Thursday, July 21, 2011
Researching LASIK (October 2010)
Memories of the bad set of prescription glasses caused a strong wind to blow in the depths of my mind, removing all the dust from the idea of LASIK eye surgery. Before I knew it, the dust has all disappeared over the past couple of months and my brain brought the idea up again. Perhaps I should pull the trigger and just go for it. I mean, what’s the worst that can happen? Ehm…well there were some very bad things but what are the chances? I had a conversation with my brother and he convinced me to just take a single step, that is, see if I am a good candidate or not. After all if I am not then a decision is made. If I am a good candidate then I can make a choice. I decided that it was better to know than not know at all and started researching places in the UAE on where to do LASIK.
I ask my friend who worked in hospital for more than 4 years and he came up with recommendations. I researched different LASIK machines and came with the conclusion that the VISX Star 4 (something like that) was the best one. After further research I decided on going with Moorfields Eye Hospital in Dubai located in Dubai Healthcare City. After all, they have been in the UK for more than 200 years, the doctors were really credible and they were on the higher end in terms of price (which makes me feel like I am paying for quality).
I call them and book an appointment for the 13th of November. I just couldn’t wait for that day to come.
I ask my friend who worked in hospital for more than 4 years and he came up with recommendations. I researched different LASIK machines and came with the conclusion that the VISX Star 4 (something like that) was the best one. After further research I decided on going with Moorfields Eye Hospital in Dubai located in Dubai Healthcare City. After all, they have been in the UK for more than 200 years, the doctors were really credible and they were on the higher end in terms of price (which makes me feel like I am paying for quality).
I call them and book an appointment for the 13th of November. I just couldn’t wait for that day to come.
The first thought about LASIK (Summer 2008)
It is the summer of 2008 and I just finished my 3rd year at university. I have only tried contact lenses for around a month previously and it wasn’t a pleasant experience. Toric contact lenses were uncomfortable and half way through the day my eyes would be dry and turn red. This made me consider undergoing LASIK eye surgery. Further to that, my brother has recently undergone LASIK eye surgery and was doing well, which was pretty much all the motivation I needed at the time.
However, before I booked an appointment decided to call my other brother (who has also undergone LASIK eye surgery years ago) to get some input from him. He informed me that the reason why he did the surgery was in order to be able to do things that he wasn’t able to do with glasses or which hindered him in his ability to enjoy sports (mainly soccer and scuba diving). I didn’t play much sports and as a student I did not find that I had a good reason at the time. I changed my mind and pulled the plug on the idea of messing with my eyes.
However, before I booked an appointment decided to call my other brother (who has also undergone LASIK eye surgery years ago) to get some input from him. He informed me that the reason why he did the surgery was in order to be able to do things that he wasn’t able to do with glasses or which hindered him in his ability to enjoy sports (mainly soccer and scuba diving). I didn’t play much sports and as a student I did not find that I had a good reason at the time. I changed my mind and pulled the plug on the idea of messing with my eyes.
I need new glasses...or did I? (March 2010)
The idea of undergoing LASIK eye surgery was now dormant in some dark part of my brain. There was so much dust covering it that even if I looked for that idea I wouldn’t find it. I have been wearing the same prescription glasses for roughly 3 years now and I felt like I should go for a checkup, after all, I didn’t know if things were actually slightly blurry or if my mind was playing tricks on me telling me to just get a new pair.
I head to Optical Center for a routine checkup and I find out that indeed my myopia has changed although my astigmatism was the same. My new prescription was the following:
Right Eye: Sphere -5.50, Astigmatism -2.50, Axis 180
Left Eye: Sphere: -6.75, Astigmatism -1.00, Axis 175
I pick a new pair of glasses that look more trendy that my previous ones, selected the most compression possible for the new lenses and wait a week to receive them.
A week passes by and I finally received my new pair. I wear them the next morning in order to better acclimatize to them but things seemed a little too sharp. Not only that everything felt funny due to the change in shape of the lens (they were smaller that my previous pair). I visit the store again to see if this was just my imagination or if there was something indeed wrong with the prescription. The optometrist told me that because I had severe myopia and astigmatism that getting used to new glasses will take some time and that I should give it a week. I am not the most patient person but this was just something I had to get used to.
As the days pass by I notice that things were just getting worse. I could feel all the muscles and nerves in my head being tense, I would get constant headaches and after a long night’s sleep people still said I looked like I didn’t go to sleep. My body was giving me enough messages to tell me that perhaps the prescription was indeed overpowered. After a week passes by I give up hope, stash the glasses in some dark place in my cupboard and return to my old glasses. Things weren’t as clear but I was a lot happier and comfortable.
I head to Optical Center for a routine checkup and I find out that indeed my myopia has changed although my astigmatism was the same. My new prescription was the following:
Right Eye: Sphere -5.50, Astigmatism -2.50, Axis 180
Left Eye: Sphere: -6.75, Astigmatism -1.00, Axis 175
I pick a new pair of glasses that look more trendy that my previous ones, selected the most compression possible for the new lenses and wait a week to receive them.
A week passes by and I finally received my new pair. I wear them the next morning in order to better acclimatize to them but things seemed a little too sharp. Not only that everything felt funny due to the change in shape of the lens (they were smaller that my previous pair). I visit the store again to see if this was just my imagination or if there was something indeed wrong with the prescription. The optometrist told me that because I had severe myopia and astigmatism that getting used to new glasses will take some time and that I should give it a week. I am not the most patient person but this was just something I had to get used to.
As the days pass by I notice that things were just getting worse. I could feel all the muscles and nerves in my head being tense, I would get constant headaches and after a long night’s sleep people still said I looked like I didn’t go to sleep. My body was giving me enough messages to tell me that perhaps the prescription was indeed overpowered. After a week passes by I give up hope, stash the glasses in some dark place in my cupboard and return to my old glasses. Things weren’t as clear but I was a lot happier and comfortable.
Introduction & a little history
I am nearing the age of 24 as I am writing this. For as long as I can remember, I spent my entire life wearing eyeglasses. To be exact though, I have been wearing eyeglasses since third grade (when I was 8 years old). So we’re talking about almost 16 years of my life. To be honest at first I didn’t mind eyeglasses. However, as my vision got worse and worse, not to mention the astigmatism, I really started feeling that eyeglasses were no longer doing it for me.
Change in Blog Name from 日本語４０１ to Blue Gaiwan
Having spent the past 2+ years in the UAE, this blog will no longer cover topics related to Japan/Japanese Language. While the blog was previously known as 日本語４０１ since it was what I used during my University years, I will now change its name to Blue Gaiwan to match my addiction to tea (which for health reasons I stopped drinking, even though the topics I will post will not relate to tea.
Monday, December 29, 2008
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