I had epi-lasek treatment at Bristol Optimax on Clare Street, a lady surgeon from South Africa who was very nice and friendly. Very reassuring. I would recommend her.
Feedback for everyone out there to help you and your decision making/preparation:

- Do your own research, and weigh up your own thoughts. It's very important to consider your personality type in terms of how you deal with change, and whether you're a worrier or if you're quite easy-going. The reason I say this is because there is a lot of pain and discomfort after the surgery anaesthetic wears off, and it's so easy to keep thinking, is this ok, should my eyes be feeling like this etc etc.

Recommendations:
- Have someone pick you up and take you home as soon as the surgery is finished. I had to wait for a friend for around 35 minutes and by then the anaesthetic was wearing off and the lights were so so bright!
- Get yourself some audio books to listen to or good radio programmes scheduled in that you can listen to. I was in a dark room for three days as the lights were so painful. I slept on and off for two days and I found listening to the audio tapes kind of helpful and a good distraction.
- I had my surgery on a thursday morning, then was back in work after 11 days. I found computer work hard going when I got back, and had to have my screen adjusted as you do become temporarily long sighted for a while.
- I wouldn't recommend driving on any long journeys for a while. It really tires your eyes out. I drove a 3 and a half hour journey 5 weeks after surgery, and my eyes did hurt a bit by the end.
- the lasek surgery isn't an over-night "miracle-style" experience. It take a while for the eyes to heal. My right eye is still not 20:20 vision, but I am happy to accept that my eye is still healing, and will take a while.
- Your eyes will continue to feel tired late at night and first thing in the morning when you get up, that's completely normal.

The surgery is fine, not a problem at all. It's not that you have to worry about. You just have to prepare well for the after-care, and don't plan too much in for the near future. I could hardly open my eyes each morning, and the first 3 days were just horrible. But each day after that got a little easier. I'm so happy not to wear contact lenses any longer!!!

- I had my surgery while I had a cold, and I was told afterwards that I was taking longer to heal than your average person. I would recommend that you are in full health when you have the surgery so that you are fighting fit enough to heal well.

- Remember, everyone's capability to heal is very different, ane each person can have a different experience of surgery and the ability to heal well. I had a good experience but that doesn't necessarily mean that everyone will. It's really important for you to weigh up the risks for yourself.

Cath