Being 62 years old I was originally disappointed to learn, after my original assessment, that I would need reading glasses afterwards - swapping distance glasses for reading ones didn't seem like such a good deal.However, some months later I decided to go ahead - after all, reading glasses are a lot cheaper and wearing glasses indoors less hassle than out and about. My surgery was with Mrs Mcgraw in Southampton. The procedure was painless and straightforward, although somewhat stressful, not least trying to keep ones eyes totally still. The staff were generally helpful although on arrival I was parked in front of a television for half an hour with no further information - not good when you're apprehensive prior to the procedure. Also, during my pre-op discussion with Mrs Mcgraw she went into the benefits of alternative procedures such as corneal implants, Wavefront, etc. - but at that stage it's really much too late to be reconsidering one's decision - the discussion would have been much more helpful at an earlier consultation. (I was also told by an ophthalmologist who I had to see pre-op to eliminate a retinal patch which Optical Express had found that the benefit would be dubious at my age as cataracts increase after age 60, but again I had not been warned of this in previous consultations, and feel I should have.)
Immediately post-op I had almost no after-effects such as pain, stinging, watering or photophobia, so consider myself fortunate there. My post-op course was also very straightforward and I didn't need to use the drops at all after a couple of weeks.
I'm now over 3 months post-op, with vision in one eye down to the bottom line of the chart and in the other to the line above. I'm told one eye is often better than the other although I would have thought that after laser surgery they might usually be the same! So generally the result is very good, with excellent daytime vision. However, halos and starbursts at night are rather more pronounced, which I was not warned about (I know Wavefront eliminates these, but I thought that related to pre-existing ones). Fortunately I do not drive at night very often. I'm told they may yet improve, but I will be surprised if they do.
Follow-up was good, although on Day One the optomotrist seemed unclear as to what procedure I'd had and at another they weren't sure when I'd had my surgery. So record-keeping could be better.
All in all, speaking as a doctor, I'm well pleased with the result and have no regrets, and wish I'd had the surgery sooner. It remains to be seen if the residual halos will resolve and how long I will retain the benefits of surgery before cataracts eliminate them.