It started innocently enough, in the 2nd year of college, I found myself having to move my seat to the front row because I couldn’t make out what’s written on the whiteboard.
I started watching television from the distance of an arm’s length rather than several feet away. I began falling asleep in the midst of supposedly good movies in cinemas (which pissed Gareth off :P). I dreaded driving in the rain. I gained a reputation of being arrogant because I didn’t smile at people!
All thanks to my deteriorated eyesight. Mostly genetics, but definitely accelerated by long hours in front of the computer.
Mom was crushed when I had to start wearing glasses. To begin with, I couldn’t be more of a disappointment of a daughter for my mom. I already didn’t take care of my appearance as much as she believed a girl should. I would go out into the sun and came home ghastly tanned. I would step out of the house with frizzy, uncombed hair. And now her one and only daughter had to wear glasses. I bet she was thinking, “She’s not getting married, ever”. Hahaha.
I didn’t really care to be honest. I was already experimenting with those douchebag glassless spectacles before so I was rather thrilled that I now had a legitimate reason to wear one. So I went with Dad to an optical shop near home and a week later, I got my first pair of prescription glasses.
The novelty of wearing glasses quickly wore off. It sucked! It kept sliding off my face, didn’t help that I was born with flat pudgy nose. It kept fogging up when I exited my car. I kept having to clean the smudges and fingerprints.
# – A rare picture of me wearing my first pair of glasses eating Super Rings. Must be around year 2004 here.
Thanks to all the hassles, I only wore it for driving at night. My glasses were pretty much untouched the rest of time. Till I went for a job interview where having good eyesight was a prerequisite.
The doctor told me to get contact lenses, otherwise he would have to leave a remark on my medical report about my eyes and he told me point blank – I wouldn’t be hired. I’d never worn contact lenses in my life then and the thought of it freaked me out. I think that was the first time I ever felt truly disappointed by my problematic eyes.
Left with no choice, I got myself a pair of contact lenses. I got the job eventually but I never wore them. Luckily I was never in a situation where my eyesight was truly tested! Phew.
Until this day, I still couldn’t put on contact lenses without spending almost an hour on each eye. My eyes would get so reddened and watery, it just didn’t make much sense to put myself through the hassle.
As years passed though, my eyes got worse. I just couldn’t tread along without any vision aid. At last, I made a decision to wear glasses full time. I was like, since it’s probably forever, there’s no point hiding the fact that I’m four-eyed.
So, I decided to just get the most outrageous pair I could get my hands on. Hence, the arrival of my “Chicken Little” glasses that you, my readers had either come to love or hate.
# – My glasses that should have its own fanpage.
They were converted from a pair of sunglasses. Heavy, but I loved that my line of vision was hardly obstructed by the frames. Mom, was of course horrified but by now she knew she couldn’t do much to convince her daughter when it comes to appearance.
I think it was around the same time that I stopped wearing eye makeup too, haha. What’s the point? Cannot see also!
With my large spectacles, the familiar pesky problems returned. Spectacles fogging up, sweat pooling behind glasses (gross stuff), constantly having to clean the glasses (took me 5 minutes everytime cause damn glasses were so big), kids crying cause got spooked by my abnormally large “eyes”, rude relatives making rude remarks, looking like crap cause no point wearing makeup…the list continued.
But it’s still fine. I didn’t have to fall asleep in cinemas anymore. I could drive safely. I could see my friends from far. I could function, you know. That said, it still pissed me off whenever I had to watch 3D films, man it’s hard to balance two gigantic spectacles on a flat Asian face.
Then I got itchy butt and went to get a scuba diving license. I love it! The feeling of being suspended underwater is indescribable, only fellow divers would understand. But I knew that I hadn’t truly enjoyed diving because of my eyesight.
Frankly, from my first dive till now, I’ve had pretty good luck with meeting rare creatures underwater. The operative word here being “meeting”, not seeing.
# – Diving with shortsightedness.
Everytime, my divemaster would be like, “Kim did you see that shark? Kim, did you see that trumpet fish? I’d be like, yeah I did *smiley face*. But truthfully, all I saw were greyish blueish blobs. I guess I could have gotten prescription mask but it’s already hard enough to find an ordinary mask that fits my face T_T
And that feeling of disappointment with my eyes came back, every single time I went diving!
Despite wearing a ginormous pair of glasses and still never really took care of my physical appearance, I got proposed. As in marriage. See, mom? Hehe.
Anyway, we got straight to planning the wedding and then it dawned on me that I might not see Gareth clearly on our wedding day. I won’t be wearing contact lenses cause I don’t want to have red & watery eyes but I also CANNOT wear glasses on my wedding day. I just can’t bring myself to. I don’t want to be a four-eyed bride.
I want to have fake lashes so long Gareth would spot them first before he sees my face. The glasses would bend my eyelashes. Also, I would have nervous sweat pooled behind my glasses on my wedding day. I don’t want to be gross on my wedding day. The glasses would mess with my hair. Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.
# – I wore glasses on our Registration of Marriage day. Prefer not to on wedding day.
And that’s basically how I decided that I would get my eyes lasered once and for all. The most important day of my life, the most important day of a woman’s life. Getting married to the love of my life and presenting myself to him without a gigantic structure perched upon my nose.
I want to be able to bury my face into his chest without having to kill the moment by pausing to remove my glasses. I wanted to, no, I needed to laser my eyes and bid adieu to my “Chicken Little” glasses. I think I was so determined that I wasn’t even scared by the prospect of having laser shot into my eyes.
I asked a few friends who have had the Laser treatment done and the place with the most positive comments were all for Optimax Eye Specialist. My friend Celine in particular, is very, very happy and she did it 6 years ago with them.
I gave Optimax a call and was so impressed by the call operator herself who was so knowledgeable, I immediately made an appointment for a full eye checkup, which basically is a checkup too see if my eye were fit for the procedure. You must have normal to thick cornea thickness otherwise it’s not recommended and there are other procedures for people with thin corneas.
Well, at time of writing, I have already had the Custom All Laser Lasik procedure done and I couldn’t be more pleased. I don’t know how to put into words as to how happy I am and how excited I am with the future. And with the wedding, of course :)
Next post is going to be about my eye check-up and the experience of having my eyes lasered. Woohoo!
Unrelated, but I <3 the pic of you both getting married.
It also reminds me that… you know, I should be financially stable to get married in 3-4 years time.
thanks :D you know one thing i kept telling my brothers, if i had known weddings were going to cost so much, i would have started saving a LONG TIME ago lol. so u better start allocating funds now yeehou!
Laser lasik really helps quicken the procedure with less pain and faster recovery. There are times that you can use camouflage makeup while recovering or rehabilitating your eyes.
“I’d never wore contact lenses in my life then and the thought of it freaked me out.” – Totally like me. I know it sounds weird but I’m so scared of putting something inside my eyes. Phobia after seeing how my bestie struggled to put in contact lenses for the first time. :/
it’s so not weird! we are the same kind of people haha. no matter how hard i tried i just couldn’t help but blink, it’s so frustrating!
I am so happy for you, congratz! Hope you had a pleasant experience in Optimax as much as I did, and still do every year. Goodbye ‘Chicken Little’ glasses and hello eye make-up! <3
thanks cel! <3 indeed, HELLO EYE MAKEUP!
I am glad enough that I can put on my contact lenses and be a “normal” person. I love the idea of putting make up, and without having to stay less than 1cm away from the mirror to put on eye liner when I wasn’t putting on my contact lens.
Due to long working hours, I have to tolerate with the use of spectacle, which I would tend not to put on make up (thus the horrible face). However, it dawned upon me that my power is not stable (I think so despite the optometrist would indicate otherwise).
I am uncertain at this point of time on the idea of having my eyes lasik. It is alot of money but it is money well spent. However my colleague whom did lasik two years ago commented, “If you could tolerate with contact lens, just stick to it, because lasik is cutting your eyes, which is the only one pair you have!” She also quoted that her friends came out of operation not having perfect vision. It sucks. Sure as hell I don’t want it to happen to me.
What should I do :(
Ooh I know what you’re going through. I also have friends who have had the procedure and are not happy (having floaters in their eyes, have to start wearing glasses/contacts again etc). Apparently despite having their eyes checked, they were still ushered in for lasik despite not having met the criteria for the surgery.
I was adamant about doing it in optimax, because they have 100% safety rate and 99% success rate. Other centres, on the other hand were unable to provide me with such figures. So do research for your centre of choice properly.
Of course, potential surgery related issues aside, I’ve started to learn to take care of my eyes. No rubbing unnecessarily, no straining the eyes constantly with tv or computer etc. Those things aren’t okay even when eyes have not been lasered before! In fact I learned that most issues that appeared or reappeared after Lasik is due to poor aftercare. For me, right now though it’s the best thing I’ve ever done for myself :D
What is the basis of measurement of the success rate? Is it reduced power or complete clear vision? I believe the others whom have done lasik would surely feel the same. Ditch the spec forever!
It’s success as in functional visual acuity, basically good enough vision for driving. Cheers
Can’t wait to see your wedding dress. lol
me too? hahah thanks :D
I did LASIK at Optimax 11 months ago n I’m totally not regretting it. Love it that I don’t have to grope for my glasses every morning. Lol
yay! so glad for you :D totally can relate to not having to grope for glasses in the morning hehe
How much would the whole LASIK cost?
I still have the old fashion thinking that the is a possibility that the surgery went wrong and I’ll be blind for the rest of my eye. Really thinking of doing thou.
i think best is that you give them a call for pricing, every procedure is different even the kinds of lasik depending on your eyes. i had the same worries too but it’s quite a mature technology now and just look for a reputable and trustworthy centre. cheers :)
Awesome! No more glasses in the way when I want to poke you in the eye :D
baby that sounds really wrong
Story of my life! My dad cried like it was the end of the world when he found out I had to wear glasses at 18. He thought I wouldn’t be able to find a husband. Well, I did, and guess what…I walked down the aisle semi-blind. :-S (too vain to wear glasses mah) Thankfully, I didn’t trip and fall in church! Unlike you, though, I haven’t considered lasik. Perhaps it’s time.
awww, your dad’s so sweet! i wonder why i waited so long, it’s really an amazing feeling to be independent of glasses now. can go get a checkup first before deciding mah!
I can totally relate to wat u feel now cos i got my lasik done exactly a month ago!!! n its such a surreal thing sort of (cos I’ve had to wear glasses for like 15 years, contact lens for maybe about 7 years till i wore out my contact lens wearing capability n ended up with red-teary-scary eyes and developed a permanent mark on my nose due to wearing glasses like 24/7)
it may be slightly pricy but it’s totally worth it n my only regret is that i didnt do it 3 years ago when i wanted to… i was just too scared to do it back then… I got mine done in Adventist Penang… one of d best places i would say…
Just like u said, d key to a success rate of lasik to d aftercare. just be a little careful with ur daily living for d first few months and u’d have perfect vision (i have 20/15 now… which is better than perfect!!)
PS: i love d fact that i can see first thing in d morning or even in d shower! ahahaha
yay! i know what you mean about having permanent markings on the nose! that really freaked me out too. i also had like skin buildup behind my ears wtf (where the frames rested).
so, so, happy now! do u still get excited when you can make out something far without glasses? cause i’m getting annoying pointing out every single far thing to gareth haha
Yes! i’m super excited when i can read something n my mum cant!! ahahha…!
btw, congrats and all d best for ur wedding ceremony! waiting to see pics n hear updates about it!
oh oh.. n i followed ur previous recipe for bread n butter pudding.. it turned out so nice even when i swapped apricot jam for bramble jelly and conveniently changed d cooking time & temperature n forgot d sliced almonds at d end!
just in case.. it would also help if you could include what your eye problems (short-sightedness degree, astig degree etc) were in your next post. thanks in advance.
actually i’m not really sure but if i remembered correctly my myopia was -1.50 and astig was about 80 on one eye and 120 on the other? i don’t think my vision was severely impaired just really hard to make details out. cheers
I feel you! I’ve been wearing glasses for fifteen years now and have had to deal with all that misting up, sweat, slipping and sliding, vision restricted by frames, people elbowing my glasses and breaking them etc. contact lenses didn’t work for me either. I tried several times, but there was so much discomfort that my eyes just began tearing and getting all red until I couldn’t see at all. and of course I never could wear eye makeup with contacts because of all that tearing =( so I guess its glasses for me until the day I’m brave enough to consider Lasik. looking forward to your coming post!
hi nicole. at first i was afraid like you too but after a lot of research i realised that the pros outweigh the cons by a lot!
in fact i don’t think there’s any con other than the cost haha. not so good lasik results are probably due to the centre admitting patients indiscriminately (despite having thin corneas) or very poor aftercare by patients themselves.
so as long as you select the right place to go and make sure you take care of your eyes post surgery, i think you have nothing to worry about. btw, those stories about burnt hair smell during operation, i didn’t experience that. i think it’s just some silly story someone made up lol
Lasik is probably hands down the best decision I’ve made eye-wise! I still remember opening my eyes a few days after the surgery and being able to see the time CLEARLY from across the room – what a rush! I thought i’d be fine living with contacts forever but really, nothing beats perfect vision! I’d totally recommend it to anyone who can afford to do it. And I was doing a rough calculation before lasik and realised that buying contacts + solution + changing glasses for the next 20 years more or less equals the price of lasik today :)
Well said! yay to perfect vision :D
Good luck with the laser thingy. Hope everything will go well. Can’t wait to see you in the wedding dress :)
thank you ijan! good to see you here :D
Best decision ever that me n jo made was to lasik our eyes, 5 years ago. No regrets! So easy with the adventure sports now;) Welcome to vision 20-20 club! hehe
thank you for the warm welcome hehe. i wish i had done this a lot sooner!
Congratulations on getting eye surgery! I hope you are doing well and have a lovely wedding, without your glasses!
thank you for the kind wishes regina :)
I am seriously considering doing lasik too. My eyes gets dry easily wearing contacts as I get older, very annoying. P.S. Congrats on your R.O.M.! I miss your blog, lots of catching up to do…!
I did my Lasik at Optimax Eye Specialist in Taman Tun too. Welcome to New Vision New Life.
Oh.. all along, I thought you are wearing that glasses for fashion. LOL! Speaking of contact lens, my room mate back in college gotten herself a super tiny contact lens, which could only cover the pupils.. She ended taking 2 hours.. to try to locate her contact lens coz they went BEHIND her eye ball! Eweeeee!
shame. i truly loved your specs. and the fact that you wear them with such bold nonchalance. ah, well. now you can join the likes of people who wear spectacle frames with no lenses. lols. and how ironic is it that while most people resented the day/time they finally had to succumb to spectacle-wearing, i always envied my older sister and wanted spectacles of my own, too. so much so that i wouldn’t stop asking my mom what she did to earn them in the first place so i could do the same. lol. such a lovely rom pic. you’re pretty in the dress. (:
thank you dear :) don’t think i’d wear any sort of spectacles for a while tbh hahaha
Hi Kim!
I just learnt about this lasik treatment and trying to find out more about it..hope you don’t mind me asking u few questions. so it’s been 2 years now since the treatment right? how does it feel? come across any trouble?
thanks! and congrats on your wedding!! :) ..hope is not too late to wish u so..hehe