For anyone out there considering having laser eye surgery, I cannot recommend Julian Stevens and Moorfields enough. I had Wavefront Lasik laser eye surgery in October 2009 after having thought about it on and off for the previous few years. The final push for me to get it done is that I’m going travelling around the world in May and don’t wish to carry contact lenses with me and deal with the hassle of using them every day, however I wish now I’d had it done when I first considered it.

I booked an appointment with Julian Stevens as I knew 6 other people who had been to him and spoke very highly of their experiences. From the initial consultation to the follow up appointment 3 months after the surgery I was looked after in a highly professional manner.

For those interested in further details about the procedure itself: after putting covers over your shoes and hair and having anaesthetic drops put in your eyes, you’re led into a room with the machines and lay down on a chair a bit like a dentists chair. The most uncomfortable bit is when the machine is used to create the ‘flap’, but all it feels like is suction on your eye and it doesn’t hurt in the slightest. After that’s been done on each eye (lasts less 10 seconds per eye), Julian then does something to your eye (sorry this isn’t very specific but because you’re only aware of light and dark and cannot ‘see’ properly I’m not sure exactly what he did!) and moves the laser machine over your eye. You’re then asked to concentrate on a red flashing light whilst the laser works – again this lasts for about 20-30 seconds per eye and you don’t feel anything. After this Julian puts eye drops in and does something else – again not sure exactly what – and that’s pretty much it! After sitting up I could instantly tell I could see better than before, albeit through soft focus vision. You’re given all the aftercare instructions and drops before leaving.

The main piece of advice I would give is to have someone come with you to help you get home. I hadn’t been bothered about someone coming with me, but my sister insisted and I was very glad she did. About half an hour after the surgery was completed I became very sensitive to the sunlight with my eyes stinging slightly – even with sunglasses on I didn’t want to open my eyes and she helped me navigate the bus and train home! This lasted for about 4-6 hours gradually getting better every hour that passed, but did mean putting the eye drops in myself was quite difficult over this time. This doesn’t necessarily happen to everyone – the next day when I went back for my initial follow up appointment and was in the waiting room (has to be the happiest waiting room!) not everyone had experienced this.

By the evening on the day of my surgery my eye sight was practically perfect and I haven’t looked back – it was confirmed when I went back for my 3 monthly check up that it’s now better than 20:20 vision!

Finally it is obviously quite expensive (I paid about £3.5k) and you can’t help but see adverts all over the place for £299 an eye, however I would recommend paying extra and going with Julian Stevens. It’s quick and painless, but most importantly the aftercare is fantastic and I now know 9 people (including myself) who have had no issues and now have perfect eyesight.