A Big THUMBS UP for Accuvision from me

Booked in for surgery last Thursday (6/12/07, 10:00 am) and I was a tad nervous - what if it all went wrong??? No need to worry though, the team at Accuvison in Solihull went through the procedure with me again, explained what would happen, re-tested my eyes and asked me if I was sure I wanted to go ahead and if I understood the possibilities of failure and how they would correct it if they didn't get it right first time. All very re-assuring.

When it came to my time for the op, they were all very friendly, talking to me all the way though it, making sure I was still breathing (!). It was the weirdest thing, having your eyelids clamped back, it going dark then light again then the smell of burnt eyeball (uuurgh!), followed by the soothing drench of cooling solution before the flap is flipped back and the protective lens is put in. All done in a couple of minutes per eye. Within 15 mins of going in I was sitting back up, and able to see, albeit a bit blurred and foggy to begin with. 15 mins waiting for things to stabilize, a quick but efficient check to make sure the flap was down straight with no wrinkles and that was it, I was free to go.

For the rest of the day I slept at home, and by teatime I was able to see quite clearly, although my close-up vision was pants. I was disappointed by this as before the op I was able to see to read very easily. Anyway, I carried on putting in the eye drops til bedtime. I had no pain, and no real discomfort - my eyes just felt like I had old contacct lenses in, kinda gritty but not painful.

The next day I woke up and I could see distance quite well, although it was a bit foggier than the night before. Still couldn't see to read properly though. Carried on with the drops, and toddled off for my check-up that afternoon. I could see well enough to drive.

Told them when I got there about the foggy vision and the way my eyes felt and Nick just flipped out the protective lenses and WOW, what a difference. All the fogginess disappeared, my close vision came back (although not as well as before) and distance vision was clear. What a wonderful feeling. My eyes were healing very well and when I did the eye-test I had better than 20/20 vision. Kewl!!

Each day since then it has got better and better and my close up vision is coming back. Nick explained that it will take a while for my brain to get used to things, but for me this is just about the best money I've spent in a long time. It was sheer joy being able to go and buy a pair of sunglasses!! :)

A big thank you to all at Accuvision in Solihull, especially Bernard Gastain (the Surgeon), Nick Daish and Vikash Patel (optometrists). If you're considering it I can highly recommend you have a chat with them, its a very pleasant experience dealing with professionals who put no pressure on you to buy their services, just explain it all clearly and let you make up your own mind.