Joe H
Upon arrival to Korea, I knew they offered stellar health care at a lower cost than the states, and because my girlfriend got LASEK in the states about a year prior to me coming to Korea, I knew I wanted to procedure done. However, my vision was not good, but not terrible either, so I was reluctant getting it done for the potential of something going wrong and my vision not being great just for my greed of wanting great vision without needing glasses. I have worn glasses for 15 years or so of my life as well as have tried contact lenses, but my left eye had issues with them.
So after a few months in Korea, I began doing some research. I found a few places around Korea that offered the procedures and spoke English well... but then I stumbled across Dream Eye Center in a forum for English Teachers. I did some more in depth research about Dream Eye Center and read nothing but great things about them. For some reason, however, my fear of the potential issues arrose again and I backed out. I was set on wearing glasses for the rest of my life- I mean, I had phenomenal vision with them, they were comfy, and stylish. But then literally a week before a week long break in work- something sparked in me to call Dream Eye Center and schedule a consultation. I guess the fact that I would have a little more than a week to recover without needing to take paid time off was a reason this suddenly came up, who knows.
Within a week, I had my consultation and operation date scheduled.
On May 4th, 2011 I had my surgery. It went incredibly smooth and was fast- maybe ten minutes, tops. The first day after the surgery was not too irritating- just loads of tears pooring out of my eyes. The following three days however were slightly irritating. Not painful by any means, it just felt as if someone was constantly blowing smoke into my eyes as I cut onions for a living. But on the fifth day after the surgery, all irritation was gone completely. My vision was slightly blurry and sensitive to light, but all of this is normal. After a few weeks, I began to see improvement in my vision, then it progressively got better and better. Now, after three months, my vision in both eyes is near 15/20 (better than 20/20). My hope was that my vision would be as good or better than with glasses (I had such good vision with glasses- better than a lot of people)... and as of right now- they are VERY close to that point. The doctors say that over the first 6 months after surgery, my vision would get clearer and clearer, as wetting my eyes along with blinking will polish the surface of my eyeballs- similar to polishing the lens of a camera during manufacturing, so I know that they will eventually surpass my glasses eventually. I do miss my glasses, however, purely for the fashion aspect- but I guess I could get lens-less, eh?
Overall, I could not be more happy with Dream Eye Center- outside of the fact i had to travel an hour into Seoul from Yongin once a month just for a 10 minute checkup appointment- but hey, that's not too bad. The staff is amazing, the equipment is top of the line, and the price is right (slightly less than half the cost back home). If you are contemplating LASEK, have a consult... I know the fear is there- but it is great not having to worry about glasses anymore. Dream Eye Center is the place to go.
