I underwent iLASIK surgery for both eyes at Horizon Laser Vision Center in Regina on Friday September 23rd, 2016. I have always been interested in having the procedure done on myself, but started to get more serious about it towards the end of summer. I tend to keep quite busy with baseball and softball during the summer months, and hockey during the fall and winter. I have worn daily disposable soft contact lenses for many years for sports and other occasions, but potential LASIK candidates must be out of their contact lenses for at least 2 weeks before the pre-operative testing and surgery itself. Not wanting to miss a significant portion of my hockey season, I knew I would need to have it done in September or wait until March/April before ball season.
Everybody has a reason why they want to have refractive surgery done. I wouldn’t say I had one definitive reason, but a lot of little ones. Minor issues with end of day discomfort or dryness with contact lenses. Laying on my side watching TV with glasses on just doesn’t work. Bulky over-the-ear type of headphones that don’t fit when wearing my glasses. You get the picture.
The process for having LASIK began a few weeks earlier. Dr. Gatrell at our office did some extra testing, including dilation drops which helped further assess my ocular health, as well as confirm that my glasses prescription remained stable and I was not overcorrected. My information was faxed to HLVC, and they called me a couple days later to set up a surgery consult appointment. On Wednesday September 14th, I went to HLVC for my pre-op consult. There were three tests performed to confirm that I was indeed a good candidate, tests that can’t usually be performed at your Optometrist’s office. These tests measure the thickness and shape of the cornea itself, make sure there is not any underlying corneal disease or “weak” spots, etc.
Dr. Kayla Beattie is one of the consulting Optometrists at HLVC, and is also a good friend and former classmate of mine from the University of Waterloo School of Optometry. She reviewed my information and deemed me to be a good candidate for the iLASIK procedure. Interestingly enough, she had the procedure done approximately a year prior, and much of our pre-operative information was nearly identical!
Dr. Jeffrey Judelson was scheduled to be my surgeon. Dr. Judelson is an Ophthalmologist that practices in Regina as a corneal and cataract specialist. He is one of two refractive surgeons at HLVC in Regina, the other being Dr. Varma. I have spent time with both of them when I was an intern and was very comfortable with either doing my surgery.
Fast forward to the afternoon of September 23rd, and it was time. My mom was my driver, as you can’t drive yourself home following the surgery. Upon arriving at HLVC in downtown Regina, I reviewed the post-operative information at the front desk and signed a few forms. I was offered an oral medication called Ativan that helps with anxiety. I was fairly calm, but figured it couldn’t hurt!
The video of my surgery is below. It starts at 30 seconds into the video, and is about 30 minutes long. I also describe it in words from my memory of the surgery below.
I was called into the surgery room and laid down in the chair. The nurses went straight to work, liberally instilling numbing eye drops into both eyes. Dr Judelson and I briefly chatted before getting started. Once the eye is numb, the first step is to dock a “suction ring” that aids with making the corneal flap. This is by far the worst part of the surgery, but it wasn’t all that bad. The suction increases the pressure inside the eye greatly (and you feel the pressure despite being numb!), and the vision sort of greys out and it is difficult to see the fixation light. The vision slowly started to come back a bit and the flap is made with special laser. Then the process is repeated for the left eye. The suction ring comes off and a lid speculum is inserted to keep the eyelids open. The lid speculum wasn’t near as unpleasant as I had imagined – I thought it would be rather uncomfortable, but it was barely noticeable. The flap is lifted and a different laser then ablates corneal tissue to reshape and flatten the cornea to correct refractive error – moderate-high nearsightedness and mild astigmatism in my case. (You may notice some “smoke” rising from the cornea in the video below – this is from the tissue being vaporized, it is NOT actually burning tissue. The excimer laser used is a “cold” laser.) The flap is then placed back down and smoothed out. The process is repeated for the second eye.
When the surgery was complete, I was taken into an exam room where Dr. Judelson looked at my eyes under the microscope to make sure everything looked good. Eye shields were then placed over my eyes, and away I went. It is recommended to try and sleep for the first 6 hours post-op, which I was mostly able to do. The first 48 hours after surgery require lots of eye drops – an antibiotic drop four times per day to prevent infection, a corticosteroid drop to reduce inflammation, and liberal use of artificial tears for lubrication and to encourage healing. Sunglasses are to be worn even inside for the first 48 hours, and eye shields during sleep for the first week.
I was very impressed with how little pain or discomfort I felt from the procedure, though it is important to understand not everyone will have the same experience I have had. Even later that same evening, my vision was surprisingly good. It continued to fluctuate a bit over the next week or so, but has more or less stabilized now. Sometimes things are a little on the blurry side, but a drop or two of artificial tears seems to make it much better. The vision continued to improve up until a few days ago, and the vision has been excellent! There have been times I’ve woken up in the morning reaching for my glasses on my nightstand…old habits die hard.
My one week post-op assessment with Dr. Gatrell was unremarkable, and I will follow-up with her at one, three, six and twelve months to make sure everything continues to look good! Overall, I am incredibly satisfied with my experience and highly recommend it for anyone who is deemed to be a good candidate.
For those that are more curious and less serious about having refractive surgery, HLVC offers a preview consult – a no cost, no obligation testing appointment to give you more information and determine if you are a good candidate or not. Be sure to talk us here at PECC if you would like more information regarding LASIK or any other refractive surgery!
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