Thought I'd wait for 2 months after the procedure to give everything a chance to settle down. Here's my story.

Am 38 now and had worn specs & contact lenses since age 9. Had -5.25/-5.75 prescription so was pretty

short-sighted. I Hated taking the kids swimming as I couldn't see anything. Getting up for the baby in the middle

of the night entailed the fumbling around for the specs ritual an then looking at the digital clock 2 feet away to

see what time it was.

I Went to Optical Express in Newcastle in mid-July for the consultation.Everything looked ok so booked for Lasik

the following week. Unfortunately, came down with conjuntivitis the next day (my kids had had it recently) so had

to postpone the procedure. Glad I did, 'cause it gave me more time to do some research which made me think Lasek

might be the better option. I was -5.25/-5.75 so could choose either option. As I figured it, Lasik introduces a

potential weakness into the eye (the flap) and the list of post-op complications seems longer than with Lasek. I

figured the extra few days healing and discomfort with Lasek would more than make up for the lower risk.

Trying to reschedule was problematic as I must say Optical Express's phone system is poor - the direct line to the

laser clinic sent me to a message telling me that extension was unavailable, and requests via the switchboard to

call me back went unanswered. Eventually got the mobile no. of the laser counsellor and re-established contact. I

have seen others comment on the poor communication : OE please take note!

I went in for the procedure on 21 August. My brother had Lasek done two weeks earlier and ended up with 6/4 vision

(bottom line of the chart), so that was encouraging.

Dr Eve sent me downstairs for a final eye-pressure check and fields test as my pressure readings had been high the

previous time. No change on the pressure readings, and another 100% score on the fields test so they decided I just

had slightly high eye pressure (they were looking for a change in pressure). Decided it was safe to go ahead. Asked

Dr Eve whether to go for Lasik or Lasek. He agreed with me that as I could have either I might as well go for the

one with the lower risk of post-op problems, so I chose Lasek.

Took the valium and felt relaxed. Then someone came in and said the computer controlling the laser had crashed and

they couldn't reboot it. Had to reschedule for Thursday 26th: no problem - everyone in the room was on valium and

so was very calm! :-)

Went in again on Thursday 26th. Took another valium. Went to have my eyes numbed. Felt strange putting my specs in

their case for the last time! I think they should hold a little memorial service there and then! Having worn specs

for nearly 30 years it seemed like an important milestone. Anyway, the preparation was fine. I then went into the

treatment room and sat in the chair. Actually, it was fine. I rather enjoyed it - certainly less discomfort than a

trip to see the dental hygienist. All the eyedrops were painless. Sticking open the eyelids was painless. The

alcohol to soften the epithelium was fine. Scraping away the epithelium was pain-free. The lasing itself didn't

give any sensation. Putting back the epithelium and inserting the contact lens bandage was also totally pain-free.

The really enjoyable part was the 1960s-style psychedelic light show you get during all the furtling about with

your eye: a bit like one of those Windows Media Player visualisations!

Following the op Dr Eve took me for a quick checkup and then I was talked through the rucksack of eyedrops that you

take home. My dad picked me up and I went to Boots for a pair of sunglasses.

When I got home I went to bed. I dozed for a while until I was awakened by sever discomfort in both eyes. They were

both streaming with tears and felt like someone had poked them with a stick (which, I suppose, they had). I took

one dose of the emergency painkiller drops, but that made no difference. It wasn't really painful so I just stuck

it out. It took about 2 hours to settle down. I remained very light sensitive for a couple of days, but I didn't

need to take any of the emergency drops again; I took an unopened phial back to OE on my next checkup. I had no

pain at all.

Over the following week my vision came in much clearer. After 4 days I went in for a checkup. The left contact lens

was taken out but the right one was left in as that eye was healing more slowly. I went in 4 days after that to

have the right one taken out. At the first check up I had about 6/6 vision in my left eye and about 6/7 in the

right. At the second checkup (when the other bandage was taken out) I had got down to about 6/5 or 6/4 in the left

and 6/6 in the right. Three weeks later they were both clocking in somewhere between 6/5 and 6/4 which is very

pleasing, though the right eye still seemed slightly less sharp than the left.

It's now about 7 weeks since the operation and my vision is great. I am still getting dry eyes a bit (this is more

pronounced at night); sometimes very early in the morning they sting as the eyelid sticks to the eyeball (ouch!).

This is getting better and I expect it to have improved even more by my 3 month checkup next month.

The only problem I am really noticing is that I am finding some shops with very bright halogen lights and colourful

displays make me dizzy and headachy. I went into Stationery Box two Wednesdays running and after looking at the

wall of pens and highlighters came out feeling very woozy. I think that after nearly 30 years of focusing with

corrective aids my eyes are just having to get used to different muscle movements. I will mention it to the

optician at my next checkup if it's still a problem then.

So, all said, was it worth it? Yes. With Lasek you don't get the instant results that Lasik brings, but I am more

reassured knowing that my eye doesn't have a structural weakness in it (the Lasik flap), so my eyes will me more

tolerant of knocks and blows; having a young baby in the house makes you conscious of such things as they do tend

to poke and scratch your eyes. Actually, since the surgery I have managed to poke myself in the right eye three

times and the baby scratched it once and there are no ill effects. I was expecting to feel a greater sense of

freedom than I do, but I think psychologically I still think I'm wearing glasses or contact lenses. I went to play

golf on Saturday and at the first tee found myself trying to push my glasses up the bridge of my nose!

The staff at Optical Express were great and very helpful. If only they could get their phone system sorted out.