Lasik eye surgery - my recommendations

Guess what? Today is 6 months from my Lasik surgery! Whoop whoop! My eye sight is 100 % and I still get emotional when I think of that happy day ;). I'm extremely thankful to Eye Clinic Svjetlost in Zagreb, their kind staff and that they made me feel comfortable!

Anyways, I wanted to publish this post few months after my surgery, but I think that 6 months is great anniversary ;). Sorry it's so late, because I know some of you asked for this post, but better late than never!

You can read about my whole experience here.

Dear, glasses. I don't miss you.

Firstly, let's start before surgery.  

Do a research. I wouldn't trust smaller clinics or private doctors who just started doing eye surgeries, the more positive feedback the better. Eye Clinic Svjetlost has a good reputation, so I was pretty sure they would do great job, also it was the cheapest option at the time. But everyone is different, I just wouldn't want to be a "guinea pig" when it comes to eyes.

I had three consultations before surgery, but I consider myself as "extreme" case, I had some defects or something, I had to wear glasses for a month before surgery and you usually have to wear glasses only for few days before surgery (no contact lenses). Ask your doctor anything and everything you want to know in this consultations, you will feel so much more relaxed and less nervous when you're educated. You can even use good ol' Google for some education :)

If you're not getting your surgery in your home town (or country - I had surgery in Croatia), make reservations for your hostel/hotel/apartment, because you have a short exam next morning after surgery, and save some numbers and addresses if your reservation is canceled for some reason in last minute (like it happened to me), be organized.

Of course, you'll need someone to come with you. After a surgery you can't really drive and it's always nice to have a support on surgery day (no matter what kind of surgery). I had my mommy with me, we left our car at the Clinic over night (it's secured 24/7) and we took Taxi to our hostel. Why? Because we don't know Zagreb that well and the last thing you want to be bothered with after a surgery is getting lost.

I had my surgery on Friday (they perform them only on Fridays), so I didn't wear any makeup two days before surgery. Sometimes you don't clean all the make off, little bit can stay in your eyes and can irritate your eye. You should not wear any makeup on surgery day either.

I, personally, wanted to feel my best on my surgery day and I knew I wouldn't want to be bothered with some things after. I dyed my hair on Wednesday, so colour was fresh, had to colour them anyways, and you should not get anything in your eyes 3 weeks after surgery and you have to be extremely careful how you wash your hair.

I also recommend painting your nails or being without polish. Yeah, I know, random, but I tried to change my nail polish day or two after surgery, but I just couldn't be bothered with that. It was already hard to handle not washing my face completely and still kinda itchy eyes sometimes. And it made my eyes water.

 

You can buy yourself awesome looking pair of sunglasses, because you can wear them day and night baby! (at least for 3 days and I even slept with them to avoid touching my eyes at night). I also recommend learning lyrics of "I wear my sunglasses at night" song - this is optional, but you'll feel cooler :P.

I highly request, you clean your home before surgery. Vacuum, clean, organize ... You won't be able to do this at least 2 weeks after surgery because of dust - can irritate your eyes, make them even dryer. My mum vacuumed few times, so I hid myself - haha.


Secondly, what I did and what I recommend doing on surgery day and three days after.


Get a good night sleep - your eyes should be well rested. Don't watch any TV night before, shut down your computer (reply to all emails day before etc.).

I washed my hair in the morning. I feel better with freshly washed hair and the same for colouring, you should avoid getting any product in your eyes. Dress comfortably, you aren't there to impress anyone. I wore sweat pants and a stretchy sweater. And also try to eat something. I remember I just had soup, I wasn't even hungry, too excited and little bit nervous. My mommy cut me some fruit after in our hostel room.

If you can, get a surgery in the afternoon and in fall/winter time. Why? Because you'll have to rest/sleep for the rest of the surgery day and fall/winter is time when it gets darker sooner. It was already getting dark when I got there, so it was perfect ;). Lights and sun are not your friend after.

Again, ask your doctor anything, because that's your last exam before "new life". :)

Prepare yourself to sleep a lot. I slept at least 10 hours first 3 days, which are the most "important" days. And I wouldn't even call myself a big sleeper. My eyes kinda felt heavy and it was the best thing to do - to rest and sleep. I couldn't watch any TV, I wasn't on computer at all, even my phone was annoying and tiring for my eyes. I tried to lit a candle, but fire was so annoying (I lit candle after surgery for the first time three weeks after surgery, actually).

DO NOT touch your eyes or wash them with water, it's very delicate area and you don't want to get any infections, do you? I washed my full face on Tuesday (felt so good and fresh!), get rid of the eye crust from all the "medicine liquids" ... But I was still not putting anything near my eyes. No eye cream, regular creams, toners, cleansers ... it can be a b*tch if you have dry skin, but I survived!


How to keep yourself entertained after surgery.

Get yourself audio books or get your mum to read you a bed time story (no shame!).

Because I don't have MP3, 4 or whatever number, or iPod, I listen to music on my phone and memory space is limited ... so I listened to good ol' CDs.

If you're a blogger, let your readers know you'll be absent for some time, you can also schedule some posts (guest posts or write them yourself).



Lastly, few days to few weeks after surgery.

Avoid screens (TV, computer) for at least seven day. Your eyes get super dry and irritate you. Tear drops were my best friend for like whole winter. Dryness after two or three months stabilised - drinking a lot of water also helped.

Follow your doctor's rules - use tear drops, antibiotics and any other medicine as prescribed. Doctor recommended me I use tear drops for longer (I'm still using them if needed), because I have blue eyes (the most sensitive eye colour), because we are more inside in winter time and air is dryer and because I work a lot on my computer.


I hope this was not too long, I hope I covered anything and that I answered some of your questions. As always, if you have any more questions, please, share them in comment section, tweet me or email me ;)

Lasik eye surgery was the best thing that happened to me, seriously. No more worrying if I can go somewhere so I won't have contacts in my eyes for too long, no more packing solution, lenses, glasses, case for glasses ... And I will never forget that moment right after surgery when I started crying out of happiness.

So, if you want to do it - it will change your life! (how cheesy that sounds ;))