I'm usually a very planning-oriented J type, so I don't know what came over me, but ahead of the long Chuseok holiday, I suddenly made a decision. I was very used to wearing glasses, but maybe the steam fogging them up when eating ramen or the limited vision when going from the cold outdoors into a warm indoor space in winter had been subtly inconvenient. So I booked my SMILE LASIK exam for 3 p.m. on the day before Chuseok, and before even having the surgery, I ended up ordering sunglasses online first. Maybe because I had heard that it was very simple and recovery was fast, I wasn't very nervous even on the day of surgery. I only had a little fear of the intraocular pressure test I had done before during a comprehensive health checkup.. When I arrived at the ophthalmology clinic at the scheduled time, there were quite a lot of people even during working hours, and YouTube videos by the ophthalmologists were playing nonstop. After leaving my belongings, the eye exams began right away. I had visual acuity tests several times on different machines, eye scans, lights shone into my eyes, a retinal exam, an intraocular pressure test, bright lights blasted at my eyes, and many other tests, but the biggest highlight was the tear test. I never knew the paper test strip used to measure tear volume would hurt that much... After that, I fully understood why people say the surgery hurts less than the tear test. After that, they checked which eye I mainly use, which colors looked clearer, and so on. With the comprehensive exam results, I had a consultation about whether surgery was possible that day and which doctor would perform it. Director Jung Eui-sang and Director Kim Joo-hyun, whom I had seen a few times on TV, were there, but the cost was quite expensive. Since I have anisometropia, and I was told many people with anisometropia get treated by Director Shin Dong-hoon, I chose Director Shin Dong-hoon. Then I moved to the 3rd floor and had another visual acuity test.. (I don't know how many times I had to take it.) During the consultation with Director Shin Dong-hoon, I heard the precautions for the surgery, then sat in the waiting room and began waiting. The surgery itself took less than 15 minutes, but the waiting time was very long. After waiting in the waiting room for about an hour and a half, I put on a patient gown and slippers and was able to enter the operating room. There was a teddy bear in the operating room, but the surgery wasn't painful enough that I needed to grip it, so I'm not really sure why it was there. I lay down on the bench with the machine, and the surgery proceeded with the director telling me not to tense my eyes and to focus on the tips of my feet, along with detailed explanations of each step. First, they fixed my eye, applied anesthetic drops, and the laser device came in front of my eye. As I had been instructed, I stared at the green light, and everything except the green light gradually turned gray, and eventually I could no longer see the green light either. As instructed, I stayed still without panicking, and the process of removing the corneal lenticule that had been cut in gray proceeded. The other eye was done in the same way, and then the surgery ended. With the director saying congratulations, I came out and felt a little discomfort in my eyes. I picked up the prescribed medication and eye drops from the pharmacy on the 1st floor, went home, closed my eyes, and rested. Having to put in eye drops in the morning, afternoon, and evening was fairly inconvenient, but after about a week I became very used to it, and I think I got good at putting in artificial tears too. I started outdoor activities from the next day. There was a slightly hazy feeling, but it was manageable, and I could see better without glasses than I used to with glasses. However, glare at night still remains, but they say it gradually improves, so I will have to wait and see. Overall, the discomfort of glasses and anisometropia improved, so I am very satisfied and would recommend it.
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