Are you about to have a LASEK operation? I got tempted by the idea of having my cornea scraped off and burned, so I had one done. I couldn't find many reports on the Internet, so I decided to write one myself. Let me tell you about it.

Why on earth?

I am a 30-year-old male from Utrecht, The Netherlands. I have been short-sighted since I was about 10 years old. I never had a hard time wearing glasses, but as many people do, I felt slightly disabled because of this dependency on artificial materials. I like to travel to weird places like Tibet and such, and I am always scared I will break my glasses (then I would have to use my spares - which would look ridiculous and feel really uncomfortable... in that order, to be honest (-; ). On top of that: lately, I have been occupied by the martial art "Kung Fu Toa Simorgh". This is a full-contact Iranian mix between Shaolin Kungfu, Karate and maybe a little Jeet Kun Do (I guess). No sports for glasses, and lenses were just very uncomfortable.

Ehm... there's one more thing... let's be honest: I am a thrillseeker...

The first steps to this

So about a year ago, I went to one of those clinics that do eye laser treatments. I just picked the first I saw in an advertizement in a Dutch newspaper. I only wanted to do a check whether my eyes were suitable for this kind of thing, so I'd check out the other clinics later. My eyes appeared to be suitable, although I had relatively large pupils. Therefore, they would have to use ZyWave technology, to make the lasered area smaller. This is a little more expensive.

I decided to wait. I like to experiment, but I reckoned my eyes are quite important to me. Let's think about it, I thought. A year later I got really fed up wearing soft lenses during Kungfu. Then, they called from the clinic I visited last year. They asked me to reconsider the treatment, and they offered me a good deal if I decided to go for it. I had been checking on different clinics, but there seemed no big difference in costs, hardware nor techniques between the few top ones. This specific clinic had the latest hardware, which is good, I guess. Let's do this, I decided.

Preparation time

I wasn't allowed to wear soft lenses for three weeks. My plastic Kungfu glasses survived, although they had plenty near-death experiences. After this ordeal, I went to the clinic for the first checkup. They measured lots of stuff. They even put something in my eyes to prevent them from accomodating and to make the pupil unusually large. This had the effect that I couldn't see anything nearby and I got very light-sensitive. It stayed that way for two days... imagine the sun coming in! Not funny at all. Happily, the inhabitants of Amsterdam are never shocked by anyone with large pupils... Anyway, this doctor advised me to do LASEK instead of LASIK. Let me tell you what the difference is.

LASIK is what most people do here. It is relatively painless, and it is possible to see properly almost straightaway. They cut a flap in your cornea and lift it. Subsequently, they re-shape the deeper part of the cornea with their laser beams. Then the flap is put back. This flap heals in about a month. The disadvantage of this method is, that the flap will always be a weak spot... for the rest of your life. So if you practise martial arts, this is not a very smart move.

LASEK is the hard way, I suppose. They soften the cornea and remove it partially. Then they laser this open area. In about one or two weeks, the cornea wound will close again. During this period, you are not going to be a happy camper. The advantage is, that after about a month, your eyes are supposed to be fully restored: no weak spots.

Friday, four days later, they did the ZyWave measurements. Basically, they make a topographic map of your eyes. In short, they will be capable of doing a custom treatment rather than the one-size-fits-all version. This is especially suitable for people with large pupils and/or higher order aberrations, which I happen to have both. The aim of this measurement is to configure a little piece of custom hardware that will make the laser beam smaller, so the lasered area will be smaller, too.

The next monday it was all going to happen. Scary.

The operation

I went to the clinic with my girlfriend and another girl-friend who is the proud owner of a nice car. Obviously, you cannot drive afterwards... and I guessed I could use the support. When I went into the building, I was actually very relaxed. I had to wait a while, and some more, and even longer. This gets me jumpy. That is not good. I can't help it, though. Anyway, 20 minutes before the operation you are supposed to have a Diazepam. This is some sort of Valium. That did the trick.

The next thing I knew is that the nice clinic girl put some sedative drops in my eye. Did I mention that actually all the people in the clinic were really nice? It helps, you know. Anyway. Then they packed me into all sorts of weird green clothing (check out ER) and the fun began. The operation itself is rather psychedelic but relatively painless. I would describe it as "uncomfortable". Your eyes are kept open with some metallic devices, like in "A Clockwork Orange". Then they scrape the upper part of the cornea away (that is the most uncomfortable part). The lasering itself is almost funny: it is like watching an Orbital concert in a tropic rain shower (without the music, though... a shame indeed). The smell is bad. It smells like burned hair. Then they put lenses in your eyes, to protect them.

I could see things afterwards, but not much. I got home safely (thank you, Gudrun and Mascha). Then the sedatives stopped working. Oops.

Happy, happy, joy, joy?

The first thing I knew when I got back on the couch at home was a feeling.. eh.. I don't know: like, gasoline in your eyes or something? Anyway, my girlfriend immediately put the supplied morfine pill in my mouth to keep me from complaining. I slept like a baby, all night. Ofcourse I had those plastic things on my eyes... no problem.

The next day I couldn't see much, but I felt quite alright. In the evening, I went back to the clinic for the first control session. In the waiting room there were many people obviously in pain, while I was still making jokes. It must have been the morfine (?). Happily, everything was okay.

Wednesday was the worst day. I had the experience of... wearing lenses with sand in my eyes, or something. I couldn't see a thing. Most entertainment in my house is visual, you know: television, games, DVD, newspaper, books. One tip: prepare yourself with some auditive entertainment. Get some cd's from comedians or something. It will help you to get through the first week. And as for me: my girlfriend saved me from killing myself out of sheer boredom. She could work at home all week. Thank you so much.

On thursday I had a sales meeting planned. I couldn't cancel it. It wasn't easy. It is really hard to do any sales if you can't see the facial expressions of your potential customer. I hope I did alright. Anyway, my sight got a little better, and on friday they took my bandage lenses off. Immediately, I didn't see a thing. This is supposed to happen. It doesn't get you very happy, though.

The days after that were a little bit boring. Slowly, my sight was improving. I had a great day on monday. That was the day when I could read the newspaper again. After 1.5 week, I could see objects that were very far off very sharply. Still, nearby was a problem, but it got better every day. I even had my first Kungfu session without artificial aid. No physical contact though, just the other stuff. I wore sunglasses to protect my eyes. I looked like the bad guy from a B movie... another dream came true.

Little ghosts

Somewhere in between then and two months later, I supposedly did some damage to the outer layer of the cornea by rubbing my eyes at night. However, this theory is not supported by any medical people, but I cannot think of anything else. This is what happened.

I woke up with a little sore eye (left one). The day after I noticed some "ghosting". Ghosts are vague double images. They appear especially in a dark environment, when looking at light objects, like lamps, lights, LEDs and such. Usually this is caused by a wobbly surface of the cornea. When it is dark, the pupils widen, so a larger area of the surface is used. The chance of any irregularities involved in seeing stuff, is larger. That's why it usually happens at night.

A week or two after that, the same thing happened to my other eye. Bummer! I slept with those dreaded plastic thingies on my eyes for an extra few weeks, but I guess I was too late. However, the eye surgeon didn't know about any other cases of ghosting after a LASEK operation, so I don't have a clue what will happen. He expects them to disappear in a while. Every now and then, it DOES happen after LASIK though, because sometimes they screw up when the flap is put back; like a wobbly sticker. But I don't have a flap, so that can't be it...

I must admit, that after a few weeks I got used to the ghosts. After all, the little bastards only appear at night (like those eery visitors should). For the rest of the time I have a pretty good sight: 100% for each eye, 120% for the two of them combined. My right eye got stuck with a -0.25 dpt., which is next to nothing. The left one is a perfect 0. For the rest, the only thing I notice is a little dryness every now and then. No biggie. In short, I am pretty satisfied. Let's cross thumbs for my haunting fellows to move to their castle again, shall we?

8 months later

I just got a last check and am officially released from duty. My ghostly fellows are still there, but I hardly notice them anymore. I got used to them and don't even think of them as a problem anymore, but rather as some odd feature I possess.

In the meantime, you can find me fighting my kungfu collegues. They are usually superior.. but I'll keep on trying. At least I got rid of one disadvantage: I can't blame my sight anymore. I guess I'll have to find a myself new excuse.