I decided to look at laser surgery back in May. As I had been wearing hard c/l for 20 years I had to make the sacrifice of wearing glasses for a while! My first stop was Optimax in Leicester due to its location in my nearest city. I was advised that 3 weeks of non c/l wearing should suffice and so off I went. as the clinic had only just opened it was a little disorganised and I had to wait an hour to be seen. I was told that my corneas were too thin for lasik but I could have Epi-Lasek. However my corneas hadn't demoulded enough for a proper examination so had to wait another 3 weeks to see if I could have epi-lasek.
The lady I saw wasn't very helpful and I felt she was too bored to give me all I needed so decided to go to BUPA.
Again was told my corneas were too thin and advised to have lens implants. The consultant I was passed to gave me little information and wanted me to sign up after 5 mins, after telling me there were no risks. I was dubious of this advice and wondered whether the fact that England were playing that night had anything to do with his lack of time!
Next stop was a gentleman I found on the net who was independent and specialised in implants. He was great and went through ALL possibilities although he only performed implants. The risks he advised me of about implants put me straight off - glaucoma, cataracts, retina detachment etc.
Again I went back to the internet - whereupon I found a man who had thin corneas like me who had had lasik and it was successful; he had been to accuvision in Fulham. So I made an appointment (1st one that was free!) and decided to see LCRS in Harley St while I was down in the big city to make my trip worthwhile. LCRS specialise in cutting the eye so it then heals giving corrected sight (very much layman terms I know!). They said laser surgery was rubbish and had stopped performing it years ago - wasn't overly keen on having my eye cut and the fact that I could only have one eye done at a time and 3 months apart meant a very long process.
So back to Accuvision - very professional, very informative, very expensive. They could deal with my corneas and also told me I had large pupils (something no on else had mentioned), but this wasn't a problem. They went through the risks, dry eyes, halos, starburst etc but my main concern was that they couldn't make me blind!
After much research (think I may have done a little too much) I decided to book in.
I went in on my own (would recommend taking a friend), as I didn't want to inconvenience my rural friends and practised deep breathing to keep calm. Was laid down and my eyes were anaesthetised. A nurse offered me her hand to hold but I decided against it. I was asked to concentrate on a green light and my eye was clamped open. Then the uncomfortable part - pressure put on the iris to hold it in place and all goes black. At this point the nurse grabbed my hand - I think she was more nervous than me, so I decided to squeeze hard just to make her feel needed.
After that I felt nothing and breathed through my mouth as otherwise you can smell burning!
Then my left eye was done and as I knew what to expect it wasn't too bad.
You are then left to lie still for a few minutes (eyes shut of course) - by the way everyone speaks to you throughout so you don't feel 'left out'.
Then I was asked to sit up and open my eyes - I didn't want to but eventually I did only to see a man peering at me. I shut my eyes again as he was a little scary and then proceeded to cry! I don't think it was because I could see and certainly not because I was in pain, I think it was just relief that it was over.
After that you sit with eyes closed for 30 mins and then get checked over. I had a c/l put in place to help the cornea flap stay put and was told that it would actually make recovery less painful as well.
This all started at around 2.30 and I was in my hotel for 4pm. by 5pm I went to the bar (in my sunglasses), for medicinal purposes only, as I felt like someone had punched me in my right eye (left eye was fine). By 6pm I felt fine, no pain and I could see. You are advised to keep eyes closed as much as possible so I ordered room service and listened to the TV.
You have to tape eye shields on at night to stop you rubbing your eyes in your sleep, so when I woke up expecting the joy of being able to see the alarm clock I was disappointed, as all I could see was tape!
Not to worry, as soon as I had ripped off the tape my vision was pretty good - little fuzzy in right eye.
The clinic took out my c/l and said I was legal to drive, as I was 20/40.
I had to use steroid eye drops for the next week to keep infection at bay and also tear drops when necessary.
By the 2nd day my vision was good but fluctuated a little - nothing serious though. I went to a rugby match (obviously as a spectator) and could see well, went to the pub after and again all was well.
Went back for my week after consultation and was told I was 20/20 with room for improvement!
My eyes were only a little bloodshot after 10 days and I wasn't scaring children anymore (shame!)

To summarise - I'm glad I did it. It didn't really hit me that I could see unassisted until I went on holiday 6 weeks after treatment, without 2 pairs of glasses, contact lenses, solutions etc!

My details - was -4.00 and -5.00 with a slight astigmatism. Last visit I was -0.25 and +0.25 respectively. My corneas were 480 thicknesses and the flap was 80 and cornea removed was 67 and 84 respectively, so leaving more than the 250 recommended untouched.

Should anyone thinking of having this done want more details then please feel free to email me
catherine@cdns.co.uk