Day 2 Post-Op (June 22)

Everything was blurry as hell.  I still could not see anything.  I had a follow-up appointment in Dubai on the 25^th of June (which will be 5 days post-op) in order to remove the bandage contact lens.  By then the epithelial layer should have healed completely.

One of the meds I was using is called “dexametahasone”.  It came in a small glass container with a separate dropper and  a label clearly marked on the box [PRESERVATIVE FREE].  My mother accidentally spilled the bottle as she placed it on an uneven surface.  The amount remaining in the bottle was not enough to last till the 25^th.  We tried calling all sorts of pharmacies and LASIK centers in Abu Dhabi but to no avail.  Al Maghrabi got their meds from a pharmacy called Babel, which my dad went to and all they had was dexamethasone WITH preservatives.  Al Noor hospital did not have a preservative free one, neither did the countless of pharmacies my family looked into.  I was reluctant to use something with preservatives (since there were atleast 4 or more chemicals on the medicine list, and the last thing I want is permanent damage in my eyes) so I decided to wait till next morning to call Moorfields Eye Hospital Dubai to see if I could use such a medicine if it was not preservative free.

Day1 Post-Op (June 21)

It was dawn. I could hear the Fajr prayers outside. The pain has been significantly reduced to a minor itch. I went to the bathroom, removed the eye guards taped to my face to perform abolution. I went back to my bed and prayed but instead of prostrating on the floor I had to prostrate while sitting (doctor’s recommendation since contact with the floor will significantly increase the chances of infection). I don’t remember the details of what happened next but I do remember calling the reception around 10 or 11 AM to check out by phone.

After that we head straight to the car parked in the underground parking to drive back to Abu Dhabi. My mom gave me her face veil to cover my face (I wrapped it to form a thin cloth which I covered only my eyes with), since I did not have any sunglasses with me and my eyes were extremely sensitive to sunlight.

Once I arrived back home I head straight to my bedroom, close the curtains, cover my eyes with the eye-guard and go to sleep. Throughout the entire time my mother kept track of the eye drops and administered them accordingly.

Back to Reality (June 20)

I woke up, unaware of what time it was.  The pain was back but it was slightly bearable.  My eyes were very sensitive to light but everything was dark, except for the bathroom light.  I look around to find my mother asleep.  This was not the reality I wanted to be in and decided to escape.  My eyes were already closed and I tried to clear my thoughts.  Once again I drifted away from all the pain by sleeping.

The Aftermath (June 20)

The whole process started at 11AM. It was now 4 PM as I entered the room. I went straight to bed to sleep. I had to sleep on my back and had to tape two plastic eye guards to avoid touching my eyes while I’m asleep or for the pillow to rub my eyes. I forgot to mention this, but after the Corneal Cross-Linking procedure they placed 2 bandage contact lens (BCL) on my eyes to protect the treated area from exposure and to stop my eyelids from rubbing my eyes since the epithelium layer was not intact. The pain was unbearable. My entire body was sweating, my clothes were all drenched in sweat, I was freezing as the AC hit me (even though I covered myself with a thick blanket). What follows is pure torture.

As I previously mentioned I was at the final stages of a nasty cold. I still suffered from congestion in my chest and all the riboflavin drops (vitamin B2) that they were putting in my eyes over a 1.5 hour period passed through my eyes, into my throat, mixing with all the phlegm in my system and completely soaking my tongue. What did that mean? Every time I blow my nose there is a yucky flavored phlegm colored yellowish/brown (due to the Riboflavin drops) coming out. I could not see it since my eyes were closed the entire time, but that was how my mother described it. Next, all the absorption of the riboflavin on my tongue caused a condition best described as “cotton mouth”, complete dryness of the tongue (imagine a thick towel inside your mouth that you can’t remove) where I just felt like throwing up. Top that with extreme hunger and stomach pain because the last meal I had was around 7AM (9 hours ago) and I had a voltaren pain pill which causes stomach cramps if taken on an empty stomach.

I was starving, did not have any food, suffered from a stomach cramp, felt like vomiting, felt like my eyes were soaking in Clorox, sweating all over, had chills and all the nerves and muscles in my head were so tense I felt they were gonna snap. My mom went to get some food from the grocery next door as I was blind, helpless and in pain. She came back with some bread, cheese and milk. She prepared a cheese sandwich which was probably the worst thing she could have given me. Imagine putting a little cream cheese on a dry towel and then with an absolutely dry tongue drying to eat it. I was about to puke at that moment but stopped myself since I knew my stomach was empty and for the fear this reaction may damage my eyes that have just undergone some major procedures. I did not have any regrets at that moment and never once said I wish I never did this. All I knew was that I had to keep on walking on the path I’ve chosen, no matter what the consequences were. As these thoughts passed through my mind, I lost consciousness and drifted to the only shelter I could escape to. I was finally asleep and no longer felt any pain as my soul temporarily departed my physical self.

Corneal Cross-Linking (June 20)

As I stood up from the LASEK machine’s bed, the assistant asked me to follow her. Everything was cloudy as if in a dream but relatively clear (especially since I was not wearing glasses). The second room was larger but did not have any large machines. There was a flat bed which I was asked to lie down on. The doctor was no longer there and it was mainly the assistants who were going to lead this process (since it was going to be a long and boring process). They first started on my right eye.


They placed the same eyelid opening device as the one in the LASEK procedure. After that they had a timer timed at 2 minutes and 30 seconds. They explained that every 2.5 minutes they will place an eye drop. The first eye drop will be a Riboflavin (vitamin B2) drop, then the second drop will be a BSS drop (balanced saline solution…pretty much artificial tears). They will keep switching between them every 2.5 minutes. This will continue for 30 minutes. They also informed that since I have just undergone LASEK surgery, I should ask them to place an anesthesia drop on my eyes should I start feeling pain.

After 30 minutes passed by (where eye drops were placed 12 times on my right eye), they took me to another room to look if there was enough absorption in my eyes. My eyes were all sore and I could barely open them at this moment. They informed me that there was enough absorption and they will now proceed to the second step where they will expose my right to ultra-violet light for 30 minutes while continuing with the 2.5 minute eye drop routine.

So now I am back in the operation room, this time with TWO metal expander pieces, one on each eye, to keep my eyelids open. My right eye has a bright UV light source right on top of it, with two timers on each side of my head and the assistants are keeping track of the eye drops and timers for each eye. From time to time I would feel some pain from the previous LASEK surgery and requested them to place anesthetic eye drops to reduce the pain. They told me to try to handle as much pain as possible before requesting any anesthetic drops since more frequent use of it will hinder the recovery process. So how did all this feel? Imagine your eyelids are forced to be open (and although my eyes were under anesthesia, I could feel the metal expanders, since they are in contact with my eyelids and my eyelids are not under anesthesia), staring at a bright light for 30 minutes straight (and if my eyes wander around the assistants will spot it immediately and ask me to stare back at the light), I cannot take any breaks during this procedure (they even asked me if I needed to use the restroom before the procedure started because breaks were not allowed) and I can feel pain as the time passed by due to the effects of the LASEK surgery. I only had a single thought as I was staring at that damn blue light…when will it all be over.

I hear the timer beep and the assistant removing the UV light from my eyes. At last, I am done with my right eye. Time to repeat the nightmare with my left eye, but they needed to check if my left eye absorbed enough riboflavin so they take me to another room. All seems well and I am back again in the operation room for 30 minutes of staring at a blue light. You may think I would have thousands of thoughts passing through my mind at this moment but all I can think “when will this be over!”. Then I hear the assistant saying “one more eye drop and we’ll be done”. I start counting the seconds 1…2…3…then a thought interferes “this will all be over soon”…then I hear the final beep followed by “we’re all done”!

I stand up slowly, eyes sore and things a bit blurrier than before. The assistant guides me to the seating area while I keep my eyes closed the entire time. The anesthesia begins to wear off and I can feel an incredible pain coming. It is almost as if someone soaked my eyes in some concentrated bleach (Clorox) and the burning sensation doesn’t cease. I ask the assistant to give me some anesthesia to which he responds that from now on the anesthesia drops should only be used as least as possible and no more than 5 times a day. WTH…five times a day!? I already got my eyes treated with the anesthesia about 5 times today. He also told me there was a Voltaren pain pill that can be used every 6 (or was it 12?) hours. I was like a drug addict asking him to please give me some pain meds. I quickly swallow the pill hoping for the pain to cease as the assistant is explaining the instructions of all the meds they were giving me. Although my eyes were closed and my mind was trying to absorb all the pain rushing through my body, I could hear the assistant saying “Drop #1 every 2 hours for the first 3 days, then every 4 hours for the next 3 days, then for every 6 hours the next 2 weeks. Drop #2 commences after Drop #1 has been discontinued for every 6 hours. Drop #3 every….and then I lost it. How many drops were there!!? How the hell am I supposed to keep track of all this! Just get me out of here. After the assistant stopped speaking I followed my mother who was guiding me back to the car. We drove off to the hotel room we booked on the block next to the hospital. It was finally over…or did it just begin?

D-Day: LASEK Procedure (June 20)

The anticipated day has arrived. I wake up early in the morning, stuff myself with what I assumed to be healthy nutritious food (but lots of it) and get ready to head to Dubai. My appointment was at 11 AM in the morning, but I arrived there at 10. I guess that’s the result of too much excitement and over planning. Now to flesh out the details of the entire process!

I step into the hospital, and the receptionist guides me to the operations section (located in a different place than the diagnosis & follow up area). I give the receptionist there my insurance card and relax on one of the numerous couches there as one of their staff asks if I would like anything to drink. I think to myself that I probably need to be well hydrated and choose to have some water (nothing too exciting yet). One of the nurses comes over and asks me to remove my glasses in order to allow for my eyes to relax as much as possible so they can scan my eyes and get a 3D map of its surface. So the next 15 minutes I’m blind, and in a somewhat meditative state as I open and close my eyes and try to be relaxed as much as possible. They call me again, and this time I get to meet the doctor. He takes a full scan of my eyes and asks me to return back to the couch where the nurse will put anesthetic drops into my eyes as he programs the machine.

The nurse comes back with a bunch of plastic things I have to wear before entering the surgical room. There is a plastic cap, plastic wraps to wear on my shoes and an upper body suit that covers my entire chest and arms. He then proceeds to put the anesthetic drops in my eyes followed by the strangest question “How does it taste”. Huh? What kind of question is that!? He tells me that usually the drops pass through the eyes into your throat and many patients express its funky flavor. Lucky (more like unlucky) for me, I was still at the last stages of my terrible cold so I still had some congestion in my chest and could not feel the flavor of the drops since it probably got mixed with all the phlegm in my system.

A few moments later, the nurse asks me to follow him (yes, this was a male nurse) into the operation room. There is a glass sliding door that he opens with his ID card. Following that, there were two large doors that opened up slowly like I was in a Metal Gear Solid game and a huge number [3] on the floor. The room had tons of fans on the ceiling to insure no dust/pollutants are in the air and there was a huge machine with a sliding bed which I later confirmed to be the machine that will laser my eyes. Let me repeat, the machine was huge, perhaps 3x3x3 meters.

I lie on the bed, and they swing it under the machine. There is an ultra bright ring of light with a red dot in the middle. The ring is so bright that looking at it for a millisecond will temporarily leave a blinking ring ghost mark when you close your eyes that is so clear you feel it was burned in your retina. There is a cushion around my neck and head that they shape in order to fix my head and stop it from moving. After that, they tape my eyelashes to stay away from the surgical area and then place a metal ring into my eyes which they expand to open my eyelids and keep them open. Since they already placed anesthesia drops into my eyes I could not feel anything and did not have any urge to blink.

Now that my eyelids are wide open and my eyelashes are out of the way, the doctor proceeded to place a suction device on my eyes. The second it touches the eye surface I react a little and the doctor asked the nurse how many drops of anesthesia he used. Apparently it was not enough, since the doctor put more anesthesia drops (and since my eyes reacted to the suction). The staff informed me that they try to use as little anesthesia as possible since the more is used the slower the recovery time becomes. A few moments later the doctor proceeded to place the suction again. This time I could not feel anything in my eyes (and I felt much better). The rest of the experience felt as though I was abducted by aliens and they were experimenting with me where I could not feel a thing. The suction was in place (I could see a black ring), then there were some sort of drops being placed, following by a tiny brush-like tool the doctor used to wipe the surface of my eye. The doctor then asked the lights to be switched off and for me not to move and keep staring the red light. He then placed a tube between the machine and my eyes and it felt like some kind of steam was being released from it (or maybe I was just imagining things). I could hear the humming of the machine as I stood there in silence staring at the blinking red light. As my heart beat, I knew this moment will change the rest of my life…for better or worse. The silence was then broken by one of the assistants calling my name followed by “right eye”. It was time.

I could hear the sound of a machine gun firing. It sounded more like a thin metal rod being moved right and left as it hit the side of a thin tin can. I tried my best not to move and tried to breathe as slow as possible. The red blinking light would disappear at times or move to the side, going out of focus, but I know my eyes were staring straight up. 30 or so seconds later the sound stopped. The light turned on and the doctor removed all the tools placed on my right eye. Was that it? I didn’t feel a thing and it was too short! The doctor then proceeded to work on my left eye and the process was exactly the same. Now, I had finished the LASEK procedure on both my eyes.

The assistant asked me to stand up slowly as she guided me to another operation room. It was time for the second, and perhaps more medically important surgery, Corneal Cross-Linking.

A Crappy Cold (June 13)

This day was supposed to be the day where my eyes would have been undergone some major restructuring. It is also the day where I got sick with an extremely severe cold/flu. I was really grateful that my surgery has been pushed one week ahead, since there was no way I could have done it today. The flu was so bad that I even had to take a day off work. It was also funny because the first day I was sick (and went to work), I had to keep stuffing tissue up my nose to avoid my runny nose from leaking all over. It was a very weird kind of runny nose, where without any prior notice, it would start dripping like water from a faucet. Every 5-10 minutes I had to replace the tissue in my nose since it got so soaked that eventually the tissue itself would start dripping. Even the tea boy passed by me and asked if I was ok. It was terrible.

I spent that week boosting my system to tons of food and vitamins in order to recover completely by next week where I have to undergo the surgery. I probably gained a couple of kilos in the process but convinced myself that it was all for a greater purpose and that weight can always be lost.