I had my eyes treated six days ago by Mr Bruce Allan at Moorfields. I had been considering eye surgery for seven years (!!) and eventually decided that, although Moorfields was twice the price of the Laser Surgery centres advertising on Satellite, the opportunity to be treated by the person who might end up fixing you up if it goes wrong elsewhere was worth the extra cost. I certainly don't regret a penny that I have spent!

My prescription was -6.5 right eye and -6 left eye, which means you can't see a lot really. I was quite concerned that I would not be able to have the surgery as I have dry eyes (and have had to cease wearing contact lenses because of this). I felt that if I went to one of the other clinics, who don't charge for the initial appointment, they might be more keen to do the surgery on me to get their money back. Not sure about this, but I felt that it was better to pay to see Mr Allan the going rate for his time, and for him to decide on the basis of clinical results only.

So, anyway, I went to see him, having had to wait almost three months for an appointment. The John Saunders Suite at Moorfields is a comfy waiting room (that's about it). I was amused to find that several people had self-referred, hoping to have it done on the NHS. No luck for them! The receptionists seemed rather used to giving people the bad news, that bilateral LASIK would cost best part of £3,000.

Anyway, various tests were done on my eyes, a sort-of topographical map was produced to show the shape of my cornea. I had medium astigmatism and was glad to hear that this could also be treated. I then saw Mr Allan and discussed my dry eyes problem. He checked me for something called Marfans Syndrome (sticking out eyes and loose joints can be symptoms, which I have, but did not have the syndrome itself); I felt this showed the importance of seeing a proper ophthalmic surgeon - would a "consultant" salesperson have known about this? Perhaps.

Anyway, Mr Allan said I would be fine to have the treatment. I had read up quite a lot on it and knew that potentially I might have to continue to use artificial tears for years to treat my dry eyes after LASIK, and we talked this through. In the end I decided that, having been fully informed of the risks (the paperwork they give you is about 8 pages of what can go wrong!!) that it was worth a go.

How right I was! I could have been treated a fortnight from that date, but delayed it a further month due to diary crowding. I was told to take four days off work, the Tuesday of the surgery and up to the Friday afterwards when I would have my follow-up appointment. On Monday night as I sat down to my evening meal I had a call from the LASIK team to say the Laser had been serviced and had a "glitch" and so they would have to put me off until Wednesday. Was quite happy to think that they weren't operating with a dodgy laser, and I hadn't got all that psyched up for it at that point.

Wednesday came, I wandered it for 9am and left at 10:30am with my shades on. Others have talked about what it was like; all I will say is it isn't a particularly nice experience (not something you'd do for fun), but is over pretty quickly and doesn't hurt. When I got up off the chair I couldn't see very well at all and was initially worried as I'd read lots of reports where people say they had fantastic vision immediately. Mr Allan reassured me that it'd slowly come to me.

I was given masses of different drops to take away and told to try and rest with my eyes shut for six hours. I could open them to see as I got on the train, etc, but had to try and shut them as much as possible to aid healing. It's interesting walking through London, hailing a taxi, getting on trains etc with your eyes shut (my husband was with me to help). It makes you realise how difficult it must be for blind people, and that other people assume you can see, even if you're wearing colossal dark shades on a dull day in November. Made me realise that I had actually risked a very precious gift (sight) by having the treatment, but then I knew that anyway.

I rested at home with Radio 4 and after the six hours was up, got up and went about as normal. It felt completely pain-free, no grittiness, just the sort of "I've had my contact lenses in too long" feeling. I had to take 3 different drops every hour for the first day but these were OK, didn't sting or anything.

I went back on the Friday for the quick consultation with Mr Allan who was very happy. Had a very quick eye test which involved me reading whatever lines i could from the letters board. With my left eye I could read the bottom row, with my right the second from bottom row; with my glasses I had been able to read the first from bottom. That was two days after the surgery and it might improve further; in fact, my left eye has become less sharp now, but I can still see very well with both eyes. Can watch TV, read the video clock, use the computer etc with no ill effects. Driving at night is a bit scary due to star effects but I know these will quieten down, and I had them with contact lenses before when they were dry anyway.

One thing I am having to do extra because of my dry eyes is to put special drops in at night. I sleep with my eyes open (weird) which means they were really dry the first two nights, despite wearing the bizarre eye-protecting goggles. So Mr Allan suggested I get some lacri-lube and put that in at night. It appears to be basically paraffin and a few other bits that go IN your eye, and means the world becomes blurry and when you wake up in the morning you've look like you've smeared vaseline all round your eyes. But it means my eyes are moist in the morning, although for the first hour or so life's a bit blurry.

Am I glad I had it done? Absolutely! From -6 vision (i.e. you can't function without glasses) to near-perfect vision, it's like a miracle. I was evaluating how much I would have spent to get this result, if it were guaranteed. I reckon easily £10,000; I'm only 31 and I have years and years of benefit (hopefully). The £3,000 charge was excellent value for money and, for me, the chance to have it done at Moorfields very much helped my peace of mind.