Getting LASIK Overseas

I have worn glasses since the third grade. Throughout my life, my vision got worse and worse, to the point where it became impossible for me to function without my glasses or contacts on (sad for beach days -- womp womp). As my dad recently pointed out, for the last twenty years I have never been able to see the world without looking through a piece of thick glass or plastic. Well, as of yesterday, that has changed! I had been thinking about getting LASIK done for years, and I finally took the plunge. Hear ye, here ye, I CAN SEE!

Now, I have gotten a few questions about why on earth I would choose to have eye surgery in a foreign country. First of all, Hungary is a developed country, a member of the E.U., and has high medical care standards. In fact, Hungary is one of the leading countries in Europe for medical tourism. So why not? Secondly, because Hungary has a sensible and functional healthcare system in which prices actually reflect the cost of the procedure (*ahem* lookin' at you, USA...) the whole thing, out of pocket and without insurance, came out to less than $2,000, for the most state-of-the-art, bladeless, all-laser procedure. To put that in perspective, when I went and got did a consult in Houston, (with vision insurance, mind you), I was quoted $2,500 per eye for the basic, old-school, scalpel-in-your-eye kind of procedure. (Get your act together, USA!). Finally, since I move basically every year or every two years, I'm never really "at home" so it seems silly to wait until I get "home". Hungary seemed like as good a place as any.

But I digress. I have had a few people ask me about how it went, so I thought I'd briefly describe it here.

A few weeks ago, after doing some research, I settled on a place called Sasszemklinika ("Eagle Eye Clinic") in a part of town called Óbuda. The clinic had good reviews, had done tens of thousands of procedures, and I had heard from some other expats that it was a reputable place. I signed up for a free pre-operative exam online, and while their website was in English, all the e-mails they sent about the exam were in Hungarian. With the help of Google Translate I managed to get by. During the exam, they did all kinds of eye tests and scans with a bunch of cool whirring and beeping machines. Not everyone spoke English, but they made sure to have someone with me who spoke English accompanying me at all times (thanks, Edit!) I waited for a bit and talked to the doctor, who showed me all kinds of cool scans of my eyes (Apparently I have thick corneas), told me that I was a good candidate for the procedure (Huzzah!), and explained my treatment options. I chose the bladeless, all-laser option -- most expensive, but quickest recovery time. As the Germans say, wenn schon, denn schon. (Rough translation: if you're gonna do it, might as well do it all the way.)

Fast forward to yesterday, the day of my appointment for surgery. Amusingly, when I made the appointment, the woman I was talking to said "Make sure you come on time, but don't feel like you need to come really early. Americans always come way too early." I showed up right on time -- although, to be completely honest, it was because I missed the bus I wanted to take; I would totally have been there super early. She had me pegged. Anyway, without delay, they took to do some last minute scans and look into my eyes. Then I signed some paperwork, paid, and was whisked away and robed in a surgical gown and given some Xanax and a bunch of different eyedrops. In no time, I was escorted into the procedure room.

The procedure itself took less than half an hour. I laid down on a table, and the surgeon explained what was going to happen. First, one laser was positioned over my eye. The doctor applied a suction-y device that kept my eyes open, and then told me to stare straight ahead while the laser did its work. This laser cut the flap into my cornea. The same happened with the left eye. It was very strange feeling -- it didn't hurt, but it was definitely not comfortable either. Not because of the cutting, but because the machine puts some pressure on the eye. Luckily, it was short, and soon I was rotated to be under the second laser.

The surgeon used a tool to lift up the corneal flap, at which point my vision became super blurry. She pointed the second laser in my eye, and soon I heard a whirring, which was the sound of the laser "burning" my eye into the correct shape. I had heard from several people that, at this point, they smelled burning flesh, but thankfully I smelled nothing. I was also a bit preoccupied because the surgeon kept saying "Relax, don't squint your eyes like that. Relax, it's OK. Stop squeezing!" to which I wanted to reply "YOU HAVE A LASER BURNING BITS OF MY EYE OFF, I AM SORRY IF I AM NOT RELAXED." But I did my best to unclench. Her assistant tried several times to stroke my arm compassionately, which only made me tense up more (Reasons I Don't Like Massages for 1000, Please.) All that said, the whole thing lasted no more than 20 seconds for each eye, so it really wasn't bad.

Finally, the surgeon closed the flaps and irrigated my eye to put everything back in place. I could see immediately, although it was a bit cloudy, as if the whole room were in a thick fog. I was escorted back out to the waiting room, where I immediately put my sunglasses on, and then was instructed to wait half an hour so they could check that everything looked O.K. I could feel the anesthetic eye drops wearing off. My eyes began to water quite a bit, and I felt a bit of a burning sensation, but it wasn't too bad. There were two other people also waiting, and we commiserated with each other in silence. This period of waiting was probably the worst part, because all I really wanted to do at that point was go home and sleep.

After the doctor checked my eyes one last time, I did exactly that. I took a taxi home -- first time I ordered a taxi in Budapest -- and thank goodness that the taxi driver was an honest person, because with my blurry vision I gave him a 5,000 forint bill instead of 500, and he corrected my mistake and gave me the rest of the money back. Thank you, kind sir! I trudged upstairs and went to sleep.

I was instructed by the clinic to go rest for a few hours, but then it was important for me to begin using my eyes, by watching TV or reading a book. I didn't yet have the short-range focus for reading, but you don't have to tell me twice to watch TV! Doctor's orders, even! I watched some Star Trek and then Doctor Strange, and by the evening I was feeling normal again, so I went out and got myself some pad thai as a treat. Yum!

Now, I don't know what the side effects of Xanax are, but all I know is that I was HUNGRY yesterday. I ate the whole pad thai, a banana, a bag of chips, a Twix bar, an apple, a bag of gummy bears, and a chocolate truffle. And washed it down with a sizeable amount of Ginger Ale. I'm going to chalk that up to the meds, and not the fact that I'm a little piggie.

For the first 24 hours after the procedure, I had to put in eyedrops every half hour, which was super annoying. But this morning, I went for my day-after checkup, and now I only have to do them hourly, which is a relief. As of this morning, everything looks good. After going to my checkup, I cleaned my apartment, went to a coffeeshop to do some lesson planning, and browsed the English-language bookstore on the way home -- so all is normal again already.

Right now, my vision is already clearer than it ever was with glasses or contacts, and it's only going to get better in the next days and weeks. I do see some halos around bright lights at night, but those should also diminish, and honestly, even with the halos, its worth it for good vision. This afternoon, as I walked home, I marveled at all the details I could see that I had never noticed before -- I could see every bolt on the bridge I pass nearly every day. I could see that the statue I had assumed was Stalin (because I could only make out a mustache) was in fact Harry Hill Bandholtz, an American Major General (oops!). And I could see every leaf on every tree. I stopped a lot to look at stuff.

I'm really happy with my decision to have LASIK here, and it went so smoothly. I would encourage anyone who is thinking about it, and can afford to do it, to have it done without hesitation. Thank you, Sasszemklinika!