Visited the Brighton clinic on 2nd December 2006 for a consultation with the surgeon, Dr. Hoe, and opted for Epi-Lasek to both eyes (incl. 'wavefront') that same afternoon.

(I was a little concerned that being diagnosed with MS 8 years ago, I may be unsuitable for treatment, but this was fully discussed with Dr. Hoe, and no problems anticipated in my instance.)

I had the following week booked as leave, so that took care of any major urgency of recovery.

Well, I won't kid anyone - the op was unpleasant (but not painful) and the smell of burning flesh as my eyes were being treated was rather stronger than I expected !!

Immediately after the procedure (which only took a few minutes), both my eyes and nose were streaming profusely - like I had really bad hayfever?!!

Having been kitted out with painkillers, eye-shields, artificial tears, antibiotic eye-drops and steroid eye-drops, I was allowed to travel home by minicab (unaccompanied ...my choice) within about 20 minutes of the operation.

Once the local anaesthetic wore off, my eyes were tender to say the least (quite understandable in the circumstances) so the painkillers were most welcome.

Vision was very poor for about 2 days, and it was actually quite uncomfortable to open the eyes at all.

However, after 2 days of inconvenience, I started to become aware of how well my eyes were healing and saw glimpses of the joys to come.

Day 3 saw me returning to the clinic to have my 'bandage lenses' (fitted to offer a level of protection and aid in the recovery process) removed and getting around alone in an unfamiliar area was no problem, despite some minor lingering blurriness.

The recovery rate has been slightly different for each eye but returning for a check-up 17 days after the operation, my eyes were tested at slightly better than 20-20 each.

I had been wearing glasses or contact lenses for the preceeding 18 years and had a prescription of -3.00 & -3.25, with mild astigmatism in each eye.

I can't begin to describe the sense of freedom I am now enjoying and, as many other have already said, I wish I'd done this years ago.

For the sake of 2-3 days discomfort and inconvenience, the outcome is absolutely worth it a thousand times over.

The staff in Brighton have been so helpful and friendly, I can't thank them enough.

I have already had no hesitation in recommending treatment to friends, family and colleagues who have expressed even a passing interest ;-)