Lasik!

I've gotten a wild hair, as my mom used to say, and am off to Istanbul, Turkey for laser vision correction. Have I made the right choice? As someone who doesn't know much about their local healthcare options (I'm American, living in the UK, recently moved from Japan, and have been getting all my healthcare needs met in Thailand), I did what anyone with too much computer time would do: I Googled it! I found that I could get laser surgery in the UK (advertised for about $1000 an eye but then that goes to about $3500 an eye for 99% of the population) but it's expensive and I'd have to go into London, which is like a whole foreign country compared to the region where I live. Then there's the US... but where would I stay? How would I choose a doc? And it's 10 hours' flight and expensive to get there and... Then I decided on Thailand. I know the hospital there (Bumrungrad. See Mom's blog for info on how my brother got great treatment for his terminal cancer there and how he's still kicking cancer's behind three years later!) and I have great faith in them... they are State of the Art defined. But, then it was $2200 just for the air tix and it's two flights and 16 hours' flying time. Ugh. Then I found that Turkey is perhaps THE place for eye surgery for medical tourism in Europe. So with no prior experience with Turkey, no friends there, etc., I picked a hospital (Istanbul Surgical Hospital) and I booked a flight, hotel, and the exam, and I am off. Here's me being goofy for the camera just before the surgery. Those glasses are going to be turned into sunglasses post-op, and I am donating my boxes o' contacts, too!