13 May 2009 (Wednesday)
7.00am
Woke up and showered. Decided to wear the same outfit as what I wore during my driving test – I presume that is a lucky outfit. No make-up or perfumed is allowed, so I was able to get ready quickly and left home at 7.30am to catch the bus.
Took bus number 7 around 8.10am.
The bus was scheduled to reach Gleneagles at about 9.05am or so but due to heavy morning traffic, the bus reached at around 9.15am.
Took a quick bite at Delifrance before reaching the Parkway Eye Centre at 9.30am sharp.
9.30am
Walked to the reception area and informed the receptionist that I had an appointment at 9.30am. The lady promptly asked if I was XXX (my dialect name). I was told to fill in a contact list (due to H1N1). Right after, a nurse explained to me in details what’s going to happen today, what are the charges involved and also the contents of 3 forms which I am required to sign.
She also asked some questions, like when was the last time I wore contact lenses, did I put on make-up or perfume, am I pregnant or breast-feeding, what medicine am I allergic to, what reactions did I have when I took those medication, is anyone coming to pick me after the surgery, did I bring a pair of sunglasses, how many days of MC do I need, etc.
Once I signed the 3 forms, I was told to take a seat away from the reception area and wait to be called again.
9.40am
I was called – this time by the receptionist. Right there and then she handled me the invoice and explained in details what the charges are for. Total: S$3,709.69.
This was more expensive than I originally thought (the nurse has already explained to me earlier) because when I first went for the pre-op evaluation (last month), I didn’t know that I had to pay for a daily treatment fee of $66, and medication of $85, both before GST.
9.45am
I took a seat again and before I sat down, I saw a girl who looks rather familiar. But I didn’t give it much thought until I vaguely recalled that I seemed to have heard the nurse call out a name earlier which is familiar too. Even so, I didn’t give it much thought anymore cos I didn’t want to turn my head again to re-confirm who the girl was.
Soon after, I was called again – this time to check my eyesight. So i went to the room with the alphabets on the wall and was tested.
I found it harder to answer the nurse’s questions this time because she already knew my degrees from the evaluation last month and she was trying to get an even detailed reading this time. So when she slots in a lens into the glasses, then takes it out, flips it, and slots it back again, and goes “1 or 2 clearer?”, I will “Erm… same”. After a few tries I think she got pretty frustrated at me. Ha.
But hey, it’s my eyes! And the reading is going to determine how much to laser off from my eye later! And it costs close to $4K! Cannot anyhow mah!
10.00am
I went out to wait again. This time I looked at the girl again and confirmed that she is Shuwen, from DHSSB. So I called out to her and chatted. She thought she found me familiar too but couldn’t confirm.
Anyway we chatted a little and she said she didn’t want to scare me but this is the second time she’s here to do her lasik because during the first time, the thing (i dunno what it’s called) that held her eyes open sprung out and they couldn’t perform the lasik on that eye. WOW, scary man.
We only chatted for like 3 min, and I was called by another nurse again.
10.05am
Followed the nurse to another room where she dressed me up in the surgical gown, and also put on the surgical cap for me. Then she explained to me the 3 different eye drops which I had to put after the surgery, once every 2 hours.
She also explained that they will place anesthetic eye drops at different points, before and after the surgery. Lastly, she gave me a mild sedative to calm me down.
10.15am
The nurse brought me to a room named “recovery room” to rest and wait for my turn (but I haven’t done my surgery yet, shouldn’t I be waiting in a “waiting room” instead?). There were 2 couches in the room and another lady was already gowned up and lying there. The nurse pulled the curtain between the 2 of us to give us privacy, and left us.
Shortly after, the lady was called for her surgery.
In the room, I could hear a loud sound occassionally that goes “tiak tiak tiak tiak tiak tiak tiak tiak…” at very fast intervals for about 5 to 10 sec, and then it stops for 2 sec, and starts again. pretty scary but I was not sure whether it was the sound of the lasik machine.
10.30am
I was asked to move into another room. This time, the room is called “preparation room”. Sounds more appropriate right? Ha. The nurse explained that she’s going to put some eye drops for me and it will sting. So she put 3 different types of eye drops, one anti-red, one antibiotic and one anesthetic for me.
She also mentioned that the “tiak tiak tiak” sound was from the laser. And I got nervous again. Then she left the room and Dr Lee walked in and said a very brisk hello, how are you doing, all ready? And left as quickly as he came in.
Then the nurse came back in again, and proceed to disinfect the eye area and cautioned me not to touch the area which she has cleaned. After that she left the room and I waited somemore.
And I was bored, so I took a (ugly) picture of myself:
10.45am
The time has come. The nurse came into the “preparation room” and led me to the place where the surgery is going to take place. I’m not sure whether you can call it an operating theatre because we didn’t have to scrub down or anything like that. And the door was a full glass door and all we had to do was take off our shoes before entering.
So the nurse told me to lie on the operating bed and she helped me place my head in the correct position. Then she turned the bed (it was on swivels) such that my head is under a lot of lights and told me to close my eyes. Dr Lee then told me to relax and open my eyes and look at the blinking red light. I couldn’t see where the blinking red light was, but was too embarrassed to ask. Luckily I found it quickly.
The next few moments went pass in a blur. I know, this is the most important part to document down, but I was so nervous, I didn’t know what the hell was happening, even though both Dr Lee and the nurse did say out loud what they were doing, or needed me to do. Even then, at times I couldn’t hear them properly and couldn’t ask cos Dr Lee will often say “Don’t move, and don’t talk”.
I remember vaguely, that someone (I don’t even know whether it was Dr Lee or the nurse) pried open my eye, and placed something round into it. I guess that was to prevent my eyelids from closing? I dunno. There was totally no pain at all, just some pressure. Then the bed was rotated to another place and I could feel Dr Lee & the nurse busying themselves away from where I was. And I was wondering what they were doing.
Then the bed was rotated back to the area with a lot of lights and I was told to look at the blinking red light again. The thing was, there were 2 different red lights! One was a small dot of red light, the same one which I saw much earlier, the other was a huge mass of red lights. Both were blinking! Haha. But I couldn’t talk (cos Dr Lee no talking remember) and Dr Lee kept saying, you are doing great, so I didn’t bother. I just made sure my eye was open and I was looking at something, but not moving my eye around.
Then the “tiak tiak tiak” sound started (without a warning!) and immediately I smelled something burning. When I was doing my research earlier, have seen comments that the burning smell is like fried mushrooms. No lor! I think fried mushrooms will smell tasty. This smell… was pretty disturbing! Because it was so near, and it really smelled burnt, but not like any food that I can think of. In my mind, I felt like I was back at the dentist with a root canal operation!
When the second series of “tiak tiak tiak” sounded, Dr Lee said, Ok we are very close to your first perfect eyesight!. Then during the 3rd “tiak tiak tiak” I heard the nurse counting down “5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0″. And at some point in time, heard the nurse said “suction”.
Then Dr Lee placed something on my eye (I suspect it’s the flap), and I could feel some water droplets on my eye, and Dr Lee took something white to wipe my eye. Hmm… feels and looks like a mini white sponge, and the action was like a painting action. I guess he was trying to put the flap back in place, and ensuring no bubbles or something.
Then he said, OK done! That’s one eye done.
Then he moved on to the next eye. Same process. This time round I was less tensed than the previous eye but my teeth were still clenched and my fists were still tight (yes, I am that nervous). Throughout the process Dr Lee keeps repeating “don’t move, don’t talk”, “you are doing great”, “perfect”. At one point in time, he asked the nurse whether she has asked for my IC number (which she did right at the start of the surgery).
And so the other eye was done. The nurse came by to help me sit up and get down the bed and Dr Lee was enthusiastic and congratulating me on my perfect eyesight and asking how do I feel. All I could say was “I’m still in a daze”
Wahaha…
Indeed, my gait wasn’t stable. I wasn’t sure was it due to the sedation (which will cause drowsiness) or due to tension or was it cos my brain hasn’t gotten used to the new eyesight.
11.00am
I was brought back to the recovery room and rested in the dark. There was no pain or discomfort at all. But when the room door was left open accidentally, I could see that my vision was hazy. But I could see the word “Gleneagles” on a glass door about 2 meters away. That’s when I knew I had almost perfect eyesight.
While waiting in the room, I took another picture:
Sorry for the blur picture – guess I was still shaky from the procedure. As you can see, apart from my sullen face, the eyes look fine. No tearing, no redness.
11.20am
The nurse led me to Dr Lee’s consultation room and applied another few eye drops. I remember one of them is supposed to be an anesthetic, and it was dripped onto my right eyelash instead of directly onto my right eye. A bit did go into my right eye, but not enough. I was still kinda in a daze, so it didn’t occur to me that I should have asked for a re-application.
Then Dr Lee came in, congratulated me again, looked into my eyes to check if everything was ok and then gave the green light to go back.
11.30am
Tried to look around for Shuwen, couldn’t find her, so I gave dearest a call and then left the clinic to go to the ladies. Everything was fine. Still feeling a little drowsy, my gait was a little unstable but I could see pretty well.
In the ladies, I put on my sunglasses (and received some strange stares from the other women in the ladies. DUH) and then walked to the drop-off point to walk for dearest.
It was a mistake. The sun was glaring and perhaps the anesthetic was also wearing off, so my eyes started to tear a little and I had problems keeping them open. Gave dearest a call and he instructed me to go back to the clinic to wait as the air will be much cleaner there. And so I went back to the clinic.
Saw Shuwen and chatted with her. Most of the time I was keeping my eyes closed and apologizing to her for my rudeness as I really found it hard to keep my eyes open. We chatted for quite a while and then she had to go as Kelvin was waiting for her downstairs. I had much wanted to see Kelvin and have a quick catch up with him, but I didn’t feel confident enough to make my way down so I had to bid goodbye to Shuwen.
Shortly after, dearest came and fetched me. I held on to him for dear life while he guided me towards the carpark. Most of the time I had my eyes closed as well. Thank god dearest took time off to come and fetch me!
I slept throughout the car ride. That was the only way to feel comfortable. Then dearest bought bread and milk for me for lunch. I keep telling dearest, pls buy something EASY to eat – best if I can eat with my eyes closed! And so I did – sat in bed and finished the bread while being half-asleep.
Haha… I think the whole thing was quite funny.
To Be Continued….
see the hideous things? and how ugly dearest had pasted the tapes over. i couldn’t open my eyes, but i still wanted to force a smile. hehe
and of course we had to take a couple pic together!
say goodbye to my collection of spectacles and contact lenses! (hopefully forever!)
and so i woke up after a really good sleep and felt no discomfort at all anymore. so i logged on to the internet and to protect my eyes, i put on my new oakley sunglasses!
this, is to prove that i can tape the eye shields on myself. and better than dearest! isn’t this prettier than the earlier one?
this is the collection of eye drops which i was supposed to use every 2 hours. in total there are 3 different types of eye drops. there’s also a medical certificate and a mild sedative to use in case i couldn’t fall asleep at night. (and obviously i didn’t need it! wahaha sleepy head)
