3 months ago I gave up wearing glasses (En sha2 allah) for good!  At last I can wake up and read the time directly without having to squint at my watch, I can watch TV  while lying down, read a book too. I can wear sunglasses in the morning without having to worry about putting on my contacts in the morning, I don’t have to worry about my son taking off with my glasses and playing with them while I sleep hehe.

It was on 27 September 2011 when I asked you if i should do lasik or not, many people recommended Dr. Khalid AlSabti, and i’d like to thank you very much!

In October 3 I had my Lasek operation!

I went in to Dr. Khalid alSabti, after your recommendations, before getting to sit with the Dr. his assistants did some extensive tests to see whether or not I can get the Lasik/ek  operation done, as there are some criteria that have to be met before getting the operation done safely.

1. The Checkup :

After about 6 tests using differnet machines, and about 2 hours, I was ready to meet Dr. Khalid Alsabti! He explained to me the differences between LASIK and LASEK and why he recommended LASEK to me due to my thinner epithelium (i think thats the correct term lol) and that the LASEK operation although had a longer recovery time, provided a better solution for my eyes. You can read more about LASEK and LASIK here.  I was quite impatient and I asked the Dr. for the closest time for the surgery, and to my surprise he said “then how about tomorrow”. I said yes for sure! (of course up till now my wife didn’t know I was doing the surgery lol)

2. D-Day (A day after the checkup :P) :

After explaining to my wife and getting into a tight discussion on why i should/shouldn’t do the operation we decided she was going to drive me to the clinic and will sit in the operation with me.

The operation overall took around 13 mins, we had to wait for about an hour or two before I got to the operating table/bench hehe, but they did pass by quickly.

Here’s the video of the operation itself, I’d like to thank Dr. Khalid for allowing us to share this with you, he was very welcoming to the idea too!

httpv://youtu.be/KOJcL1cI-ig

3. The next 24 Hours:

Those were the challenge! The night I came back from the operation I went to sleep, I had blurry vision, tears and a runny nose hehe. I was fine, but when the anesthetic wore off, I was on my own 😛 lol. The only problem was it was sooooooo irritating you couldn’t do anything! You can’t rub, you can’t see, your nose is runny, this was the only moment I regretted doing the operation hehe. The 12-24 hours after the operation were so tiring I was in bed all the time, with a tissue box by my side, and my medication which I had to drop into my eyes every two hours for the next couple of days.

4. The next few days:

i took a couple of days off work (3-4 days can’t remember), then went in, I had to increase the font size on my PC, as well as my handwriting, I couldn’t really see 100% and my vision was a little blurry. Driving was also a little uncomfortable because its like using a camera lens on manual focus, but it won’t focus hehe.

5. The next 2 Weeks  –  3 months:

Vision is getting better day by day, i’m noticing the improvements, I do have good days and bad days, until around the 2n’d month, vision is stable, i can see everything clearly, my eye does dry out, but I use the artificial tears that the Dr. Prescribed and they solve the problem. Today i’m in my third month, and i’ll be going in for  a check up soon.

Was it worth it ?

A lot of my friends did LASIK, the thing about LASIK is that you can feel the results almost 3 days after the surgery, with LASEK (PRK) you get the results but over a 2-3 month period until your vision settles. Its worth every fils and the pain I had to go through. I’ve been wearing glasses since the 5th grade, and its about time. With photography its a lot better and easier to see into the veiwfinder, with sports and life in general its also easier than having to wear glasses.

Do I recommend it ?

I was hesitant at first, its an expensive procedure and involves a very very very sensitive part in your body, but I recommend it 100% (only with known doctors e.g. Dr. Khalid Alsabti) . The procedure takes around 13 mins but will give you freedom from your glasses for years to come. Its tough to decide, the operation itself might have some complications but the percentages are low. With LASEK there are even less complications than LASIK as they do not have to cut through the outer cornea.

BEWARE:

Some might argue that the cost of the procedure is too high, 1. its your eyes, 2. Once you do the operation there is no going back, 3. Some doctors, especially those at commercial hospitals might provide a very low price but will not use advanced machinery and equipment to judge whether or not it is safe to do the operation. With Dr. Khalid’s clinic it costs around 120 KWD just for the checkup, but they cover up almost every aspect, and he is 100% honest and clear on whether or not you should or should not do the operation. He said he turns down more people than he operates on due to the fact that the tissue in their eyes are very thin and doing the procedure will weaken the eye more than before and the patient is better off wearing glasses and not attempting the operation! For him its all about the patient, he will not risk a patients eye for him/her to give up glasses. I do recommend you paying extra and going for someone that will give your eyes the care it deserves.

Have you got any questions about the procedure ? Lets see them and i’ll try to answer as many as I can.