After many years of doubting, saving, being scared and more doubts – I finally took the plunge. In 2020 I finally made an appointment at an eye surgery specialist to see if my eyes would be suitable for the Lasik eye surgery. Read below the full post about my my Lasik Eye Surgery review experience in the Netherlands.
My Lasik Eye Surgery Review
The First Checks
The first appointment was very straight forward. It starts with a free appointment to measure everything, test your eyes, enlarge the pupils and then more measuring. I was very nervous to get this done, since afterwards you would find out straight away if your eyes could benefit from the surgery or not.
You start with some eye drops and wait back in the waiting room until your eyes are dilated. Once ready, you are taken into a little dark room with all the machines. They had up to 8 machines where you needed to sit and get tested with. For me they only used 5, so I guess it depends on your eyes and if you already have issues or not. One machine included looking at a little white house to see how focused it was, and others would blow a short quick puff of air into your eye. So they all had a good function to analyse the eyes.
Ultimately my pupils were pretty small even after the first eye drops, so I had to have an extra dosage and wait again. At this point, the extra enlargement of my pupils also meant that I could no longer read or see anything in focus. Once they were finally enlarged enough, I was taken back into the room for all the tests again.
The First Results
Once all tests were completed, I was back in the waiting room with my now awful blurry eyes until the eye specialist could analyse at the test results. I tried focusing on the birds outside that were singing in the morning sunlight, but they were more like blobs floating around in the air.
After 15-20 minutes it was ready for my results. The moment of truth to whether eye surgery was possible, and for which type – since there are many depending on your eyes. For me, I sat in the chair nervously and the eye surgeon shared the news – My eyes would be suitable for Lasik!
She shared all the results with me, such as how my left eye, which was my worst, was also very dry. Eye surgery naturally makes eyes very dry, especially in the beginning when it is repairing, so I would have to be very vigilant with making sure I use the eye drops strictly. Furthermore, they said that there is a small chance that I could get the eye surgery done, but that it might not be 100% due to my eye strength. This meant that if it wasn’t good the first time round, a second time might not be possible basically.
With this news I happily headed back home with all the information needed to think about it, as well as an already confirmed appointment for the eye surgery for 1 month later – much faster than I expected, but could cancel up to 2 days before, so plenty of time to consider everything.
FYI if you are going to the first check up alone, make sure someone meets you afterwards. I didn’t and had to make my way to the metro and train home. I knew which metro to take to central station, but at the train station I could read a single thing for what platform or direction! So at this point I rang the boyfriend who looked it up and told me what platform to go to and how many minutes it was going to be.
Lasik Eye Surgery Review – Surgery Day
On the day of surgery, it starts with eye drops again – this time to numb them – and then waiting in the waiting room, just a different waiting room than the first appointment. I was told it would take no longer than 20 minutes, but that included the waiting times in between machines. So ultimately the surgery itself would take 1 minute for each eye. With this info, I told my boyfriend that I’d see him in 20 minutes with new eyes, since it was mandatory that someone picked you up after.
For the surgery you are grouped up with others with the same appointment time. So it was me and a guy with a similar age. Once our eyes were ready with the drops, we were given surgery blue clothes apron, blue shoe covers and a blue hat to hide away the hair. This surgery means you are awake the whole time.
Room One
In turns, I went into the first machine room. Here the eye surgeons were ready for me to lay down. This part is a bit weirdly gross to share, so skip this part if you don’t like it. For the first part of Lasik eye surgery, they put a ring on your eyeball that also stops your eyelids from closing. This is for the first machine to cut a flap on your eye. You have to watch the red dot above you while the machine does its’ thing. The flaps were made and I had no idea or feeling of my eyeballs being cut. The pressure of the surgeon placing the ring on my eye was so strange, like someone pushing down at the back of your eyeball into your mind. It didn’t hurt at all, but it was strange seeing that it was all happening but I couldn’t feel anything at the front of my eye due to the numbing drops. The sensation I had never experienced before, so its hard to put it truly in words.
Room Two
Once both flaps were done, I went back into the waiting room in my blue overalls and the guy took his turn. Within 5 minutes I was then taken into the second machine room. Here they were super friendly and chatty, I think because this is where the real changes happen.
The second room was where the flap would be raised by the surgeon, and yes I could totally see him lifting it up while I looked up the whole time. Super weird! From here it didn’t take him long to do his thing on my eyes based on my eye strength and the tests they had done previously. So they knew what to do based on that. It’s all a bit technical, but it’s all thoroughly explained before hand of course based on your eyes.
Once that was all done, I was taken into a final waiting room. Here it was super nice, dark but not pitch black, and was given a cheese sandwich and a drink. This is since it was surgery after all and they offer it to help calm you and relax you in the room for 10 minutes. I liked this part, knowing the the surgery was over! Here they gave me and the guy our medicine and eye drops to help the healing and the explanation on what to do and what to avoid etc. There was also a little test, like a final check up with an eye doctor for them to check, which all went well. I was able to already see without my glasses which was amazing, but knew the worst was yet to come….
Lasik Eye Surgery Review – Recovery Time
First 4-6 Hours
The first 4-6 hours are the worst. This is when the numbing eye drops start to wear off and you can start feeling the actual pain from the surgery. It’s for sure painful, like an itchy burning sensation. It’s like you have a piece of sand in your eyes. They recommend that you do not much during this time, which is exactly what I did. For me personally, it was best to keep my eyes closed during this time. We had booked myself a hotel for the night since the surgery location wasn’t near our home. The hotel was perfect for just laying in bed flat, getting some sleep as well as sticking to the strict medicine that I now had to follow – eye drops every 30 minutes!
After 6 Hours
After 6 hours, my eyes were of course super sensitive to light but the pain was so much less. I had to wear my sunglasses everywhere, no matter what the weather was. Everything was simply too bright for my eyes to handle. The pain itself was nothing like the first 4-6 hours. The itchy burning sensation was mostly gone and just the sensitiveness was left.
Once home I still look it easy as you shouldn’t lift things, exercise or shower for a few days either. For the first seven days I had to take the medicine – also in the form of eye drops – to help the healing and to avoid any infections. I also had to wear sleep goggles for the first 7 days to avoid that I lay on my face and scratch my eyes. The eye flaps of course have to heal back to my eyeballs. For the rest I had to take normal eye drops to help with the dryness – which I was taking first every 30mins for a few weeks, then to hourly for a few more, and now I take them when needed when my eyes are noticeably dry.
Summary Of My Lasik Eye Surgery Review
In short, I am very pleased to have made the first check up all the way to the final recovery stages of Lasik eye surgery. Its an ongoing recovery for the dryness in my eyes, but the eye drops help and I have noticed improvements along the way. Improvements include getting better at the light sensitivity, more focused on short and long distances, enhanced colours. But also some issues, such as when I am tired or slept bad, I know that I cannot focus all day with my eyes.
Overall I would totally recommend it for those who are interested in getting eye surgery too. Book yourself an appointment and see if you are eligible first, then that will help you also decide knowing your options and the costs.
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