My adventurous laser eye surgery in Istanbul – report from Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Since I was practically blind with -5.75 in my right eye and -5.25 in my left, and I could no longer tolerate my contact lenses, forcing me to rely on cumbersome glasses, laser eye surgery was the only solution for me. Unfortunately, I have very dry eyes. After just an hour with the lenses, my eyes would become bright red, and wearing glasses permanently and at every opportunity simply wasn’t an option. I have many friends who have had laser eye surgery, but most of them had it done in Switzerland for a very high price. That was out of the question for me. When a friend of my mother’s raved about SwissLASIK and the entire procedure, I knew immediately that I would have my eyes lasered in Istanbul as soon as possible. I contacted Mr. Karaagacli right away, and from that moment on, everything went very quickly, professionally, smoothly, and with incredible friendliness. Everything was very well organized from start to finish: hotel, flight, pick-up service, surgery, return trip, follow-up examination… At that point, it’s really just a matter of “grin and bear it.” I would recommend the preliminary examination in Switzerland. You have certainty that your eyes are suitable for surgery, you can ask questions, and it eases your anxiety a bit. Speaking of anxiety, I was one of the patients who was terrified. I thought about my laser eye surgery day and night, saw blind people everywhere, and had nightmares that revolved around my eyes. If I had known that it really wasn’t nearly as bad as I feared, I could have spared myself that horrific month before the LASIK. 🙂 The day of departure arrived. I embarked on this journey with my partner. The anxiety was still stronger than the anticipation. The flight and transfer to the hotel went smoothly. Once in Istanbul, we spent the whole day shopping. In the evening, we went to bed early to be rested for the LASIK the next day. The following day, we (my boyfriend, myself, and three other people who also wanted to have their eyes lasered) were picked up by the driver on time. Upon arriving at the clinic, we received a very warm welcome from our translator. He explained everything to us, and the preliminary examinations went quickly. The surgery was scheduled for midday. We even had time for a leisurely lunch before the “fun” began. I have to say, it really helped me not to be the only one having laser eye surgery that day. We were a great group. We laughed a lot and encouraged each other. When the time came, we all took a sedative (which I would recommend to everyone). As I was led into the operating room (always with my translator by my side), I started to panic. I have to say, I wasn’t exactly an easy patient. I whimpered like a little child throughout the entire procedure and clung to my translator. The poor guy said after the operation that he was completely exhausted. I had scratch marks all over my body. And instead of the 10-15 minute procedure, I was in there for about 25 minutes because I didn’t exactly make it easy for the doctor. She, however, remained calm, patient, and professional. Everything was also very clean and sterile. The procedure itself isn’t bad at all. Certainly not pleasant, but you don’t feel any pain and you don’t even realize that your eye is being cut. To briefly describe my experience during those 25 minutes: an explosion of lights. First a red dot, a few stars, then everything blurred, briefly everything grayish, then lots of tiny stars, the smell of burnt hair (which I actually like), a little bit of wetness from the drops, and then the whole thing was over. Afterward, you’re given protective goggles and led back to the waiting room. First, though, I had to comfort the translator, because he was completely exhausted :-). The sedative only started to work for me then. I became very tired, and I couldn’t open my eyes anyway because they burned and watered so much, as if I’d cut an onion. The surgery went smoothly for the others as well, but they too were completely exhausted from the pill. We were all driven back to the hotel. I lay down for four hours. Thanks to the pill, I fell asleep right away. When my boyfriend woke me, I opened my eyes, which had been stuck shut, for the first time since the surgery, and lo and behold, I could see! It was still a little blurry, but I could see everything clearly. A dream come true. That evening, we went out to dinner with the other patients. WITHOUT glasses… I mean, just with the funny protective sunglasses. I could see perfectly clearly in my right eye, but not yet 100% in my left. That was the very eye that was lagging behind, the one I had squirmed and resisted so much on the operating table. The next day, the eye still wasn’t any better. The doctor said the eye…
I was under a lot of stress, especially because the surgery on my left eye took longer than on my right. I was told I had to be patient. Since I already suffered from very dry eyes, I naturally had problems in the period after the LASIK. Especially with my left eye. My vision on the right got better and better. Nothing seemed to happen with my left eye for a long time. It even got worse at one point. While still worlds better than before the surgery, my vision was only about 70%. At my follow-up appointment in Switzerland, the doctor said I had very, very dry eyes. He gave me eye drops and a paste to use at night. I’m also drinking much more water and bought a humidifier for the office. My surgery was 3.5 weeks ago, and my vision is getting better and sharper all the time. My left eye is slowly recovering (I still have about -0.5 diopters of nearsightedness in that eye). This could take a few more weeks, though. It took two months for all my friends to get their vision back to normal. So I still have to be a little patient until I can see perfectly clearly. However, I can’t complain. I see very well. So it’s really a first-world problem. LASIK was one of the best decisions of my life, and I can wholeheartedly recommend it to everyone. Incredibly well-organized, very affordable, and with an extremely high standard of LASIK, combined with a shopping trip to Istanbul. It’s an enormous gift to wake up every morning without any vision problems. I still sometimes catch myself reaching for my glasses on the nightstand in the morning. And then there’s the money and time you save when you no longer have to constantly buy contact lenses, eye drops, lens solution, frames, lenses, etc. Therefore, a huge thank you again to Mr. Karaagacli for his kind and patient consultation and competent service, as well as to all the doctors at Swisslasik who took such good care of me and my weaker left eye even after the surgery in Switzerland. March 6, 2013 Laura Ottoni