Freaky Friday: How I Got My Eyes Lasered

The demand for laser eye surgeries has skyrocketed during the last decades. According to estimations more than 30 million people on this planet have already done it. I am one of them! Yes, I am typing these words without a monocle in my eye. I do not wear any contact lenses nor my fashionable but annoying Calvin Klein glasses. I went from -3.0 diopters to 0.0 and my ability to see is now at 125 percent.

You might know that I am one of those super-sensitive persons who are afraid of injections and syringes. I shake before a narcosis treatment and I bite my teeth when makeup artists put eyeliner in my eye. So how could this happen? How did I get my eyes lasered?

Well, I have been wearing contact lenses since my 15th birthday, and that was exactly the day when I knew that I had to get rid of them. I have never liked wearing glasses due to aesthetic reasons, and they made me feel dizzy, so there was this nerve-wracking routine that I had to perform every morning. If you are not familiar with the burden of contact lenses, let me summarize it:

It is 6 a.m. and you try to put a slimy contact lense in your eyes – oops, it’s lost in the sink.

There is a tiny scratcher on your lense and you are trapped in the office. It hurts horribly.

You are biking through town and something flies into your eye. There is no bathroom around, so you are totally screwed.

Could I lose my eyesight?

I became one of those “maybe people”. I was always interested in getting laser eye surgery, but I was afraid of the risks and I wanted to wait “another few years, until it is safe”. I was worried that I would lose my eyesight – as a writer and painter the most precious thing I have – and that I would regret it one day. So I kept pushing the decision to some far-off day in the future.

In 2014, I started a long-distance relationship between Europe and Southeast Asia. There were days when I left the office and went straight to the airport, where I had to exchange my aching contact lenses against annoying glasses.

I have terrible memories of airplane toilets where I lost those tiny slimy things. On the airplane, I lost my glasses and would feel totally blind for a few horrifying minutes. The story goes on: When I was modeling, an Asian makeup artist put so much eyeshadow on my lids that my contact lense was lost somewhere in my eye. You can see that the frustration grew over years. Although I had already heard of many people doing laser eye surgery – including my amazing sister – I still had my doubts.

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However, there was a turning point in September 2017. My sister’s spouse told me about a gentle procedure which is called ReLEx smile. He had done it a year ago and was extremely satisfied with the procedure. Contrary to my sister, who had the classy LASIK procedure, he said it was a minimal invasive and very smooth operation. In fact, he could go to the Christmas market one day after his operation in December 2016.

Why I chose EuroEyes in Berlin

Well, my boyfriend always says that I am a “black or white” person. Indeed, my gut feeling went abruptly from “laser surgery in a few years” to “laser surgery as soon as possible”. I googled for eye clinics in Berlin and attended an information evening at EuroEyes. Just by looking at my future doctor, I knew it was the right place: Imagine a tall woman who looks very professional, knowledgeable, fierce, and who has the same northern German accent as half of my family. I listened to her presentation. I knew that she would be the person – the only person – who would ever touch the inside of my eyes.

When the final decision was made, everything happened very fast. I made an appointment for a pre-examination to see if the ReLEx smile technology was suitable for me. Then there was a second examination a few days before the operation to measure my final diopters.

Freaky Friday: The day of the operation

I was a bit nervous and shaky before “Freaky Friday” when I would exchange my -3.0 diopters against eagle eyes. Fortunately, my dearest friends slept over and brought me safely to the clinic. I took a calming pill and got anesthetic eye drops, then I had to lie down under a huge laser. Since my northern German super-doctor was around, I felt quite safe.

When the operation started, there was an uncomfortable moment because the doctor put something between my eyelids. I was not able to close my eyes anymore – so far so good, at least I couldn’t mess it up by blinking my eyes. Then I felt like I am out of space, in another dimension. There were green lights and everything became blurry, a computer voice said something like “docking successful” and then my doctor whispered “Yes, keep quiet, very well done”. It was an uncomfortable moment, but I bit my teeth and remembered my friend saying “It was your decision to do this, so let’s get the job done”. Indeed, it was all over after thirty minutes and I could leave the clinic.

My friend carried me home and I lied down to close my eyes. Yes, it was a bit painful that Friday, but I knew the pain would go away after a few hours. In the evening, my friend came home and we snuggled a bit, then we both fell asleep.

What do you fancy love?

Wake up, it’s Saturday morning! My friend Yvie was surprised that I could already DO STUFF the next day. Believe it or not, but we were having breakfast at What Do You Fancy Love and strolled around in Berlin. Well, I had to wear sunglasses in a semi-dark café at 11 in the morning, but nobody really cared or people assumed I was a hungover celebrity.

From this Saturday onwards, I could see without glasses and it felt all natural. My left eye was a bit weaker in the first three weeks, but that did not affect me at all. I went back to the office on Monday – three days after Freaky Friday – and no one even noticed that I had eye surgery.

Finally, I have to drop the line that every person I know says after laser eye surgery: 'Oh dear, I should have done it so much earlier!'

Love,

Andrea

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