. I gained a 20/12 vision from the surgery – even better than 20/20 vision. Here’s a few things I don’t miss since ditching my glasses:

• Blindly reaching for my glasses every time to wake up so I can actually see something.
• Remembering to remove my glasses before I nap no matter how tired I am. (I once laid on my glasses and destroyed it after I pass out.)
• Worrying about my glasses fogging up even if I just get out of the car.
• Have to have a buddy when swimming or in a water resort because I can’t recognize anyone.
• Being annoyed when my glasses get scratched and itching to get it replaced, but I can’t since it’s pricey.

The only downside I see to getting lasik is the big chunk it’ll take out of your savings and that you’ll feel weird seeing yourself without glasses all day. (Or maybe that’s just me.) Any-who…

Here’s a quick timeline of my surgery…

August 11 – Consultation and screening. Took 3-4 hours. Result is that I am eligible for lasik but I have to undergo another procedure as well.

September – Off to trips so I scheduled my surgery on October. You’re not required to take the surgery right after your screening.

October 5 – Z Lasik surgery date. I was in the clinic for about two hours including the orientation, actual surgery, and post-care.

October 6-7 – I still have blurry eyesight and was really sensitive to light. Recovery depends per patient, I’m told.

October 8 – I’m already back at work and seeing much better. My eyes are dry, which is a common aftereffect of lasik surgery, but I had my drops with me.

October 12 – I don’t have to wear my protective glasses anymore and can wash my face. Have a 20/12 vision.

November 5- One month after my surgery. Got prescribed some drops for my dry eyes. Vision’s still at 20/12.

January 22 – A little over three months after surgery. My vision’s at 20/12 still. Occasionally still have dry eyes, as expected, but everything’s okay regardless.

What is Z Lasik?

According to Shinagawa, Z Lasik is “The painless, bladeless procedure works by gently reshaping the cornea or the part of the eye which is mostly responsible for its refractive power. 5 hours to overnight recovery.”

Shinagawa has three types of Lasik surgery: Z Lasik, Z Prime Lasik, and Ultra Lasik. They’re at PHP140,000, PHP160,000, and PHP180,000 respectively. I did mention that I availed a promo so I paid PHP58,000 for the Z Lasik.

I also had Corneal Collagen Cross-Linking which I’ll discuss later that’s originally priced at PHP114,000. But I only need it done to my right eye so I paid around PHP50,000 for that.

Before Surgery

Unfortunately, not everyone would be eligible for Lasik surgery. You need to undergo a comprehensive eye check and screening to make sure that you’re eligible. This would include the doctors asking you about your medical history, your eye health history, social history and lifestyle, etc. They will also do different tests that will check the actual overall health of your eyes, it’s dryness, your cornea, etc. This lasts around 3-4 hours and costs PHP3,000.

I got my result within the day as well.  I was qualified for Lasik surgery but I needed to do another surgery along with it. My cornea is too thin and weak for the lasik procedure, so I need to undergo Corneal Collagen Cross-Linking as well.

PS. You’re not allowed to use contact lens two weeks before you undergo the screening process.

During Surgery

Right before you go in to the operating room, you’ll be briefed on your do’s and don’t. There were three of us in line for the surgery and I was the last one. They gave us a small bag that includes our drops, protective glasses, and protective lens.

Here are some of the don’ts after surgery:

• Can’t wash your face for a week.
• Don’t rub your eyes for a week.
• No eye make-up for a week.
• No work-outs for one week.
• No swimming for a month.

Here are some of the do’s:

• We have to wear the protective glasses all the time for the first week.
• We have to wear the protective lens during sleep so we won’t accidentally rub our eyes.
• Eyedrops every four hours for a whole 24 hours period.

After the briefing, we were then given anesthesia in both eyes then just have to wait for our turn.

I felt like I was on the operating table for less than ten minutes. It was that fast for them to fix up my worsening eyesight! Color me amazed. I’m not gonna go into the details of what happened in the surgery but you can read about it here.

It’s completely painless! They’re not even any blood. You might feel a little comfortable like something was in your eye, but it’s nothing that’ll hurt at all.

However, you will smell it. It’s laser so it’s to be expected but I have to admit that I panicked for a nanosecond. My doctor was so nice to reassure me though and joke about how everything will be done in a minute or two. He’s right.

After Surgery

Right after surgery, there’s a post-op check-up done by another doctor to check that everything’s okay. I was also reminded of things that I can and cannot do. It’s also important to have someone with you as you won’t be allowed to drive home.

I literally just slept away the first two days after surgery. I had low pain tolerance and the lights weren’t my favorite thing. BUT I’m almost back to 100% on day 3. It’s become a game to me for the first month to see how far away I can see clearly!

Is It Worth It?

YES. I already mentioned it before, but I’ll keep mentioning it again. It’s such an life-changing experience since I was already wearing glasses since I was like 12. It’s literally like seeing the world through a new set of eyes. I would also recommend having it done at Shinagawa as they’ve taken such good care of me from start to end.

If you have any questions, feel free to leave it as a comment below or send me an email at hello@richelvergara.com.

PS. Not a sponsored post by Shinagawa, but half of the surgery is sponsored by my dad. Thanks, Papa! <3

That’s it for now.

Ciao.