LASIK surgery

"Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life." - Confucius.

O boy, I hope I can one day fulfill this quote.

So I've been getting asked about this ALL THE TIME recently, and personally it's a nice icebreaker for me to have...LASIK eye surgery. People I talk to either 1.) have heard of it but are scared of doing it for fear of going blind, 2.) have heard of it and are thinking of doing it in the next year or so and just want to get advice, or 3.) have gotten it already and so we compare stories. It's one of those. Out of the 3, I'd say #1 was me for a long time, because I thought there had to be some risks to this, they're messing around with your eyes! But here's the scoop...

So I originally wasn't planning on LASIK for awhile, but my mom's health insurance had a $3,000 fund saved up for 2009 that would have evaporated anyway if we didn't spend it, so I decided to put away my glasses (hopefully forever) and get the treatment. This was like Nov. 24, too, that I decided this, so stuff happened fast.

It's important to get the right eye doctor. I looked online and just straight Googled for LASIK, which is probably not advisable. In LA, the most popular peeps are probably the Laser Eye Center. I went there first, but didn't really appreciate them. Honestly, the actual device and equipment was probably going to be same, and price was a little better, but the attitude at the place was like going to the meat market and pulling a number: not personal. And when you're the people who are going to be messing around with my eyes, you better be personal.

Then I went to a place in West L.A. called LA Sight with Dr. David Wallace, and I liked him cuz 1.) his name is the same as a cool character on The Office, and 2.) He shook my hand, spent some time talking, and 3.) didnt' try to impose any extra charges. Granted, the surgery's not cheap, you're looking at probably something like $2000 to $2500 for ONE EYE, but I appreciated no hidden fees.

OK so the actual process:
1. 2 different tests to examine your eye before the actual day of testing, not much of a hassle.
2. Day of exam, have friend drive you to eye center.
2a. Make sure friend is not drunk/ impaired.
3. Go in for last-minute tests to make sure your eyes didn't go blind in anticipation of the big day.
4. Sit in a calming room alone with your thoughts about the impending surgery. My room had a calming little pond and non-dirty magazines.
5. Doctor is ready for you, go into surgery room.
6. Bunch of dudes around the operating table with masks on, shake doctor's hand before surgery. Make sure to breathe.
7. Lie down and get a big stethoscope-looking thing in front of your face, locked in around your eye.
8. Open eyes wide, device props your eyelids open so you can't blink.
9. Not painful.......yet.
10. Doctor tells you to look at green laser.
11. Nurse gives you a pillow/ soft thing to squeeze.
12. Doctor cuts flap in your cornea to open up for the laser to go through. This takes about 2 seconds and you do feel it, it's like the dentist prodding your mouth.....somewhat painful but not screaming painful, that's what the pillow is for.
13. Laser hones in and does the work. Make sure you stare at the green laser or you MAY GO BLIND. Lol, not really.
13a. You smell the laser doing its work on your eye. It's not pleasant.
14. This is all within a minute, one eye is done.
15. Switch to other eye, repeat process......
Except this time you anticipate the cutting of the cornea open, and you're really clutching the pillow.
16. Done.....whew.
17. See better.......X-ray vision.
18. 2 months later, I have great vision and just praying that for the next 10 years my prescription doesn't change.

* Individual results may vary. See doctor for local procedures.

Fantasize on,

Robert Yan