I got my first pair of glasses when I was in third grade. Since then, I've had new prescription after new prescription until I couldn't even see 6 inches in front of me without glasses or contacts. So, when my friends started popping up with testimonials, "Oh yeah, I got LASIK last week. So cheap here and so great," my ears immediately perked up. It became one of my new goals for my time in Korea.
So, with my students exams approaching, I decided to do some in depth research. Exams for my students meant time off for me. I had a 6 day break, and I decided I wanted to spend it in bed letting my eyes recover from having lasers shot at them.
So, after looking around, I settled on "Dream Eye Center" in Seoul.
This is their website: http://www.hellolasik.com/eng_site/
They were not the cheapest option, and they were pretty clear about that from the beginning. But, I decided when it comes to a surgery that involves shooting lasers at your eyes, I didn't really want to go with a clinic that advertised "cheapness" above everything else. So, I scheduled my appointment with Dream Eye to check it out. There are 2 locations and I chose the one in Myeongdong because it is closer to my school. The Myeongdong location has a few English speaking nurses so the scheduling and testing went without problems. For the first appointment, I went through 2 hours of testing to determine what type of surgery I could have. It involved everything from the pretty standard "puff of air to the eye" test all the way to numbing and touching my eye with a stick.
When I left, I had extremely dilated pupils, a price quote, and an appointment for surgery. Since my prescription for glasses were very strong, my pupils are particularly big, and my eyes are fairly dry, my quote was higher than what I've heard of friends paying. The total cost would be 1,400,000 won. That comes out to about $1,200. I decided to go for it. The surgery I would get is "LASEK." There are 2 different surgeries, "LASEK" and "LASIK." Basically, LASEK is more painful, but has fewer long term complications. LASIK is instant recovery, harder to qualify for, and not good if you plan on boxing or scuba diving.
Two days later, I was back at the clinic for surgery. The actual surgery would be done in about 20 seconds, but the prep time took a little longer. I had some more standard tests, my face disinfected, and before I knew it, I was laying down and focusing on the "green light." Before the surgery, they numb your eyes and put gel on them, so everything looks really blurry. So, you're laying on your back, looking at a whole bunch of blurry lights while a voice is saying "1 minute until surgery...30 seconds until surgery..." I felt like I was being abducted by aliens.
Before the surgery, the nurse kindly asked me if I needed her to hold my hand. I had declined, and decided to clutch the teddy bear instead. When the lasers started, however, she held my had anyway. It was really cute, and comforting. The actual surgery was completely painless and the only discomfort was smelling my burning cornea. Before I knew it, it was over, and I was laying in a bed to rest before being released into the outside world. Instantly, I could tell my vision was already better.
The doctors had warned me the next 2 days would be rough, and my vision would take a full month to get to 20/20. So far, they have been totally right. The first 2 days were extremely rough. It felt like I was cutting onions 2 inches from my eyes for hours straight. But, after 2 days, I felt fine. After 4 days, things were pretty much totally normal.
Now, it's been about 3 weeks since my surgery, and my vision is almost 20/20. I still have to take eye drops every day (3 times a day), and I will for 6 months. I've been back to the clinic 3 times for my check up appointments and everything is healing as normal. I look forward to having perfect vision, but after needing glasses for over half my life, it's just nice to wake up and be able to see!
So far, Dream Eye has been fantastic. Not only has their medical attention been great, they have been very sweet. They even gave me a Christmas card. They offer discounts if you are recommended by a friend, so feel free to say "Alessandra Hodulik" recommended the place to you if you find yourself needing surgery!
So, after looking around, I settled on "Dream Eye Center" in Seoul.
This is their website: http://www.hellolasik.com/eng_site/
They were not the cheapest option, and they were pretty clear about that from the beginning. But, I decided when it comes to a surgery that involves shooting lasers at your eyes, I didn't really want to go with a clinic that advertised "cheapness" above everything else. So, I scheduled my appointment with Dream Eye to check it out. There are 2 locations and I chose the one in Myeongdong because it is closer to my school. The Myeongdong location has a few English speaking nurses so the scheduling and testing went without problems. For the first appointment, I went through 2 hours of testing to determine what type of surgery I could have. It involved everything from the pretty standard "puff of air to the eye" test all the way to numbing and touching my eye with a stick.
When I left, I had extremely dilated pupils, a price quote, and an appointment for surgery. Since my prescription for glasses were very strong, my pupils are particularly big, and my eyes are fairly dry, my quote was higher than what I've heard of friends paying. The total cost would be 1,400,000 won. That comes out to about $1,200. I decided to go for it. The surgery I would get is "LASEK." There are 2 different surgeries, "LASEK" and "LASIK." Basically, LASEK is more painful, but has fewer long term complications. LASIK is instant recovery, harder to qualify for, and not good if you plan on boxing or scuba diving.
Two days later, I was back at the clinic for surgery. The actual surgery would be done in about 20 seconds, but the prep time took a little longer. I had some more standard tests, my face disinfected, and before I knew it, I was laying down and focusing on the "green light." Before the surgery, they numb your eyes and put gel on them, so everything looks really blurry. So, you're laying on your back, looking at a whole bunch of blurry lights while a voice is saying "1 minute until surgery...30 seconds until surgery..." I felt like I was being abducted by aliens.
Before the surgery, the nurse kindly asked me if I needed her to hold my hand. I had declined, and decided to clutch the teddy bear instead. When the lasers started, however, she held my had anyway. It was really cute, and comforting. The actual surgery was completely painless and the only discomfort was smelling my burning cornea. Before I knew it, it was over, and I was laying in a bed to rest before being released into the outside world. Instantly, I could tell my vision was already better.
The doctors had warned me the next 2 days would be rough, and my vision would take a full month to get to 20/20. So far, they have been totally right. The first 2 days were extremely rough. It felt like I was cutting onions 2 inches from my eyes for hours straight. But, after 2 days, I felt fine. After 4 days, things were pretty much totally normal.
Now, it's been about 3 weeks since my surgery, and my vision is almost 20/20. I still have to take eye drops every day (3 times a day), and I will for 6 months. I've been back to the clinic 3 times for my check up appointments and everything is healing as normal. I look forward to having perfect vision, but after needing glasses for over half my life, it's just nice to wake up and be able to see!
So far, Dream Eye has been fantastic. Not only has their medical attention been great, they have been very sweet. They even gave me a Christmas card. They offer discounts if you are recommended by a friend, so feel free to say "Alessandra Hodulik" recommended the place to you if you find yourself needing surgery!
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