Epilasik Surgery at Eagle Eye Centre by Dr Julien Theng (1 month post op update)

I've just gone for my 1 month post op review.

Only the first and last review would be carried out by Dr Julien Theng himself. So far the other reviews were done by the other doctors.

My vision is considered some sort perfect alr. There is still some negligible residual degree in each eye but it doesn't affect my vision. My degree was 600 before.

For astigmatism wise, it didn't really get corrected. Started off with 75 in both eyes but it's now 100 in my left and 50 in my right. But as of now, I don't notice any double vision so I'll say that's negligible as well.

Doctor mentioned that there is slight hazing in my cornea so I'm put on another month of steroid eye drops. Truth be told, this is the part that's freaking me out. But again, as of now, I don't really notice any white film when I'm looking at things. Hopefully that will clear up.

Doctor says cornea is still not done healing, so I'll update again in a month's time.

Epilasik Surgery at Eagle Eye Centre by Dr Julien Theng

TL, DR: I went to Eagle Eye Centre for Epilasik by Dr Julien Theng and everything is recovering well.

Surgery Day (Consultation)

Scheduled my appointment for 10am. First thing done was to go through all the test to check for eye pressure, cornea thickness, degree, etc etc. 

Waited a bit, then had a brief session with the consultant who will advice you on the type of surgery that is suitable for you. Since I had my mind made up about doing epilasik, he reminded me of the longer downtime and longer recovery, then I signed the patient agreement, and it's back to more waiting (for Dr Julien Theng). I was initially a bit skeptical because the number of eye tests that they conducted was lesser than that of Shinagawa, but the results turned out pretty similar so that helped to put my mind at ease.

After more waiting, I was ushered into the Dr Theng's office where he (very quickly, like really super speedy) checked on the health(?) of my eyes before declaring everything is good to go. He sounds very well-rehearsed when telling you why you shouldn't worry so he must have done it thousands of times alr.

Scheduled my surgery for 5.45pm and off to lunch it was. Halfway through, received a call that says the surgery has been pushed forward to 5pm, so all the better for me.

The waiting was intense. Actually, it was the waiting that caused me to freak out more than anything. The whole time I was wondering if I was making the right decision, will I regret, will I go blind, you know, all the standard scenarios. 

Surgery Day (Operation)

The surgery itself is really quick and painless. I'm too lazy to describe the process so maybe google for more reviews? But since I opted for the corneal collagen cross linking due to weak corneas, I spent two extra minutes inside. So basically after operating on the eye, they will drip this vial of yellow liquid into your eyes, then your chair will auto move to a new spot where a beam of uv is shone into your eyes for a minute. Then you return to the original position before they continue operating on the other eye.

Recovery

Day 0 (actual surgery day): I got back about 50-60% of vision right after the surgery. No pain, no hassle except for the range of eye drops that you have to constantly apply. Wasn't sensitive to light and I could eat dinner perfectly fine. 

Day 1: Woke up okay, vision was back to being blurry (which I've been warned many times before so I wasn't too worried). Went for my check up where Dr Julien Theng declared my eyes were healing nicely. But hell broke loose a few hours after. My eyes were so light sensitive I had to draw all the curtains, and even then, I couldn't open my eyes. AT ALL. I was tearing profusely, like, really crying non-stop, with my eyes closed. It was so freaking uncomfortable and I was so scared that something somewhere had gone wrong. Called up the clinic but they assured me that it was a normal response. 

Day 2: Continuation of all the horrors of day 1. Nothing got better and I was still constantly crying with my eyes closed.

Day 3: The pain and tears subsided, but vision was still not functional. I could read the words on my phone since my fonts were huge, but watching tv or doing anything else was out of the question. No TV, no books, no computer. It got to a stage where the only thing I could do was sleep, but I couldn't sleep anymore because I've slept so much.

Day 4: Planned to return to work originally but vision was too blur. Took another day off.

Day 5: Returned to work but vision is still not good. I could see bus numbers fine but it was impossible to work on my computer even though the words were at 175%. Every time I try working on my computer, my vision would get worse and I would end up dripping eye drops constantly hoping it would help.

Day 7: Went back for my one week review with Dr Harold Choi, was told eyes were healing nicely and put on a new set of eye drops.

Day 8: Vision got superrrr blurry after the change in eye drop. I freaked out because it was like back to having full blown degrees but not being able to wear spectacles. Went back immediately to the clinic cos they were afraid it was a cornea tear or something. Turns out nothing was wrong and it might be that I'm allergic to the eye pressure eye drops, so told to lay off that eye drop and continue with the rest. 

Day 10: Vision is basically very good but will definitely fluctuate throughout the day. Usually, vision is the clearest right after I wake up/a nap, and by mid-afternoon it'll get more blurry. It also gets blurry if I work on the computer, but other than that, everything is quite clear. 

Almost a month later: I'm still applying eye drops, about once an hour, but it's more out of habit rather than necessity. Vision is very good, but it still fluctuates. Certain days vision in the left eye is better, certain days the right. But I've reached a stage where I forgot that I've had the surgery. I still find myself going into the toilet to take out my "contacts" or pushing up invisible spectacles still. Some habits are hard to kick. 

Side Effects

Halos are real. Starbursts are real. But nothing too significant that it renders you useless. I haven't actually tried it, but I don't think driving at night would be a problem.

I do not really experience dry eyes, but even now, I drip in eyedrops at least once every two hours. So I think that helps.

Other than that, I'm also taking fish oil pills. Not sure if it actually helps with the healing but at least it makes me feel like I've done everything I can.

The verdict

Do it. Like what everybody claims, I really think it was the best decision of my life. My only regret is that I didn't do it sooner.


post op 1 month update

2016 Shinagawa Lasik by Dr Lee Sao Bing Post 1 (Pre-op)

Finally plucked up my courage to attend the pre-assessment for lasik.

I've been sitting on the decision for years now but never quite got around to actually doing anything about it.

My eyesight is quite a bad one. 650 degree on both eyes plus another 175 for astigmatism.

I've been wearing glasses since Primary 2 and contacts since Secondary 2. I used to be the kind that will refuse to step out of the house unless I put on contacts, and I will go for like as many as 20 hours in them, but since about 5 years ago, my eyes have been complaining. They were so dry that I can't leave the contacts in for more than 4 or 5 hours, otherwise I would have to drop in eyedrops like mad. Since last year, I kind of just gave up on wearing contacts and have been wearing spectacles to work, but it made me really self-conscious and has taken quite a toll on my self-confidence.

The reason why I've been putting it off for so long is that
1. The technology is only about 20 years old. I'm paranoid about what happens after the 20 plus years.
2. There have been cases where lasik failed, making the person's eyes worse. I'm afraid that I'll be one of the unlucky ones.
3. The lasik procedure is also very expensive.

But I've quite a few friends who've gone for the procedure and none of them regretted their decision, so I finally decided to take the plunge.

The two clinics that I shortlisted were Eagle Eye Centre (Dr Julien Theng) and Shinagawa (Dr Lee Sao Bing). Of the two, I don't know why but I'm just more biased towards Shinagawa, and that was the only clinic that I went to for the pre-lasik assessment. Didn't go for any of the talks at all.

My first consultation was for my chalazion. Wanted to do the pre-lasik assessment on the day itself but was adviced against it because the chalazion (which is like an enlarged stye thing) could have been pushing against the cornea, and the readings might have been off. I initially wanted to do the removal surgery but Dr Lee Sao Bing adviced against it because most of it has dried up so it's just a scar tissue left. Now there's a lump on my left eye lid, so sad. But it's pretty unnoticeable unless you stare closely.

For the chalazion consultation, I paid $149.43 in total.
1. Systane ultra eye drops x 1 ($15.71)
2. TLC eye care wipes x 2 boxes ($23.94)
3. Consultation ($100)
4. GST ($9.78)

After a week, I went for the pre-lasik assessment.

Won't be talking about the pre-lasik assessment since you can find plenty of information online, but basically the nurse is the one conducting all the readings, then you will be led to see Dr Lee Sao Bing who will then advice you on the suitable procedure based on the readings taken.

For me, because my corneas were thinner than the average person's (mine was 510um and 530um compared to 550um for the average person), Dr Lee recommended doing the Intralase Bladeless Lasik (where a flap is created) over epi-lasik, reason being due to the high degree and thin corneas, there's a greater chance of scarring occurring during the recovery. Scarring on the cornea would lead to a haze-like effect for your vision. On top of that, I'll have to add on the cross-linking procedure to strengthen the corneas. Total cost for both the lasik plus cross-linking would amount to about $5200 after the $200 credit card discount.

Chances of my eyes regaining perfect eyesight was 97%, 3% possibility that there might be some residual degree left.

Catch is that I'll have to complete the procedure within 3 months, otherwise when I redo the pre-lasik assessment, it will no longer be counted as a first visit, and would be priced higher (around $70).

Total damage for the pre-lasik assessment was $34.81.
1. Lasik consultation ($20.56)
2. TCL eye care wipes ($11.97)
3. GST ($2.28)

I've scheduled my surgery for mid May, so I'll update again probably end May after it's done. Hopefully the surgery will go smoothly.