Consultation & surgery at Aberdeen Branch.
I Didn’t really think much about the procedure until I arrived on the day. Any nerves that I had were put to ease by the staff. The entire procedure was a breeze and I was ready to leave in just over 1 hour.
You are taken into a small room and drops are placed in your eyes and the post op drop regime is explained very clearly to you. During this time, the person in front of you is getting ‘zapped’ and you can hear it. The whole operation is like a production line, however at no point do you feel like just another person in the chain – the staff are keen and willing to spend extra time with each person to talk further on any issues or answer any questions you may have, you never feel like you are being rushed.
After the anaesthetic drops are placed in your eyes and they take effect, you are taken through to the procedure room and asked to lie on a chair similar to that in dentists. On each side of this chair are the devices that perform the procedure. First up, you are positioned under the machine that cuts the flaps in your eyes. I felt no pain during this part of the procedure, only some discomfort with the application of the cup that holds your eyelids open and applies pressure to the eye prior to the cutting of the flaps. After these are cut, you are swivelled over to the next laser to do the rest. A loud clicking noise can be heard along with a slight smell of singed hair as it does its stuff. For me it felt like seconds for each eye and it was all over. The surgeon repositioned the flaps and I sat up. My vision was cloudy & blurry but I was told this was normal. I was taken through to the recovery room and my vision got progressively worse until I got to a point where I could only see light and dark with no discernable resolution whatsoever. This worried me a bit, and I mentioned this to someone who came in to see how I was doing. Again, the member of staff (not sure who she was) reassured me that this was Ok, and not to worry. I was then seen by the surgeon, who checked everything out and said I was ready to go.
After being collected by my wife who was somewhat hacked off because she thought she would have had 3 hours shopping available instead of the 1 it took for me to be finished, I had to be driven home. This took just under a couple of hours, during which my blurred vision improved. After a couple of hours sleep, I could see the clock in my room, but it was still blurred – panic stations, I was worried that things didn’t work etc. etc. etc.....However as the evening went on my eyesight began to improve significantly.
I went back today for my next day check up and everything is fine. My eyesight is well above that required to be able to drive, and well above the best that my glasses ever gave me. My right eye is pin point perfect; my left is not quite as good (although better than pre surgery) but is getting better each hour. I am experiencing slight hazing / glare around lights, especially when driving but I had this before and I understand that things will improve in the months to come.
Would I do it again and spend what could effectively pay for a couple of weeks in the sun having a right good party?? – Of course I would. And I would recommend the same to anyone.
All of the staff have been brilliant from the first consultation, right through to the after care support. The procedure is painless, although uncomfortable for the first day. Let’s not forget that your eyes are cut open and lasers are fired into them to reshape them before being sealed up again. Considering what has been done, it’s remarkable and I only wish that I could have afforded it earlier in my life. Different people heal at different speeds and have different pain thresholds, so for some it might be painful and /or might take longer to achieve good results, however I can only express how easy it was for me and how happy i am with the results, and I tend to be a big girls blouse when it comes to pain and real grouchy and critical at every opportunity.
Well worth it.