Five years ago this quarter of 2017, an opportunity knocked at my doorstep. It was not the usual chances in my career life but a once in a lifetime break from seeing the world differently. If you have met me a decade earlier you would have seen me wearing weirdest eye glasses or unimaginable style in celebrity conferences and events. But that ended positively because five years ago, I had my vision back at 20/20.
I remember receiving an email back in 2012, an inquiry from an aesthetic center about a possible project. I believed I was one of the bloggers who got shortlisted for something I had no idea about. After a few days, I got a call from Shinagawa LASIK and Aesthetic Center saying they were interested in partnering with me for a possible campaign. I was so excited to know that they were going to consider me for an Advanced LASIK Surgery. I was speechless because ever since I graduated from college, I had been planning on having a LASIK operation.
I was bookish back in my school days. I spent an enormous amount of time in a moving vehicle just to finish a chapter or solve an algebraic expression (yes, I was that weird in school). I actually had a choice and was well aware of the ugly truth of pushing our eyes to the limit, but I was very active in extra-curricular activities back in college, so imagine what little time was left for me to study Accountancy, except in the comfort of a moving vehicle, nightly.
In 2012, my eye grade jumped to 375/350. With that eyesight, if you’re watching television, it is almost impossible to know if a celebrity with multiple plastic surgeries is either smiling or crying, LOL.
Moving on to the possible procedure, Shinagawa LASIK and Aesthetic Center summoned me to do some tests first to check whether my eyes qualified for this kind of procedure. I was wearing contact lenses at that time, so I had to go back again because I needed to rest my eyes from wearing glasses or lenses for them to fully measure my actual eye condition. It was a very rigorous series of tests, and I was glad that after a while, I finally got a schedule.
I was not afraid to do it at that time because the Advanced Surgery, as Shinagawa said, would last for less than 15 minutes. They are one of the few (even up until now) who can still deliver in terms of this kind of surgery. But what is funny is that the reason I hesitated to do it was that the fifth installment of the film Final Destination had just been released, and it showed a very tragic laser operation, hahaha. Imagine my paranoia for days.
When it was my time for surgery, Mom accompanied me to the Shinagawa LASIK and Aesthetic Center office in the Enterprise Building. There, I saw another blogger friend, Ruth Floresca, who was also shortlisted to have LASIK. I was very happy to know that someone else would also be doing it because the stigma of the movie was still running through my mind.
From there, I met Dr. Jaime Dinglasan, an ophthalmologist. He is one of the pioneers of refractive laser surgery and has already performed more than 15,000 LASIK procedures since 1995.
Special Thanks to my friend Ruth and Noy Floresca for capturing these happy times of my life.
There were a couple of instructions before the procedure, and one of the nurses dropped an anesthetic into my eyes. Then we went to the first room, where the Intralase machine was. This equipment is the one with lasers and will treat your eye by cutting a small portion of the cornea. [Omitted “The next room.” to maintain narrative flow, as the next sentence clarifies the room change] Then we headed to the room where another machine is located, the Excimer laser equipment. It was the final touch of the procedure to fully correct my 375/350 vision.
It took roughly less than 10 minutes. I remember receiving antibiotics, steroids, and eye drops that I had to use strictly for a week.
Mom accompanied me until we got home, and after a few hours, I could feel my eyes, so what I did was just close and rest them. Believe it or not, the next morning I couldn’t believe that it was really true. I could see clearly and could even read small calendar fonts inside the house.
After a couple of days, I went back to Shinagawa LASIK and Aesthetic Center to have my eyes checked, and I actually got my vision back—not only 20/20, but a clearer 20/14 vision. Just like the eyes of an infant. I am very glad to have tried the procedure and very happy and grateful to Shinagawa.
If you are planning to get your eyes checked for a possible LASIK procedure, do not hesitate to visit Shinagawa LASIK and Aesthetic Center because they are very accommodating. I highly recommend their very modern procedure. You can visit them at Mezzanine, Tower 2, The Enterprise Center, 6766 Ayala Ave. cor. Paseo de Roxas, Makati. Check their website here at http://shinagawa.ph/ or call (+632) 491 0000 | (+63) 917 572 4684. I have heard they now have an Ortigas branch where you can visit them at the 21st Floor, Hanston Square Bldg., #17 San Miguel Avenue, Ortigas Center, Pasig City.
Up to now, 2017 my eyes still in 20/20 vision. I am happy. Very happy.
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