Actor Ahaana Krishna underwent a laser vision correction surgery recently and shared details of the SMILE (Small Incision Lenticule Extraction) procedure on social media. The actor was ecstatic about getting rid of her spectacles and contact lenses that she wore for 16 years. In the video, Ahaana speaks about the changes in her vision over the years and her experiences with the vision correction surgery.
"As you can see in the title of the video, I underwent laser surgery to correct vision problems. I am posting this video to share my experience of going through this process. The reason for making this video is to relive my experience again after a few years. We may not remember everything. Before seeking this treatment, I searched for videos that featured peoples firsthand experience about the surgery. However, I did not find any such videos, which is why I decided to post this video for others,” he said.
She spoke about the various types of surgeries that are available. “We all know about LASIK (Laser-Assisted In-Situ Keratomileusis) surgery. There are three types of laser surgery available today. One is LASIK, then there is Trans-PRK (Photo Refractive Keratectomy), and the third is SMILE. Going back about 16 years in my life, I started wearing glasses when I was in Class VII. I would often tell my parents I had trouble seeing what was on the blackboard. But my parents thought that I was pretending because of my desire to wear glasses. In a household with four or five children, parents tend to take certain things lightly. So finally, when I said I really could not see, I was taken to Vasan Eye Care and had my eyes tested. I ‘successfully failed’ to read all that was written there. I was thrilled that I could not read that day because it proved that I was right. After wearing the glasses, I felt like I was the coolest kid in school. I took a lot of pride in my look with the specks on. But, it slowly dawned on me that it was not very cool to wear glasses.
And then I experimented with spectacles in different shapes as fashion changed. But even without the glasses I could see if I looked hard. Later, I started walking around by hanging the glasses on my clothes because I thought it was fashionable. I took to wearing contact lenses in 2013.
“I was hesitant to put on spectacles while wearing sari, but when I began using eye lenses, I started to feel more comfortable. But there is a bad experience that I had when wearing the lenses. It happened when I was doing the film “Njan Steve Lopez” in 2014. During the movie launch, while I was putting on the lens in my eye, it fell out of my hand into the wash basin nearby. The fool that I am, I opened the water pipe without realising what had happened. Suddenly, I realised that the lens had been washed down the sink.
I was totally shattered. I did not have any other lens and without the lens, I had great difficulty seeing. It was my first movie launch. My family does everything in a very artistic manner. I called my father and mother. Dad said we could open the drain pipe below the washbasin as the lens had fallen down just then. So, they opened it. All the waste in the drainage was removed by hand. Just think of the unfortunate situation. I, who had to get ready and appear on the stage in an hour as the actress in the movie, was removing waste using my hand. At last, my father and I recovered the lens from the garbage. Luckily, it did not get torn. Had the incident happened today, we would have thought more about cleanliness. But I did not think much of it that day. I washed the lens that was taken out of the garbage, placed it in my eye, and went to the event, putting on an outward show.
“As life went on with me wearing glasses and lenses, my eyesight declined a lot. That is when I heard about the LASIK surgery. We went to Aravind Eye Hospital in Tirunelveli for the LASIK treatment. My father accompanied me as my mother was very fearful. That surgery would cost about Rs 1 lakh. A friend of my father helped us by giving Rs 1 lakh as we were facing some financial difficulties at the time. But after some tests, they said my eye was in a very dangerous condition and that they could not do anything about it. My father and I were in a dilemma. They told us that the LASIK surgery, which is done on the cornea, cuts a small part of the cornea and then the laser is applied. For this procedure to take place, the cornea should be thick enough. But my cornea was very thin and my vision impairment was very high. I was very upset. Dad said, ‘Don't worry, we will find a solution’.
“When I came back home that day, my mother made me a coconut mango pudding. I got over the worries after I had it. I decided to live by resigning myself to the reality. But now, after five years now, when I went for my school reunion, my friend Sridevi told me that she too could not do the LASIK procedure although she wanted to get it done, but that she had undergone a procedure called Trans-PRP which could be performed on people who did not have a thick cornea. It was new information for me. I thought I would give it a try. So, when I returned from the function, I texted my ophthalmologist Jain and asked about it. The doctor told me about SMILE which was the latest treatment. I was a bit fearful as the procedure involved eye-related procedure. Finally, I went to Dr. Agarwal Hospital. They conducted some tests after which they said that I could undergo this surgery. After many advanced tests, it was confirmed that I could undergo the procedure. When I was in the hospital, friends, including Rajisha Vijayan, used to call me and inquire about the situation.
“My surgery was very successful, and I could read even distant things without glasses. The first place I went to without glasses after regaining my original sight was the golf club near my house. I felt that I should see the most beautiful place for the first time without glasses. It was the most beautiful moment of my life. That was the first time I was seeing such a beautiful sight with my bare eyes. From the earlier dim view, it was like watching it in 4K resolution. I am so glad I was able to undergo this surgery.
“My opinion is that those with this type of difficulty should definitely seek professional advice and do whatever they can to restore their original vision. This video is my personal experience 100 per cent and was made not to promote any procedure or hospital. What is stated in this video is what I learned from talking to doctors and searching the Internet. There might be mistakes in this. So, do not blindly follow my video but find out the facts for yourself and seek expert advice. Undergo any surgery only after taking the advice of expert doctors”, Ahaana says.
