My LASEK Experience

Watching patients going through LASEK or LASIK is one thing but having me lying on the operation bed is another thing.  Yes ~ Yes~ I had my eyes corrected using LASEK method on Nov 11th. The decision was made in the morning and together with my 2 other colleagues, we had our vision examined, Orb Scan and Wasca done by 3pm. At around 5pm, Dr. Kim examined all our eyes and we were sent to the operation room to get ready for our surgeries. I was the first one and of course I was a little nervous but with all my good colleagues supporting us, I felt assured.

After lying on the bed, they aligned my eyes with MEL-80 machine, my eyes were rinsed with saline and local anesthesia drops were provided. By then I felt my throat drying and I felt like coughing.  However, my colleague kept telling me not to move my head too much as alignment was done.  After Dr. Kim entered the operation room, the surgery was ready to start. Dr. Kim started off assuring me that as local anesthesia was put in my eyes, there wouldn’t be any pain. Afterward he used the speculum to keep my right eye open and more eye drops were provided. Subsequently, Amoils Brush was used to scrape off my top corneal layer and the procedure took only a few seconds with my right eye feeling a bit itchy due to the brushing. After scraping off my top corneal layer, my right eye was ready to receive Wavefront laser treatment. My right eye fixed at the green light and the laser started emitting a loud sound and a little burning smell. That was normal and it didn’t take more than 1 minute. After the laser finished, my cornea turned opaque and I could only see white light. Dr. Kim then used cold saline water and mitomycin to prevent the opacity, rinsed my eye with lots of saline and finally covered my eye with a contact lens to prevent inflammation. Whew~ I survived part of the surgery and I started to relax as there was really no pain involved and I hardly felt anything. 

With my right eye finished, Dr. Kim prepared my left eye for the laser treatment. The procedure was the same as the right side and the whole surgery finished within 10 minutes. For LASEK, the surgery was not difficult but the recovery period was not easy. After the surgery, I stayed at home for 3 days with constant tearing and sleeping since I could hardly open my eyes on the first two days especially on the 2^nd day with a little pain on the 1^st night.  I slept so much (as I couldn’t keep my eyes open for a long period) that I felt I lost track of time. However by the 3^rd day, I felt more at ease as I was able to watch some TV and keep my eyes open for a longer period with lesser tearing. To prevent any inflammation, I used my prescribed eye drops regularly and I actually finished the eye drops within 3 days. I ended up sleeping at 3 a.m that night due to the amount of sleeping I did for the last 3 days. 

I went back to work on the 4^th day and up till now, about a week later, I couldn’t read things well and everything seems blurred at times.  Well it will take about a month or two depending on the health of your cornea and regular use of eye drops so don’t get depressed because of it.  Just think about the future when I will not have to wear glasses or contact lenses again, I am letting the nature takes its flow and looking forward to the moment when I can see everything clearly again, and this time without glasses.      

Thoughts on my Vietnam trip by Miss Lim

Our eye center provides voluntary outpatient eye examinations regularly throughout the year and from Nov 12^th~16^th a charity trip to Vietnam was organized by Korea Love Sharing Association, together with Dr. Kim to do outpatient check-up and cataract surgeries. Preparation started two months ago as equipment for cataract surgery needed to be sterilized and sealed properly and drugs and medicine needed to be ordered and packed. However, the day before the departure date, the decision was changed to just providing outpatient treatment for the people as the hospital environment in Vietnam was not suitable for doing cataract surgery. So, we had to repack everything again and with a smaller luggage, we departed for Vietnam on Nov 12^that 7:10am.

~I am the one on the left~

My first impression of Ho Chi Min City was very hot yet with very beautiful clear sky~ On the way to the hotel, the distinguishing feature was that there were a lot of motorbikes and in fact, there were more motorbikes than cars on the street.  Very scary~~ At first glance, I felt that Vietnamese people lived a hard life due to the simple way they dressed. Since this was my first time in this activity, I hoped that even with my limited ability, I could help these people to improve their life in some way.  

On the next day after a simple breakfast, we went to a local hospital in Ho Chi Min City and there were already a lot of people waiting to receive the examination.  Actually the facilities were not as bad as what we imagined but looking at the number of patients, we quickly set up our equipment and started the outpatient treatment. Problems arise immediately after we started the treatment process as we encountered problems communicating with the patients. Thankfully, with the help of the local staff, the patient’s condition was explained to Dr. Kim in English and then, the staff explained Dr. Kim’s comments back to the patients in Vietnamese. The treatment period was longer than expected because of language barrier and the condition of patients’ eyes was not as good as what we expected either.

 Even though there were many patients with serious cataract conditions, blind patients and patients who needed glasses to match their present eyesight, they could not have the surgeries immediately or buy new glasses due to their present living conditions. Throughout the whole process especially after treating the patients who were born without eyeballs, I felt that my present living condition in Korea was considered well-off as compared to these people. I am really fortunate.

The local people seemed happy and always carried a cheerful smile on their face even with the poor living condition and without glasses to match their existing eyesight. We could only help by giving eye drops to improve their eye condition and even with this little action, the people were very grateful and lavished us with lots of thanks.

While treating the patients, Dr. Kim and we promised ourselves to make sure that we will prepare the necessary equipment for cataract surgery and bring it along for our next trip to Vietnam so that we could present these people a chance to see the world clearly and brightly. As the queue continued, we decided to postpone the groundbreaking ceremony for building new houses and continued the treatment process to the following day.       

Looking at the sky of Ho Chi Min City at night, I realized that there was no star in the sky. Maybe it was caused by air pollution from the numerous motorbikes and the star ray was lost on the way or it was because the local people didn’t have healthy eyes to see the stars... I was not sure but my heart hurt. For two days, I kept thinking about how fortunate I was during the treatment process and I also learnt about how little touch means so much to some people and no matter how hard the situation was, I had to stay positive.

Since high school, I have started volunteering and I would like to spend more time volunteering in either kindergartens or elderly homes, but I would always have excuses not to do it.  Even the thought of volunteering was not easy. Previously I had checked out the voluntary opportunities on the internet, it was either the application deadline was over or only volunteers with specified abilities like musicians or artists were needed. However, this trip makes me realized that there are actually many places needing nurse volunteers, people like me and I should be proud of my occupation.  I would really like to thank GS Eye Center for giving me this opportunity and I hope that there will be another chance to go to Vietnam next year.    

국내에서도 자주 의료봉사를 해왔던 우리병원... 이번엔 해외의료봉사다!!

처음엔 간단한 외래진료와 백내장수술을 주로 하기위해서 많은 준비를 했었지만..

출국을 하기 하루전날 백내장수술을 할 수 없게 되었다는 통보를 받고 준비했던 짐들을 모두풀고 다시 간단한 외래진료만을 위한 짐을 싸야했다.

수술을 하지 않지만.. 처음으로 참여하는 해외의료봉사에 기대도 부풀었지만, 그곳의 상황을 짐작할 수 없었기 때문에 걱정이 앞섰다.. 이런저런 생각으로 밤을 지세고 11월 22일 7시 10분 호치민행 비행기에 올랐다.

처음으로 방문한 호치민의 날씨는 무척이나 더웠고, 맑게 게인 하늘은 너무나도 예뻤다.

차를 타고 이동을 하면서 특징적인 광경은 오토바이를 타고 이동하는 호치민시의 사람들이었다.

오토바이 정말 많다.... 차보다 오토바이가 더 많다... 무서웠다..@..@

그리고 사람들의 행색은 그리 깔끔해 보이지 않았다... 넉넉하지않은 생활이 사람들의 모습에서 한눈에 짐작이 되었다. 앞으로 일정이 걱정이 되었지만, 이사람들에게 조금이나마 도움이 될 수 있을거란 생각에 벌써부터 뿌듯했다.

다음날 숙소에서의 간단한 아침식사를 마치고 진료를 위해 호치민시내의 한 병원으로 이동했다.

생각했던것보다 병원의 시설을 깔끔했고 나쁘지 않았다.

우리가 병원에 도착했을땐 이미 많은 사람들이 진료를 받기위해 우리를 기다리고 있었다.

우리는 서둘러 진료를 시작했는데, 진료를 하는데는 많은 에로사항이 있었다. 가장 큰 것은 의사소통이었다.

그래서 우리와 함께해준 미래에셋 현지직원들의 도움을 받아 원장님은 환자의 상태를 현지직원에게 영어로 설명하고 현지직원은 다시 베트남어로 통역을 해주는 식으로 진료를 진행해야했기 때문에 진료시간은 4~5로 길어질 수밖에 없었다.

이곳사람들의 눈 건강은 생각했던것보다 너무 좋지않았다.

나이든 사람들의 대부분은 백내장이 많이 진행되었음에도 형편이 여의치않아 수술시기가 많이 늦춰진 사람들도 있었고, 시력이 나쁜데도 제눈에 맞는 안경하나 제대로 갖지 못한 사람..

태어날 때부터 시력이 발달하지 못한사람.. 심지어 태어날 때부터 안구가 생성되지 못한사람...

진료를 하는 내내 나는 정말 풍족한 환경에서 살아 왔구나.. 하는 생각이 절로 들었다.

이곳사람들은 이러한 부족한 환경에서도 밝고, 작은것에 감사해 했다.

본인의 시력에 꼭 맞지 않는 안경을 씌워주어도 잘 보인다며 환한 미소를 지었고, 우리가 더이상 해줄것이 없어 불편할때 사용하라고 인공눈물약만을 손에 쥐어주어도 고맙다는 인사를 아끼지 않았다.

진료를 계속 보면서 원장님과 나는 다음번에는 꼭 수술기구와 장비를 갖추고 다시와서 많은 사람들에게 더 밝은세상을 선물하기로 약속했다.

진료를 받으려는 사람들의 행렬은 계속 되었고, 다음날 있을 집짓기행사를 포기하고 진료를 하루 연장하기로했다.

밤이되어 하늘을 바라보니 호치민의 밤하늘은 생각보다 별이 없었다.

아마도 수많은 오토바이의 매연과 오염으로 많은 별들이 빛을 잃었고, 이곳 사람들의 눈에도 빛을 잃어가는게 아닐까..

가슴이 아팠다..

이틀동안의 의료봉사활동을 하면서 계속 생각했던것은 정말 나는 행복한 환경에서 살고있구나.. 하는 생각 이었다. 그리고 이들에게서 배운 한가지는 작은것에도 감사할 줄 아는 마음과 힘든 상황속에서도 긍정적일 수 있는 마음이다.

고등학교를 다닐때부터 봉사활동클럽을 통해 봉사활동을 시작했다. 평소에도 보육원이나 양로원에서 사람들을 돕는 일을 하고싶었었는데, 핑계일 수 있겠지만.. 봉사활동이라는게 생각하는것 만큼 쉽지않았다.

인터넷 사이트를 통해 봉사활동을 알아보았을땐 봉사활동 점수를 받기위해 이미신청이 끝나 참여할 수 없었고, 그것이 아니면 음악이나 미술과 같은 특별한 재능이 있어야 봉사활동에 참여할 수 있었다.

그런데 나의 직업이 이렇게 좋은 직업일 줄이야.. 간호사일을 하면서 이곳저곳 봉사활동을 할 수있는 기회가 많아졌다.. 넘 뿌듯하고 자랑스러운 일인것같다. 이번에도 이렇게 기회를 만들어준 우리병원에 감사한다..

다음에도 꼭 기회가 있었으면 좋겠다.

임혜정

GS Eye Center - English and Mandarin versions

Dear friends,

After all these months of hard work, the English and Mandarin versions for GS Eye Center homepage are finally ready.  Please feel free to check out the information on http://www.gseyecenter.com/ and we look forward to receiving your feedback.

Sincerely,
GS Eye Center

Contribution back to the society

Nowadays we always ask what the society could do for them but have we stopped for a moment and thought about what we have done for this society? Of course giving and taking is an etiquette most people know but have we thought about giving more and taking less? Our ecosystem is a cycle that would be adequate for humans, plants, animals and the earth to sustain for a long, long time if we give as much as we take from the ecosystem. It is easily said than done but sometimes a little might mean nothing to us, yet meant a lot to others. We are now living on a land that our ancestors worked hard to provide and we also must not forget about them and their hardship. So what should we do to contribute back especially when everyone is busy earning money to sustain their own lifestyle?  Actually I think the best way is through volunteering as firstly, we learn not to think that every action we do will mean we will get something back, secondly, we actually learn to give completely and thirdly, we understand that if we manage our time efficiently, we could still spare time for others who need our aid.

Our clinic provides voluntary services like free eye check-up for the elderly in the elderly homes or local community centers and going to Vietnam to provide free cataract surgeries & eye check-up for the people living in the rural area every year.  This month we went to Yangjae Senior Welfare Center to provide free eye examination for the elderly living around the area.  The queue started way before we reached there and everything started as soon as we set up all the equipment.  At first our optometrist provided regular eye check-up to check their vision and lens condition. Most elderly had some vision problems like not being able to see anything within a feet distance, not wearing glasses even though they couldn’t see well and presbyopia. One of the grannies was very adorable as her left eye condition was better than her right eye and she was trying to use her left eye to read even though we covered her left eye.  I felt sad for some grandpas as they couldn’t even see how many fingers the optometrist had placed in front of them. 

After the regular eye examination, Dr. Kim examined their eye condition for any possible diseases or problems and he advised the patients how to take care of their eyes, especially for those with slight cloudy lens condition by providing eye drops so that the lens condition would not get worse.  For some with healthy lens, eye drops were also provided to make sure that the elderly could maintain their eye condition. For some with serious cataract conditions, Dr. Kim advised them to get an operation to replace the lens as soon as possible so that the condition did not get worse. 

Finally, we managed to see all the patients within 3 mad-hours rush and the center in-charge was really grateful that we made the visit. She told us that most elderly had difficulty going to places and by bringing our equipment to the center, the patients didn’t have to go far for treatment. However it did not apply to certain examinations, as some require the patients to visit the hospital for detailed examination. It is a pity and I hope as the technology advances, more and more equipment will be made smaller and more compact to accommodate the elderly needs.  Well, a little means so much to these elderly and let’s try to make this place a more beautiful place to live in!

Cataract Procedure

Operating on any part of the eyeball requires lots of patient and skillful hands as our eyeball is really small (an average diameter of 24mm) and of course, it is one of the most delicate part of our body.  During LASIK/LASEK surgery, top corneal layer is scraped off, laser is used and then, cornea is covered with contact lenses for recovery, but for cataract surgery, the surgeon needs to create an incision on the cornea, remove the cataract, insert a new lens and then stitch up the incision.

So how does the cataract surgery go? The procedure will vary a little depending on the clinic and the machine used. After the doctor confirmed that your eyes have cataract, appointment for cataract removal will be set up and one eye is usually operated on the first day and the other on the second day. The doctor will also check with you about your medical history to make sure that the drugs you are currently taking will not interfere with the medication prescribed. Normally, you will be asked to stop taking any medication for cardiovascular diseases and eye drops will be prescribed for about 4 days to a week before the surgery. 

On the surgery day, the doctor would exam the infected eye again before the surgery and the consultant will explain the steps of taking the prescribed eye drops after the surgery.  After that, you will be brought into the surgery wearing a gown and cap and the nurse will ask you to sit on a reclining chair. With you comfortably laid down, the nurse will then disinfect your eye area including the forehead, drop some local anesthesia eye drops, cover your head and eye with a sterile covering, use a speculum to hold your eye in place and instruct you not to move your eye too much during operation. When this is done, the surgeon will come in to get ready for the surgery. 

Once the surgeon is ready, the surgeon will create 2 small incisions on your cornea using an operating microscope and inject a gel-like substance, viscoelastic, into your anterior chamber to help stabilize your eye pressure during the surgery. Next, the surgeon will insert forceps through one of the incisions to remove the top thin layer of the cataract and then by using Infiniti Vision system, the surgeon will use the Infiniti handpiece to slowly break up the cloudy lens into smaller pieces (phacofracture) and remove them through suction (less than 5 minutes) including making sure that the cataract on the edge is removed.   

Incisions are made.

Forceps used to remove top layer.

Infinite handpiece used to remove cataract.

New IOL lens inserted. 

After the cataract is removed thoroughly, a high-quality intraocular lens is inserted into your eye to replace the original lens and incision is sutured.  The type of lens inserted will depend on your eye’s needs. At present you could have lens that is for both cataract and presbyopia inserted. A protective shield will then be placed on your eye and you would be taken to the recovery area to rest for about 30 minutes.  Before you leave, the surgeon will check on your eye again and another appointment will be made for you to return for check-up on the next day. It is a painless surgery and the recovery period will take about a week with you being able to return to work on the next day.  


Just out of curiosity, I checked on a few videos on traditional cataract procedure and you could watch them on the following sites:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5X_Q3lrw5JA (watch from the middle of film - couching procedure)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeBbKS0GoQs (watch from the middle of film)