I had laser surgery at Moorfield Eye Hospital on both eyes on Tuesday 25th March, 2003.

My surgeon was Mr Bruce Allan. I am in the early stages of adjustment but can report a very positive experience.

I thought that the pre-surgical testing & consultations were thorough & efficiently conducted with the surgeons being at pains to provide explanations & respond to questions. I raised an enquiry about pre-existing night vision problems & was referred for further tests before surgery was confirmed: Wavefront analysis. I believe that the data from this test was used at least in part in my eventual surgery.

Going in I had -3.75 vision in both eyes with an astigmatism in my left eye. The procedure is completely painless & surprisingly short. That said it is not something on which I would choose to reflect upon at any length. Main point is that it is of short duration & I felt absolutely no pain.

It is worth resting up immediately afterwards until the drops & procedure has settled. Get collected by a friend/ partner if you can as this will be one less thing to worry about.

I had surgery mid-morning & my vision was starting to come back by the early afternoon. It is a joy to be able to see vividly after years of dependency on contacts & spectacles.

By the next day I had good vision: car number plates; shop fronts; posters all seeming clearer than I had enjoyed for years. My eyes felt a residual tiredness though as if the adjustment was creating a bit of a strain.

My three day test was uneventful; I was clearly in excess of the standard required for driving & was also told that I would not require any further surgery to improve my vision. It was fun to race through the sight chart & make out rows that had previously been incomprehensible to me. The surgeon told me that my vision would shift about for several days after the surgery and that my eye tiredness was to be expected. I will revert with news & reflections on the next 5 weeks.

6 week test is the next assessment & I hope