ReLEx Smile laser eye surgery - My experience

I had been wearing glasses every day for about 8–9 years and before the operation my eye sight was pretty bad -5(+ cylinder). I had been waiting to do the laser eye surgery ever since I first got glasses and I was just so eager to turn 18, so I could be eligible for that. Unfortunately, at 18 they don’t really recommend or want to let you do the surgery. I was told to wait a couple years, but I was consistent and the surgeon said that okay, come back in a year and we’ll see if anything about my eyes has changed. To be honest I felt there that maybe I’m not mentally ready for the operation, maybe it’s better to wait. But when I turned 19, I knew I can’t wait any longer. When I wake up in the morning I want to be able to see clearly, I want to see in the shower, I want to see while swimming, I want to be out in a warm weather and sun and not sweat with my glasses on, so they start sliding down my nose every 5 seconds. Another big thing for me was working out, glasses really limited me. I couldn’t get contact lenses into my eyes, so I just had to be patient.

Both of my parents had bad eyesight and both of them have done an eye surgery, so it was pretty clear that my brother and I would have to go down the same road.

In Estonia there is only one place that does this new laser eye operation ReLEx Smile and that is Refocus Silmakeskus (Eye Center). ReLEx Smile was recommended to me when I got my checkup there, because it is this new improved operation that makes a small cut in the corner of your eye and doesn’t cause as much dryness as the other older operations. Another good thing about ReLEx Smile is that if necessary it can be done again and corrected (if your cornea is thick enough to handle it, while with other operations you cannot change a thing). Me being this young, it’s a good guarantee that if something should change about my eyes, then I can just do it again.

The operation costs 2500€, which isn’t the cheapest, but when it comes to your eyes, definitely not too bad. I got my second checkup, booked the time for my operation and before I knew it, I was at the Eye Center, choosing how well I should see and in the operation room. The surgeon and every employee there was so nice and lovely, made me feel a lot more calm and safe. Although I was quite shocked how I wasn’t anxious at all, this was something I had dreamed about for a long time.

I laid down on this moving table and then pulled under the laser machine, while the surgeon was at my head. The operation itself lasts a couple of minutes, they told me that it only takes about a few seconds, but no, 30 seconds per eye, which is still not bad though. So pretty much the surgeon puts a few anesthetic drops into your eyes, puts in clamps to keep your eyes from closing and twitching (very comfortable, couldn’t almost feel them at all) and swipes like a swab across the eyes to clean them. 

Then you are under this machine and then your eye is pushed against a cap of sorts with a hole in it, that creates a vaccuum and then you have to look at a green moving light, while a laser makes a little cut on your eye (cannot feel a thing). All that lasts for 10 seconds. Then I was pulled out of the machine, while my eyes become covered by this milky fog and about 20 seconds the surgeon does something in my eyes through the cut. I couldn’t really see because of the milky fog, but with each second my sight became clearer and fog left little by little. But being there I didn’t know before that the surgeon is going to be IN my eye with metal pick or something like that. I could see it a little and also when the metal touched a my eye lid, it was weird, but nothing too bad. Couldn’t really feel or see anything, I put my trust completely into the surgeon and just calmly laid there and did everything he told me. 

But it was over pretty quickly and then we did the other eye. One of my eyes did get a little damaged, so he had to put on a protective lense. I can still kind of see that little blood line right next to my iris when my eyes are tired. Then I was slid out form the machine and the surgeon was like 'open your eyes and look around, can you see the clock?' I was under the impression that you should pretty much cover your eyes completely for 24 hours after the operation, not look around in a bright room. Well I couldn’t really see anyways, everything was really blurry.

Then I was put in an armchair in a small dark room, where two other people were recovering as well. I hoped for some privacy, but at that point you just don't really care and lay there under a soft little blanket, eyes shut. I was supposed to stay there for an hour, but I'm pretty sure they pulled me up from the chair before the hour was up. The surgeon then checked my eyes and if I could see, but my vision was still very blurry. Then I left and well apparently eye sensitivity can be different for everyone. My eyes were pretty sensitive as soon as I saw light and I had to wear these sunglasses they gave me. Everything was weirdly blurry, like a foggy filter. My eyes were also extremely dry and I had to use eyedrops like every 15 minutes. There were hydrating drops and antibiotic drops, which schedule was pretty hectic the first two days. I constantly had a timer on so I wouldn't miss the drops. My eyes were pretty sensitive, so the rest of the day I spent at home with my eyes closed and sunglasses on. I couldn't see the screen at all, I just listened to podcasts with the help of my parents.

The next morning however my sight was a lot clearer and I could see far extremely well, but everything close to me was blurry, so reading was out of the question. Apparently that's what happens while recovering. As weeks went by my eye sight became fully functional (I could see close and far really well), my eyes weren't as dry anymore and sensitive to light.

I am so happy that I did this, it has now been 8 months since the operation. I'm so glad I don't have to wear glasses every day, I love wearing sunglasses, I can work out without glasses riding down my nose, I don't have to deal with my glasses fogging up or anything like that. It took some time to get used to my face without glasses though, but now I like it more and I feel more confident in my skin.