I went to Dr Ayoubi at Southampton in June for my consultation, having purchased through e-bay. My eyes were L -1.75 R -3.00. I had pretty much decided that I wanted lasik on both eyes. However Dr Ayoubi recommended I went for Epi-Lasek on my right eye only, as this was very much my dominant eye, and have monovision. Monovision is usually recommended for older people, and I am only 28, but he felt this would suit me very well, and would hopefully mean I would not need reading glasses when I was older. This worked out far cheaper than I had expected, which gave me confidence that he was not just trying to flog the most expensive treatment. He also recommended that I did not have wavefront, as this would not make much difference in my case.

I was rather floored by being told that the treatment I had thought I wanted was not what he was recommending. I had been booked in for treatment two weeks later, but having spoken with my usual optician who advised that it could take three months to get used to monovision and some people never got used to it, I deferred the appointment by three months to think about it. I then tested monovision for the next three months using contact lenses, deciding that it would suit me, but it did take a couple of months to get used to.

The treatment was very much as described by everyone else on this site - pain free and straightforward. My husband came with me, and looked after me for the first 24 hours. Even though I had only one eye treated, both eyes closed up for 24 hours. Opening the untreated eye caused pain in the treated eye, so I just kept them closed. The sedatives were great!

I had thought my sight was improving, but when the bandage contact lense was removed it took a step backwards, but I was told this was quite normal. However even though I had been using my drops that night I woke with my eyeball stuck to my eyelid, and must have ripped off the healing cells when I tried to open the eye. This was far worse that the pain just after treatment, and had to get out the anesthetic drops in order to get back to sleep. I was having severe dry eye problems, and at my next appointment was given eye gel to use before bed, which sorted the problem.

I was not able to drive for three weeks, which may have been due to the damage to the cells when they were ripped off. My vision improved gradually day by day, and this week, two months after treatment, my vision in my treated eye is now better than 20:20, and I am thrilled. The dry eye problem has also gone away, although I keep the refresh drops handy just in case.

It has taken a long time, and I had concerns that I was going to end up disapointed, particularly after reading reviews where people were driving after three days. Bear in mind that it can take quite some time to get the final results, and don't be pressured into anything you are not sure about. I did not like the way your treatment date was booked before you had even had your consultation, although they were very good about putting it off for three months, and there certainly was no pressure from Dr Ayoubi. Finally, if you have decided you do want to use Optimax, buy it through e-bay. It may seem daft, but if you have already made your mind up that you are using them why pay more than you have to! I paid £477 and that would not go far on contact lenses and glasses!