Clinic - Bristol
Date of treatment - early March 05'

I first started needing to use corrective methods for my vision in the spring of 2004 – I was only suffering from mild short sightedness as a result of using VDU's/straining eyes in lecture theatres at Uni etc. I found that I did not like my appearance with glasses, which I also found heavy, despite paying above the odds for a pair of lightweight, frameless specs. I also struggled with the recommended soft monthly contact lenses. This is not directed against the optician who recommended them, but simply that I didn’t have the patience or time to use them as advised. Result of the contact lenses was a series of eye infections due to getting dust in them or not cleaning them thoroughly. I also had big problems putting them into my eye (found them too big) and as I am often on business all day, had to take my lenses out before I’d even got home some days. Not too easy when driving down the motorway (joke – always pulled over into service stations to do this!), but sometimes they could actually fall out in these situations.

Over Christmas 2004, I decided to do a bit of research and discussed in with my partner. She wasn’t keen on the option of laser surgery, but was open minded. I dropped the idea for the 1st month of 2005, and then my curiosity led me to look a bit more. I used the usual google/yahoo searches and came up with the Optic shop, who happened to have a branch close to work. Their appointment was with an optician, but was free of charge. So I thought “why not?” and went to book a session….

I was given a card listing all the web sites and this forum. This was my prime source of information and the testimonials from previous patients were good to see. Especially those that were less than complimentary – as this made me aware of the potential downsides to treatment. I my humble opinion, if you go in with your eyes open (sorry for the pun), then you will have realistic expectations of what your outcome will be.

I had my Optic shop consultation and they were able to answer all my queries reasonably, although those medical-specific queries were less easily answered. There was no sales-push and all the members of staff were professional and courteous. Be warned – take a very dark pair of specs with you. I had my tests done in early march and was struggling in the sunlight after I left the clinic!

Armed with the knowledge that my eyes were suitable, I now wanted a second opinion and was willing to pay to speak to a qualified surgeon. Optimax offered this service at their Bristol clinic and through the forums on this web site, I found a discussion topic on a special offer. By now, I’d decided that epi-Lasek was the way forward for my small-time football career, and their special offer of £595 for both eyes made me look twice! I looked on ebay, and there it was. Rang up Optimax just to check and by the end of the conversation, I’d booked myself in for a consultation, with optional surgery, at that price.

On the day (I was called 24hrs in advance to move my appointment forward - which I was able/happy to do), I spent about an hour with the Surgeon discussing the options, the procedure, the potential side-effects and pitfalls. All of this in front of the slightly worried but slightly intrigued girlfriend! Another set of tests were conducted with the optician, a set of consent forms filled in (I’d decided to go ahead with the process) and then a 30 minute wait followed.

Next I was called into the surgery and shown the equipment and asked a couple of questions. Next thing I knew, I was on the operating chair (like a dentist’s really) and the op started. I can’t say I enjoyed having the eyes clamped open – especially not the 2nd time round, but the rest of the process is pretty comfortable. I just thought of the fun I was going to have walking the hills and on holiday in a months time…. It took just over 30 seconds per eye for the actual surgery. (YES, it is surgery and it can go wrong…). You get a slight “burnt hair” smell emanating from the eye and it goes blurry, but no pain was felt. As I said before, the 1st eye is a walk in the park, but as you know what to expect by the time the 2nd eye is done…. No pain, but I didn’t enjoy having eye no 2 clamped open!

Then the patches are taped on and you are put on the arm of your companion and carted off to the carpark, wondering why all these people outside are staring at you (now I know how people with permanent disfigurement feel – and I chose this). When I got back to the car, I wolfed my “packed lunch” down and drank both bottles of fizzy drink before we left Bristol. Tip – if your helper is not too good with city driving, then do the route beforehand. It’s difficult to give directions when your eyes are closing up! I could actually see at this point, but the “bug mask” taped to my face, and the tears filling it distorted my vision so I couldn’t actually tell if anything had improved. I also couldn’t see where we were going, so the trip home couldn’t finish soon enough!

"No pain, no gain"
The dark room beckoned, and I didn’t leave it for the next 2 days. I took the painkillers, the painkilling drops and the sleeping tablets on the first night. Not sure if the big glass of house red helped or not, but by 3hours post-surgery, I had a very deep and dull throbbing pain behind my eyes. This lasted until the following evening and although I did sleep a little, I wasn’t the best companion the next day. Even despite my best efforts to alienate the nursing staff, the other half kept up the supply of provisions, cold drinks and sympathy for the patient. By then though, any intrigue she’d had for the process was changed to worry for my very black eyes!

By the end of day 2, I’d removed my bandages and could open my eyes again. My vision had actually worsened! I wasn’t too worried about this as the surgeon had explained that this could happen and was part of the healing process. What was weirder was at night, it looked like there was a strong fog – but that was just the starbursting effect going on. By the end of day 5 my eyes were starting to settle down, and this had improved since the contact bandage lenses were taken out (painlessly, to my surprise). The night vision had recovered and my eyes were now coping with long-range targets, but struggling on short-vision and readjusting themselves. The starbursts had gone too and I was safe enough to be back in the car by the end of day 6. By about day 10 this was stabilising itself, and by day 15 my vision was picking up all round. From day 3 onwards, the improvement was rapid and striking. Tip - Optimax told me to make sure I had five days clear of obligations, and seven free of driving. This needs to be heeded for epi-Lasek, and it’s a good idea to budget for more.

From a fairly prescription of –1.75 and –2.25 I’d gone to -0.00 and +0.25. Maybe not perfect vision by the rulebook, but one that I am really happy with. My hope was to go back to driving standard and not to have to rely on my glasses/contacts to watch the cricket with. My hopes have been exceeded by far!

I had the surgery done in mid March of this year, and it’s now the start of June. I have just come back from Australia where I’ve been camping in the outback, diving the reef, out drinking round the clock in smoky bars etc. and the only slight problem I've had was on the outbound flight, where I suffered from dryness of the eyes. My tear drops helped that and it was a small price to pay for being able to see the coral and turtles on the reef!

If I was back at square one, then I’d do exactly the same. Find out as much as I can about the procedure. Talk to as many people as possible who’ve had it done/perform the ops. I would certainly recommend having two consultations too – this put my mind at rest if nothing else, as the answers were not dramatically different and both sets of companies pointed out the pitfalls as well as the advantages.

I can recommend the Bristol branch of Optimax, their well qualified surgical staff (long NHS record in opthalmics) and the admin staff, although do remember that one person’s golden result may be another person’s bitter disappointment. Get as much info beforehand and make a realistic/informed judgement. This has given me a new lease of life (it feels like that anyway) and I am now able to play football/go to the gym and actually see the opposition/television screen. I also don’t have the hassle of lenses, solutions and a constant struggle every morning to put these in. The cost of the surgery will have repaid itself in less than three years too.

In Hindsight then: As far as I’m concerned, this is the best money I’ve spent on healthcare or anything else for that matter (and I've just got back from a 2nd visit to Australia), as it’s an investment in my health, confidence and well-being. I hope my reasons/checks/experience will help others to make their own minds up. Viewing this website is probably one of the best ways of doing so and should be recommended by all providers of eye surgery (Optimax did not point me in this direction, but the Optical Shop did).