"In Your Eyes" - Part 1

Undergoing Lasek/Wavefront Eye Surgery in South Korea

Overview:

After careful consideration and research, I was compelled to undergo LASEKsurgery last week (not to be confused with LASIK click here to read about the differences). With a lot of help from my girlfriend who had the procedure done at the same lasik center about a year ago, I had made a consulation a couple weeks ago to see if I would make a good candidate for the procedure.

I've had glasses for a little over 10 years due to astigmatism, and recall when I was given my first prescription that I was considered an excellent candidate for LASIK as contacts were not recommended by my doctors. Time has passed and the procedure has changed so much that I was not only still a good candidate, but a better candidate for LASEK - a less risky procedure, in which the corneal flap heals better with less chance of infection and you have the option to redo the procedure if necessary. Since I have astigmatism, I was also given Wavefront -  a step in the procedure customizable to my eye that will improve my vision even more so.

Consultaion:

Overall, the combination of the two procedures is the more expensive than either on its own, or the cheaper LASIK operation. Either way, the option I recieved is much cheaper than anything back in the U.S. (1.15 million Won = $1,000 and LASIK being about $8-900) In the U.S. the average LASIK procedure is anywhere between $2,000 - 4,000, so this clearly is a cost saving measure. Also, LASIK/LASEK in South Korea is highly popular and one of the best places in the world to get any type of cosmetic surgery. In the Gangnam area, it is very competitive this, of course, effects the costs. I went to a highly reputable place called Bright St. Mary's Lasik Center (www.oklasik.com).I'd recommend them if you have someone who speaks Korean help you.

During the consultaion, I had my eye exam done free of charge, and the customer service representative explained the procedure to Hwayoung who also served as my interpreter for my own questions. Later, I spoke to one of the doctors, who recieved her degree in the U.S. and spoke decent English.


I asked many questions, as I wanted to know the procedure inside and out, as well as any possible side effects, what steps would be taken if anything went wrong, and the risks involved. I recomment using this guide if you are thinking of undergoing the procedure. Click the link for a PDF.

50 Tough Questions For Your Lasik Doctor

The Procedure:

The procedure was pretty much painless besides a few pinching/pressure situations, and cold shock of fluids and eye drops being placed on my eyes.

The procedure depends on the kind you get, so you should do your research. The LASEK procedure involves preserving the extremely thin epithelial layer by lifting it from the eye's surface before laser energy is applied for reshaping. After the LASEK procedure, the epithelium is replaced on the eye's surface. LASEK is used mostly for people with corneas that are too thin or too steep for LASIK, when it may be difficult to create a thicker LASIK flap. LASEK was developed to reduce the chance of complications that occur when the flap created during LASIK does not have the ideal thickness or diameter.

The LASEK Procedure

During LASEK, your surgeon uses local anesthesia. Then he or she cuts the epithelium, or outer layer of the cornea, with a fine blade (trephine). Then the surgeon covers the eye with a diluted alcohol solution for approximately 30 seconds, which loosens the edges of the epithelium. After sponging the alcohol solution from the eye, the surgeon uses a tiny hoe to lift the edge of the epithelial flap and gently fold it back out of the way. Then he or she uses an excimer laser, which is used for LASIK, to sculpt the corneal tissue underneath. Afterward, the epithelial flap is placed back on the eye with a type of spatula.

After LASEK

In many ways, LASEK vision recovery is slower than LASIK recovery, but there are some differences. According to doctors who perform LASEK, the flap edge heals in about a day, though patients usually wear a bandage contact lens for approximately four days to protect the eye. Your eye may feel irritated during the first day or two afterward. Also, with LASEK compared with LASIK, it often takes longer to recover good vision — up to four to seven days — but this can vary from one person to the next. You also may experience more pain with LASEK compared with LASIK.

 

This is pretty much what I went through - don't watch if youa are squeemish!

With the first eye, I can recall smelling and seeing the smoke coming out of my eye as the laser did its work! That freaked me out a little, but I just remembered what the doctor kept saying "Focus on the green light." I listen to directions when the slightest movement can blind me for life. With the second eye, I felt nothing except for the coldness of some of the solutions applied. Overall the entire procedure was less that 10 minutes.

I have to say, that the doctors and nurses were superb. They were very comforting and willing to help me as much as I needed. 

Post-Op and Recovery:

Our friend Chang offered to sit with us at the lasik center and drive me home so I wouldn't have to spend money on a taxi or use the germ ridden subway. He's the best!

I was told that during recovery I would need to follow some simple directions. No driving obviously, no drinking alcohol for 10 days, I couldn't allow anything in my eye besides the drops they gave me - not even water -so I had to be careful when taking a shower. I also have to take an anti-biotic steroid drop once every 3 hours for 5 days, until I return to the hospital to remove the protective contacts that they place on your eye to let the flap heal. With LASIK the flap never heals much past 70-80% of the way, but with LASEK, the flap heals to nearly 100%.

I was also given pain reliever drops, which came in handy and told to use them when I felt pain. I didn't think the pain would be as bad as it was. It was very uncomfortable at first, and I relied on the drops to numb my eyes, but then I started taking regular Tylenol and that sufficed. The best remedy has been sleep. I don't think I have slept more in the past 4 days than these. I am usually not one to sleep in or take naps, but as I recall I slept at least 15 hours a day. I also read that taking Vitamin C improves the healing process. I bought a package of tablets, and took about 6 a day.

After the contacts come out tomorrow, I need to take drops about 4-8 times a day for the next 3 months so that my eyes don't become dry while healing.

With LASEK/Wavefront, the recovery is slower and more painful than with LASIK - but again, less risky. The most painful thing about the entire thing so far has been taking the drops and adjusting to light as my eyes were closed for almost 3 days. I am really bad at letting anything get into my eye, and the drops tend to sting. But I'll gladly be a little uncomfortable in order to make sure my eyesight is healthy.

A lot of people have commented on how I must be out of my mind to get a procedure done in another county. I felt nervous mainly because of the language barrier (and because I don't like things touching my eye), but the equipment and technology is either equal-to or better-than what you would find back in the U.S. It's NOT like I'm going to Cambodia and having someone remove my eyes with a dull spoon. All I can say is that you should do your research and enlist the help of someone who is bilingual.

My next post on the subject will be about my recovery and some embarassing pictures that Hwayoung took of me while I was recovering.

I apologize for any spelling errors - my eyesight hasn't quite recovered enough to stare at the computer screen for more than a couple minutes at a time.

"Fishin' In The Dark"

This weekend wasn't too eventful, but still fulfilling. Friday, I met Hwayoung for dinner with some of her closest friends. They were so nice, and they seemed to like me as well. (friends approving of your boyfriend or girlfriend is always important). We decided to get galbi (BBQ), and her best friend Min-young and her boyfriend Song-un came as well as her friend/co-worker Chang. They even referred to me as their "hyun-nim" (other brother) and "awoo" (younger brother). It made me smile.

Saturday was pretty dull, but Hwayoung and I decided on seeing a movie and getting Indian food. (yum). We saw New York, I Love You. (we didn't have many choices of movies that were in English). The trailer looked fairly good and it had an amazing group of actors and directors, but it was incredibly long and boring and didn't have much of a point to it besides showing the different ways people can love one another. (and it takes place in a city that I pretty much can't stand -- basically because of the stupid Yankees).

Sunday, we went to lunch at Bennigan's at the COEX Mall in Samseong. I hadn't had Western food in a while, so chowing down on a chicken and beef quesadilla was a nice treat. -- yes, they have Bennigan's in Korea.

 While at COEX, we planned on going to the COEX Aquarium. It's not exactly cheap, but it was pretty nice, and had a lot of interesting sea life for being located in an underground mall.

Fish in funny places....

As usual all the photos can be found here.

Here are some super short videos I took:

Our new friend the stingray...he waved at us.

Cute Harbor Seals playing.

A cute beaver enjoying his healthy dinner. 

(sorry about the waterfall sound in the background)

 

Overall, it was a relaxing weekend, and we had a good time with the 3 F's - Friends, Food, and Fish!

"Me and My Gang"

It was yet another eventful weekend. I ♥ autumn! Although the trees have just started to change enough to notice, the cooler weather has finally arrived. I'm pretty confident that my heating bills will be low though, as my apartment gets a ton of sunlight and I still keep my windows open for it to be a comfortable temperature for me.

Friday night was date night, so Hwayoung and I went to Gangnam and we got Chinese food. (There is something glorious about how the Chinese fry their rice, versus the blandness of how Koreans "prepare" theirs). We rented "No Reservations" which I've seen before, but then again, I've seen just about every movie that has been put out in the last 10 years given that I don't watch Korean TV and need to be entertained in my down time.

Saturday night I met up with some of the GEPIK teachers that I have met over the course of the past (almost) 5 months. We decided to go to Namsan Seoul Tower - the famous "space needle looking thing" that I keep posting picture about but never get to. Finally, I made the trek up the mountain (ok, so we took the bus), and paid our 7000won for the ticket to the observation deck. The Tower's website can be found here.

I apologize for my lack of photographic ability in shooting in dim lighting and the dark.

 

Seoul looks amazing at night, I hope you can at least get a little taste of what this ginormous city looks like when lit up like a Christmas tree.

Not my photo - but I felt you should get to see a better one.

I took a video though, that seems to be better than the photos for some reason

Afterward, we headed to Hongdae for a nice Galbi dinner (marinated beef), and Hwayoung (who had to work) met up with us.

On Sunday, the two of us wanted to check out the Seoul Design Olympiad 2009 at Jamsil Sports Complex (Olympic Stadium). We had seen promotions for this, and both of us are interested in art and design. The Olympiad is a global design festival to celebrate and embrace the designation of Seoul becoming the World Design Capital of 2010. Seoul is an amazing place for design schools, and I wish I had the talent, money, and knew Korean so I could attend one.

 I had a really good time considering we didn't even get to see some of the main events (as the lines were horrendous). Instead we stuck to the exterior levels and saw some really cool and unique designs and some amazing ideas put into action. The theme of the event was "Go Green", and the designs usually reflected how to make eco-friendly or sustainable energy designs. Overall, a pretty cool event. And FREE! Check out some of the photos - links are at the bottom of the page.

This is one of the food presentations - all the foods were fake models. So realistic though!

All the photos from N'Seoul Tower and the 

Seoul Design Olympiad 2009 can be found by clicking the links or photos.

"These are a Few of My Favorite Things"

I haven't been doing much this last week besides staying in Sanbon. I ventured out to a fairly rich neighborhood in Seoul where a lot of people speak decent English. I am told it is because the demographic there can afford sending their kids to hagwons and usually have spent some times in the States. A large group of us had a great dinner and sat around drinking Makgeolli, (Mach-Oh-Lee) a rice milk beer that has a very bitter initial taste, but you warm up to it after the first glass. The stuff is dirt cheap and not too shabby. We enjoyed plenty of drinking games and I got to talk with some more Koreans.

Makgeolli

Dinner in Gangnam

Jordan and Ivan - drunken Canadians sword fighting with chopsticks

Last weekend, a bunch of us met up at Pirate Bar (the foreigners local watering hole) and ended up drinking way too much, playing darts, and chatting it up with the locals. Some of the girls we met treated us to a norebang where we sang (drunkenly and poorly) until about 5am. Exhausting, but worth it!

Considering the fact that I do not have a lot to blog about, I thought this would be a good time to write about some of my favorite things in Korea thus far. Oddly enough, most of these are food. And since Korean food isn't much to write about, I feel it necessary to add that the majority of these foods are Chinese or Japanese inspired. But don't tell any Koreans I said that!

Here they are.....

Kimbap: Gimbap or kimbap is made from steamed white rice (bap) and various other ingredients, rolled in 'gim' (sheets of dried seaweed) and served cold in bite-size slices. I've seen it with crab, peppers, ham, egg, and cucumbers, as well as some 'questionable' vegetables. Gimbap is often eaten during picnics or outdoor events, or as a light lunch. I love this stuff as it is usually a "California Roll" that you can buy for about $2.50 a dozen! Jackies Galaxy back in Bristol, RI would easily charge $15. (Rip off!)



Shabu-Shabu: Is a hot pot where you boil a hot pepper broth with greens and mountain mushrooms. You later add in thinly cut beef, noodles, and potatoes. Once the broth is finished, you can complete the dinner by adding rice to the pot and mashing it into a large rice-pancake. It is one of my favorite dishes here and can cure any hangover. However, it can run a little expensive for my appetite as we usually order 4 servings for 2 people to fill you up (about $24). I've posted about this before - go look it up.

Transportation: I usually like taking public transportation if it gets me close to where I want to go and is cheaper than driving. Back home the public transp. system is lousy in comparison. Trains around Seoul run literally everywhere in the city within a few blocks of your destination and for about $3 roundtrip from anywhere in the city. Bus lines to the same, and even though they are not as quick as the train, they run until about 1:30 - 2:00 am. My only issue with the bus is that they are so confusing, and it is best to ride with someone who knows where they are going. I recommend taking a taxi if you want to get home more quickly and money isn't a big problem. Taxi's are cheap and run 24/7. You can travel a good 20 miles for about $20. The only problem is that after midnight, the fares go up. But it is still far cheaper than the taxi's back in the states.



Friendliness: The Korean people are super friendly. Let me rephrase that. They are super friendly if they know you. It is a weird thing about the culture. If someone knows you, they go well out of their way to be hospitable, and make you happy. For example; My bank has seen me in their offices before, and the staff knows I am a foreigner (it's obvious). Yet they whisk me inside and take care of me before all the other people waiting. I feel like royalty sometimes - but feel bad for those people waiting before me - particularly the elderly. On the other hand, people can be almost vicious when they don't know you (especially when they have a thing against foreigners - no thanks to some of the more brash US Military personnel who get drunk and cause trouble with the locals). Some will scold you for speaking too loudly and think you should learn Korean (sounds similar to back home). Some places refuse to serve foreigners, especially if you look like military or don't have an ARC card. When walking down the street people will constantly run into you (without apology). This can be simply justified by population size and limited sidewalk space - but an apology would be nice. Especially when you almost put my eye out with your umbrellas! But don't get me wrong. Overall, the people are often friendly and courteous pretty much everywhere you go. You just have to be aware of some attitudes in some areas.

The 50's Vibe: I have referred to Koreans as having the values of Americans in the 1950's. More specifically, the naive (and sometimes uber Christian) attitudes remind me of the people in those funny social guidance films that have to do with dating.



I think it can be a "gosh-oh-golly swell" thing, but at the same time, it's a little annoying. Some women are very proper, and as most Koreans consider it extremely rude to show public displays of affection, I sometimes get the feeling that they can be closed minded - or mabye it is me who seems closed minded. Perhaps it's because I'm not Korean and the dating rules are different. I don't know. I think that because I'm foreign, Koreans become more proper or try hard not to look bad (image is everything here). Also the language barrier causes some misunderstandings. I could be wrong about this whole thing, but it basically comes down to the vibe I get. I think if you mix in the strong work ethic, their growing economy, the threat that you can be annihilated by Communists at any moment, the intense patriotism for everything Korean, and you've basically re-creating America in the 1950's. They always say "history repeats itself". And more often than not, it repeats itself in other countries going through the same set of circumstances that other countries have before. I find it very intriguing. (I'm such a history nerd)

Fashion: Koreans are very much into fashion, even more so than most Americans. Being dressed in the newest thing is big here. Many women dress to impress, head to toe - and they are VERY good at it. It's hard not to walk down the street without thinking half of them are models. The men are fashionable as well - as far as men go. However, I still can't help but chuckle to myself when I see men in widely spaced pin striped suits made of shiny metallic silk/polyester blends. It just looks stupid to me.



Mandu: These are Chinese inspired dumplings that I could eat every day. They are great fried, but most prefer them steamed. You can buy a tray of these out of a cart on the street for about $2. They are usually filled with rice, pork or beef, scallions, kimchee, or a whole host of other fillings. They are the closest thing I have to a perogi here, but I'll take it.

Tonkatsu: Another great dish. Mainly it is a breaded pork cutlet, originally from Japan. You can find them in many specialty restaurants and also get a fish one too. Basically it tastes like a large chicken nugget (of pork) or a large fish stick (but flat). I bought a bag of 10 of these bad boys at the local supermarket for $5. A wonderful dinner in my opinion.


Technology: Korea is on the front lines of new tech, and the public is exposed to it very quickly. Since it is the most wired country in the world, almost everything is internet based. Koreans watch a lot of their TV on the train on the cell phones. Kids are always in PC-Bangs playing Starcraft or other online multiplayer games. Almost everyone has a CyWorld account (the equivalent to Facebook). The only downside to all of this internet exposure, is that there are more cyber attacks. Therefore, almost every account you own has security built in to the max. I have to enter about 4 passwords sometimes to see my bank account. I can't even get a Korean based CyWorld account without having all sorts of security. You also can't play Counterstrike online at a PC-Bang(one of my favorite multiplayer games) without having the equivalent of a Social Security Number.

Old and New: Last but not least is the unique blend of old and new. Korea is definitely becoming a high tech country with ancient roots. Everywhere you go you can see an old building next to a new one. I love those older buildings, especially the temples. So it is nice to see one standing amid a skyscraper. It makes me feel as though they still are holding onto their heritage (which is much, much older than ours).

There is just so much to share, and so much I have yet to see. If you have any suggestions, or have questions about things you would like to know more about, just e-mail me.

But you don't have to take MY word for it!