I have had my first consultation with Mr Gartry on the 27/10/04 and I am going for my wavefront scan tomorrow and my surgery will be on the 1st November.

My prescription is Hyperopic (+2.25 Sph, +1.5 Cyl in both eyes) and I am 23 years old.

The initial consultation cost £150 but was worth it, as many of the other companies (rather than hospitals or independent surgeons) hold your consultation with a specialist rather that your actual surgeon... In my mind it is always best to meet the person who is going to be responsible for correcting your vision. You first go for an eye exam with a standard eye doctor who takes your prescription and measures the thickness of your cornea and the pressure in your eyes (all totally painless and far less intrusive than putting contact lenses in). He then applies dilating drops to your eyes which inhibit your ability to focus. These take about 15 mins to work and as soon as they are ready you go in to see Mr Gartry. He was superbly confident (but not arrogant) and answered every single question I asked him in a way that was very easy to understand. Before seeing him I had already decided to go for wavefront surgery, as far as I am concerned when it comes to my eyes I am not going to spare any expense. He confirmed that this was probably the best way of thinking.

My No.1 tip would be to take someone with you. You will not be able to read the questions you take with you, and simpler things such as train times etc. would be very tricky.

No.2 is to take a list of questions. I wrote down questions as soon as I thought of them and compiled a long list for him to answer. If you don’t write them down I guarantee you will not remember them all as there is so much information swimming around your mind!

I will add another post in a week or two letting you know how the surgery went. Please feel free to e-mail me to ask any questions on the procedure or questions I asked etc. (Just click on my name in blue at the top)