One month post operation check up

I went for my one month post operation check up.

I went through the same process as I was having the pre-operation assessment: exam followed by exam. I told the Dr three observations I have:

1. Dry eye - which he said it's normal, and he prescribed me some eye drops
2. Halo effect - he said this is normal as my eyes are sensitive to light
3. My right eye sees better than my left one - Dr said my right eye is recovered faster than the left one. It will improve over time.

He then asked his secretary to issue me a letter proving that I have the necessary view to drive. This letter allows me to ask for modification in my driver license, the fact that I no longer need glasses.

And, they took back the ugly sunglasses. I actually liked it and didn't know I have to give it back. Well, hubby said the secretary told me after the surgery, but I had too much discomfort that I remember nothing about this. And, on the computer screen, it was noted that I returned the sunglasses. Wow, they actually track this, it must be a very precious sunglasses.

And the cost? Free. Included in the operation fee.

Laser eye surgery: Cost

In Jun when I went to pre-operation assessment, I got a quotation of 1300€ per eye from Clinique Sourdille. I checked online and from the testimonies of several people, this has been the standard price since 2008. The clinic claims that they are the only clinic upgraded to the FemtoSecond technology. The Polyclinique de l'Atlantique charges 1100€ per eye. A friend had the surgery in 2006 and he paid 650€ for both eyes. If you choose the PRK technology, you could get 1300€ for both eyes in Rennes.

Anyway, since Clinique Sourdille is a very famous eyes specialist in Nantes, I decided to go with them. I do not know if the technology they use is better, the doctor didn't propose me a cheaper option. For the peace of mind I prefer to pay higher price hoping for a better result.

So here's what I paid:

Pre-operation assessment: 110€ (53€ refundable by Secu + mutual, 57€ non-refundable)
Pre-operation medicines: 12.50€ non-refundable
Operation: 1674€ for the surgeon and his team, 926€ for the clinic. My mutual took care of 2000€.
Medicines: 6.24€ non-refundable
Total = 2728.74€

Total cost to:
Sécu (government insurance) = 32.77€
Mutual (company insurance)= 2020.23€
Myself = 675.74€

At first I was worried that the Mutual might find excuse to not take the charges of 2000€. It was the maximum they would pay under the agreement, but already they refused to take care of part of my pre-operation assessment bill. To have the peace of mind again, I wrote an email to them and they replied saying that they will take the 2k bill with the original receipt. I had the operation on Thursday, sent the receipt the next Monday, and got the refund 10 days later.

Until now, I'm happy with the result and think that the money is well spent.

The healing process

Day 1
After the operation, I went home and slept for 8 hours straight. When I woke up, the irritation was gone when my eyes closed, but once I tried to open them, tears kept dripping. I felt like there were sands in my eyes, especially the right one.



I avoided open my eyes so I was eating dinner with my eyes closed.
Food was scattering everywhere so hubby jokingly told Aelig: "regarde, maman elle fait des bêtises" (Look, mummy is doing bad things). Aelig caught the word bêtise so she happily repeated it: "bêtise, bêtise, bêtise...".

I slept well throughout the night, with the eye shields on (have to wear it for 8 days).


Day 2
My left eye was getting better, but the right one still felt like having a big sand in it. I could not open my eyes for too long. While waiting for the call from the secretary, I looked the medicines I needed to take:

Bacicoline Collyre - 6 drops per day per eye, for 10 days
Ciloxan Collyre - 4 drops per day per eye, for 10 days (I had this pre-operation, but the nurse asked me to throw the old one and buy a new one for post-operation).
Celluvisc Unidoses - use if irritation persists, 4 to 6 times per day (I used it once but I didn't feel that it had any effect on the discomfort)
Efferalgan - pain killer, maximum 3 per day (this is a huge pill, I tried to take one but had to tear it into smaller pieces and couldn't finish them)

The secretary called after noon and reassured me that all the symptoms I was having were normal. Eye drops were to be taken between 15 minutes interval. We then booked a time for my post-operation checkup.

Day 3 - going out
We went to visit a land. It was a sunny day so we decided to have a walk. I had the sunglasses on the whole time I was out. I was sensitive to bright light during the first two days, but from third day on it was ok. I could also keep my eyes open and tears were not dropping anymore. There were still dry eyes symptoms, the feeling as if I had contact lens on. We went to eat in a restaurant, went touring downtown and only got home after 4pm. I didn't have the medicines with me so I only put those drops when I got home. I could read signboards clearly but hubby still have better eye sight than me. During the night, I was tired of putting the eye shields which needed to have layer of tapes on so I slept with the sunglasses instead.


Day 4 - Driving ok
It was Sunday and we went to a Taiwanese gathering. I drove to do some grocery shopping in the morning, and drove home from the gathering. I didn't encounter problem, the only issue was when the sunlight exposed directly on my face so I had to put on the sunglasses. The white part of my corneas were still red but they were gradually going away. During the night I slept without the sunglasses nor the eye shields.

Day 5 - Back to work
I went back to work and everything went well. I still have the feeling that I have the contact lens on though. Putting the drops were difficult as I don't know how to aim it precisely so some drops landed on my face instead of on the eyes.

Day 6
I had to work in R town so I drove before the sun raised and discovered that I was having the common complication: starburst, one type of visual aberrations. I'm not sure if this could cause problem for driving, as I was doing carpooling so I only drove for a short distance. Hopefully this will improve overtime.


Source

I also did a stupid thing during the night. I slept without the eye shields and woke up twice realizing that I was rubbing my left eye. I think my brain sent a warning signal and woke me up.

Day 7
Due to the rubbing during the night I woke up feeling my left eye a bit irritated. Ok I'm going to be a good girl from now on and put on eye shields while sleeping.

Conclusion: Overall I'm happy with the healing process. 48 hours after the operation the irritations were mostly gone. I hope the feeling of having contact lens will disappear gradually. Most importantly, the starburst will have to go away as the sun raises later now so I have to drive a lot in the dark conditions. I'm eager to see Dr M in 3 weeks, hopefully my eye sight will improve to 20/20 and all complements will be gone by then. Fingers crossed.

Laser eye surgery: The operation

We arrived around 8.15am at Clinique Sourdille. A secretary greeted us and gave us briefing about the operation and the payment.

At 8.30am, I waved goodbye to my glasses and followed a medical assistant into the operation block. I was led to a waiting room where I met Dr Megroz. He gave me instructions while washing his hands. I found it a bit odd that he addressed to me with the informal you instead of the formal one (tu instead of vous), but he looked friendly and nice. He repeated twice that I should not talk during the operation.

After the briefing the assistant guided me into the operation room. Without the glasses, I vaguely saw a nurse who later helped me lay down on the bed. The assistant was holding my hands throughout the operation. Dr M was standing behind me and the nurse was handling the machines.

The operation started. The nurse put a drop of anesthesia on my right eye. Dr M placed a kind of retainer under my right eyelids to keep them open, this was when I wanted to scream: hello, it's painful!!!I remembered that I was not supposed to talk but due to the pain / discomfort my body moved. Dr M asked me to stop moving but I couldn't control myself. He repeated several times so I finally told him that: "J'ai mal!" (it's painful). He then announced the cruel reality: "oui mais tu as les petits yeux." (yes but you have small eyes). Oh my god, I thought this was supposed to be a painless operation.

I finally managed to control my body and pain eased a little. A machine was placed right above my face and he said he was going to start the laser. Since he was using the FemtoSecond laser technology, I presumed that the machine was meant to create a flap on my right eye. It was fast and I didn't sense a thing, he then used a tool to flip the flap so my vision became blurry. He announced that we were moving to another machine to have the laser worked directly on my eye.


The Lasik procedure
Source

While the Excimer laser was reshaping my cornea, I was supposed to look at the red dot to ensure the best correction result. I had problem focusing on it due to the retainer place to open my eye. He kept saying "look at the red dot", I tried my best, really. This lasted like for two minutes. He turned off the laser and flipped back the flap, which was to serve as a natural bandage for the healing process.

We then moved to work on the left eye. He placed the retainer and, pressed it down so that my eye could be exposed to the machine. It was very painful and this time I moved my legs. The assistant who was holding my hands had to hold my feet, keeping them from moving. When we turned to the second machine, once again I was not able to focus on the red spot and was moving due to discomfort. Dr M asked me to stop moving and then he yelled: "tu veux arrêter?" (Do you want to stop?). I said no immediately, I just wanted the whole thing to finish. I was so relief when he finally took off the retainer. The assistant then placed eye shields on me and led me out of the operation block. The whole process lasted around 25 minutes.

Outside, the secretary handed me a pair of sun glasses. Hubby paid the fees and guided me to the waiting room. I was to see Dr M in one hour and during that one hour, tears kept dripping down even though my eyes were closed. I tried open my eyes but more tears dropping out. I sat there while hubby went to a pharmacy nearby to buy the prescript medicines. Later on two patients joined me in the waiting room and accordingly to hubby, they seemed to be in better shape than me. One was checking his cellphone and one was looking around without tears.

At 10am, Dr M received me. He used a machine to check my eyes and told me twice to open them. I could only blinked. He then announced that everything went well, and his secretary will check on me the next morning. I managed to mumbled thank you to him and off we go home, with a pair of big and ugly sun glasses.

Once arrived home, I headed directly to the room and fell asleep almost instantly. When I woke up at 6pm, I could open my eyes but tears were still dropping. However, the discomfort was gone when I closed my eyes.

Sidenote 1:
Seeing how other patients reacted better to the operation, I wonder if my smaller eyes are the culprit for the whole discomfort during the operation and irritations post operation. The retainer might be too big for my eyes.


Just look at the photo, hubby's single eye is bigger than my both eyes combined.

Sidenote 2:
Once when I was laughing, my BIL asked if I could see anything. Well, I couldn't tell him what I see and what I can't see, I have never thought of this question. Then he asked me why I seldom wear contact lens. He is someone who could put the contact on his eye within second without needing a mirror. I was someone who needed a mirror and needed 5 minutes just to put one contact lens.

Laser eye surgery: Preparation

After signing the contract agreeing to perform this surgery, I had been waiting for the big day to come. I needed to take / apply some medicines before surgery:

1. Naviblef
I had to wash my eyelids with this product 4 days before the surgery, morning and night, to prevent inflammation.

2. Ciloxan Collyre
Took a drop the night before and on the day of the operation. It is one kind of antibiotic to post surgery problems.

3. Lexomil
This is the prevent anxiety, to be taken one hour before the surgery.

Ok, I thought about not taking the Lexomil as I was not anxious at all. Then I told myself what a waste since I already bought it. It actually gave me dizziness.

I was mentally prepared for this surgery. I read about the risks but also some testimonies of people who just went through it. Some just walked out of the surgery room and immediately see things clearly without their glasses. I didn't expect this but, hubby sent me a note saying that he was anxious. Ehmm, how come he was more anxious than me???

There was one thing that I was slightly worried: the doctor might not have much experience dealing with Asian eyes. Well, I was worried about the same things when I got my wisdom teeth taken out and during the labor, but everything went well. This time should be ok as well, at least that was what I thought...

Laser refractive eye surgery: done!

Yes, I have done it!

Doctor said everything went well, but my right eye is still painful when I blink.
Will write more when my eyes recover as now tears keep dropping when I type.

Laser refractive eye surgery: First appointment with Dr Jean-Max Mégroz

I have thought of doing the laser surgery since a while back. The idea was put on hold, mainly due to lack of courage. I have finally gotten the gut to take the first step. I asked around and people told me that La Clinique Sourdille in Nantes has good reputation in this field.

Someone recommended Dr Jean-Max Mégroz, a very experienced doctor in laser refractive eye surgery. I called for an appointment and it was scheduled for three months later.

Yesterday, I went for the first appointment. The main goal was to have an assessment to determine if I'm a suitable candidate for this surgery.

Dr Mégroz's clinic is well situated, right in front of the tramway stop Félix Faure. Once arrived, I was immediately called for several exams. Around 6 to 7 staffs were handling all the examinations with different kind of medical machines. The waiting room was full of patients (above 10 people at one time) from different age range, the staffs had good coordination between one exam to another and between one patient to another. They explained well the procedures and indicated clearly when I can wink my eyes (really appreciated this!). I had three exams before meeting Dr Mégroz.

He started with my name. He guessed I was not a Korean nor Thai, but he has no clue what nationality I could be. When the guessing game ended, he confirmed that I was his first Malaysian patient. He then read the exam results, checked my eyes, explained me the procedures, answered my questions, and I was sent to have an exam which is called "Topographie Cornéenne".

In the waiting room, one of his staffs came to give me eye drops, 3 times with 5 minutes interval. After a few minutes, my near-sighted vision changed, I couldn't even see what time it was on my cellphone. My vision came back to normal only in the evening. When all exams finally ended, it didn't take me long to see Dr Megroz again. He concluded that I could perform the laser surgery. The operation will be on a Thursday, it will last for 30 minutes for both eyes, I could go home in the afternoon accompanied, rest on Friday and weekend, good to go to work on Monday. The technology he uses is LASIK Femto Second.

The whole assessment took around 2 hours. It costed me 110€, 55€ not reimbursable by the national insurance but could be covered by my company insurance. He gave me a quotation for the surgery, 1300€ per eye. If everything goes well my insurance will cover part of it, and hubby already approved the expenses on the remaining cost.

Now, rest to decide GO or NO GO for this adventure. If you don't hear from me again about this topic in September, consider that I chicken out.

When you want to yell and say arggghhh

Arghhhhh, such bad luck!

Last Friday I received a letter from the company health insurance partner saying that they are downgrading our health coverage due to the skyrocketing cost over the years. I didn't know how it affects us until I see the coverage for laser eye surgery: they now only pay for 1000 euros a year per eye! Argghhh, they used to cover 100% of the surgery for both eyes in the same year, I know of two persons already from the company grabbing this good deal.

I have been wanted to go for this surgery even since I know that the company supplementary insurance will take care of all the costs. I got hold up because my BIL who happens to be an optician told me that there are some side effects so I better look into them first before going for the surgery. Then I got pregnant and during the pregnancy and 4 months after delivery one could not go for it since the vision changes during this period. Now that I'm ready for it, I got this letter and the downgrade will take effect starting the 1 of July. The cunning company! They only allows us one week to react so it is certainly too late for me.

Someone recommended me la Clinique Sourdille in Nantes for this surgery so I went to their website to see how much it costs to perform this surgery. I simply chose a doctor and in his website it states that it could cost anything from 1000 euros to 1480 euros per eye depending on the technology using. Sigh, it means that I still need to chip up from my own pocket and could only go for one eye per year.

It is the moment I want to yell and say arggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!