Hi y'all!
I'm new here, and have been debating about getting DES done for years. Finally decided that I definitely want it done in 2021 (depending on COVID) and I know that I want to get it done in Korea. (I live in the States) I am Korean, but I'm adopted and my parents are white so they do NOT understand my desire to have it done lol.
I have a lot of things I want to know more about/advice on, here they are in no particular order:
I'm new here, and have been debating about getting DES done for years. Finally decided that I definitely want it done in 2021 (depending on COVID) and I know that I want to get it done in Korea. (I live in the States) I am Korean, but I'm adopted and my parents are white so they do NOT understand my desire to have it done lol.
I have a lot of things I want to know more about/advice on, here they are in no particular order:
- Are consults generally free? I've looked into getting DES done in the States, but one of my biggest turnoffs is that most doctors here charge for consultations.
- I can read/write Korean, but my vocab is super limited. I'm working on improving, but I'd definitely need an interpreter/an English speaker at the clinic. What makes more sense - going to a clinic that has English speaking staff, hiring an interpreter on my own? Are there other options that are better?
- Is bargaining difficult with an interpreter? Is it important to show receipts (meaning proof of quotes from other clinics)?
- My biggest issue is that I am really inexperienced/uninformed about what procedures I should be looking into for my eyes. I just don't want to go into my consults looking like I have no clue about anything. My lower lashes poke into my eyes, and I have a lot of excess fat/skin on my upper lids. Guessing I'd be looking at ptosis correction and epicanthoplasty as well as blepharoplasty? My eyes are also uneven, my right eye is definitely more problematic. I'll add pics for reference.
- Timeline? I don't want to go to Korea until the 2 week quarantine ends. With my current job, I can't really take a vacation longer than 2 weeks. How far in advance of actually traveling to Korea do I want to start doing serious research and online consultations?
- From what I've been reading (here and elsewhere) it seems like a lot of people just make consultation appointments before traveling to Korea, and then make their surgery appointments while they're there. Do you really not run the risk of not being able to schedule your surgery while there? (It seems kind of risky to me to not have your surgery nailed down before travel, but I also want to be able to bargain a bit)
- Recovery - is 7-10 days in Korea long enough to recover for travel back to the States? I don't really care about how I look, more just comfort.What'
- Obviously I'm not going to sit in an AirBnb the entire time I'm in Korea. How soon after surgery is it comfortable to walk around, eat out, etc.? I'm not looking to do any crazy excursions while I'm there - the main things I want to do are show my bf around Seoul, and maybe look at apartments (we're thinking of moving there in a couple years.)
- Thinking about cost, what I've estimated to set aside for the trip is roughly $7000 USD. I'm thinking around $4000 for surgery (this is my max, ideally), $1200 for flight, $400 for hotel/AirBnb, and the remaining $1400 for food/shopping/etc. Does that seem reasonable?
- From my research so far, Namu, MVP, Uvom, and Opera are the clinics I'm interested in doing at least online consults with. Any other recs or reasons to not bother with those?