My Double Eyelid Surgery Experience with MVP Plastic Surgery Clinic

[honeycrush]

Hi everyone! Since I was in middle school, I have always wanted to get double eyelid surgery. My mom was always against it (We're Christian and she always gave the lecture about loving yourself because God made me) but my dad didn't care much (his brother and dad got DES too). I'm not sure what changed her mind because I stopped nagging her about surgery in the beginning of high school. She offered to pay for my whole trip and surgery! I want to share with you guys about my experience because this forum has really helped with my research and ease my worries of surgery.

Some background info about me:
- I'm from Washington, USA
- I'm a college student, just recently turned 21
- I'm an American born Korean (never been to Korea!)
- I used to wear tape in middle school but in high school my eyes formed small double eyelids big enough that I didn't need to wear tape. In college, I was too lazy to form my double eyelids with a tweezer every morning so they went back to monolids
- I chose MVP Plastic Surgery because this is good for foreigners (my level of the Korean language is the level of a 3 year old), I've watched vlogs and read posts about the clinic and I was satisfied with their results, and the price wasn't cheap or too expensive.

My experience!!
I Kakao messaged MVP about a month before my trip. They were super nice and replied back to me very quickly. I made a consultation appointment on August 28, 2019 at 10am with Dr. Seo. I read on other posts that you should make an appointment with MVP as early as you can so that's what I did. On that day, I ate a light breakfast at 7am. Bad choice on me!! If you want to have surgery on the same day as your consultation, do not eat or drink water. I went to the clinic with my aunt that lives in Korea. When we got to the clinic at 9:50am, I filled out some papers and then had my consultation shortly after. It felt good when Dr. Seo was touching and prodding my face lol. The doctor said I needed ptosis correction, especially on my right eye, which I already knew. The right side of my face sags down a bit more than my left side and whenever I tried to create double eyelids, my right eye would never hold up. So at the end, we decided with DES, ptosis correction, and epicanthoplasty. Dr. Seo warned me that even though he can even my eyes out, it won't be 100% symmetrical, which I understand. The consultation was SUPER short, felt like not even 10 minutes. The nurse came in and negotiated the price with me.
1,500,000 WON - Double eyelid surgery
1,000,000 WON - Ptosis correction
500,000 WON - Epicanthoplasty
TOTAL: 3,000,000 WON ($2,500~ USD)
Um, I only planned on spending a MAXIMUM of $2,000 for my surgery. The prices GMFU!!! My aunt is a good bargainer and was able to get it down to 2,315,000 WON ($1900~ USD). One of the factors why she was able to get it down so much was I gave them permission to use my pictures online and they took a picture of only my eyes. I know some people don't want their pictures on the internet, but I don't care lol. Also, paying in cash made it cheaper. I suggest cashing out your money before you leave to Korea at a bank because international fees are crazy expensive. I was able to get my surgery in on the same day but unfortunately I had to wait longer because I ate and drank water in the morning. I changed into a gown and washed my face. The whole clinic is very nice and luxurious. I didn't go into surgery until 3:40pm. Went into the surgery room and Dr. Seo drew lines on my eyes. I asked Dr. Seo if he could make it bigger because I read some people's double eyelid became hooded and if I'm paying thousands of dollars for plastic surgery then I want to go all out! But he was like "No no not natural" so I was like "uhh okay." I laid on the bed, the nurses strapped my legs and arms. Nurses were prepping all the other stuff. The doctor started poking my eyelids and the last thing I remember before knocking out was him saying "Don't worry, just design" multiple times. Then I KO'd.
Then next thing I know, I was seeing weird colors and patterns. I saw mostly dark orange. And then I realized I was in surgery! I woke up to myself saying random stuff to the nurses like "my friends in America love BTS" LOL. The doctor was already working on my eyes. I couldn't help but say weird stuff because of the drugs and the doctor had to keep shh'ing me. I felt like the doctor was working on my left eye the most but I'm not sure if I was asleep while he was working on my right eye. He also made me open and close my eyes 10 times, I counted. Every time he asked me to open and close my eyes, he worked on my eyes for a few minutes. It lowkey hurt, I could feel the burning and cutting. My eyes were numb but I could feel it. I think my numbness was going away a few times (probably because I ate in the morning and it made the drugs wear off faster) because it would kind of hurt at times. 2/10 pain. I also felt a lot of liquid going down the sides of my face, I wasn't sure if it was my tears, blood, or solution. The procedure was very long, I came out at like 5:55pm so the surgery was about 1.5ish hours. I was still very woozy and needed the nurses to hold me up until I got to my hospital bed. I rested for about an hour and they gave me more IV fluid. The IV fluid made me nauseous and I couldn't eat after the surgery. When we got home, I took medicine, put an ice pack on my eyes, and knocked tf out. Didn't brush my teeth or shower or change out of my clothes. I woke up around 11pm still feeling a little disoriented but had enough energy to shower and knocked out again.
I wasn't able to have a good sleep that night, I woke up every 2 hours. My eyes felt sore. I woke up at 5:30am. Went to the clinic again at 10am, got an IV fluid, cleaning (the nurses were not gentle with my eyes), and a laser treatment. The IV fluid made me feel nauseous again so I didn't eat after. I walked around Gangnam to help the swelling go down. Came home at 4pm, showered, ate a little bit, knocked out. For a few days after the surgery I was super tired which was a bummer because I wanted to sight see and eat yummy food. I went to the clinic again on September 2, 2019 for a cleaning and to get my outer stitches out. On September 4, I got all my stitches out.
During this whole process, I was taking all of my medication and ointment as recommended. The medication helped with the pain. The ointment helped with my itchiness. I wore sunglasses the first few days but it got so annoying that I just walked around showing my crazy eyes because I didn't care what people thought of me, I'm never going to see them again so lol.
It's been a little over a month since my surgery and I love them! I have double eyelids now! For a couple of weeks, my eyes were deswelling unevenly but now it's starting to even out! I'm still trying to figure out how to do my makeup now. Before my surgery, I would put on so much eyeshadow to create a cut crease and big lashes. Now, I just use a little but of eyeshadow and a thin line of eyeliner. Makes my makeup process so much easier. My swelling and bruising has recovered faster than I thought! I barely had any bruising, just in my inner corners. Overall, good experience and I would recommend MVP. I would also like to say the nurses at MVP were superrrr nice and accommodating! They comforted me throughout the whole process and I appreciate their work.
Here are some pics!

 

[fortunecat]

Oh my!
Your eyelids are looking good!

 

[missorange]

@honeycrush wow you flew from Washington to Seoul! I visited Seattle last month. Your Korean aunt must have been a tough ajumma negotiator! That price you paid is super low! I hope Dr Seo did not mind as he really is the best. You write really well. Enjoyed reading your account and love your b&a photos! Love seeing Dr Seo work his magic on eyes! Mine are still looking fab at 3.5 years on! Well done on choosing the best and most reasonable for des in Seoul! You are now a Seo Angel too!

 

[missorange]

Hi @honeycrush I see you have dyed your hair too. Looks fab. Have you looked at eyebrow tattooing? In the UK it costs a lot ie £495 but in korea it is around $200. How much is it in Washington? From your b+a photos, eyebrow tattoo would enhance your new eyes. Just a thought.