I had laser surgery (Ultralasik Plus) a month ago at the Hammersmith clinic with Mr Gupta. Before that, my prescription was -6 in one eye and -6.25 with astigmatism in the other eye, so I couldn't leave the house without either glasses or lenses.

I found Ultralase very professional, and their customer service was excellent (I'd also gone for a consultation with Optical Express but found them too pushy).

I was really nervous just before having it done but, as most people have said, it doesn't hurt - the only uncomfortable part was the feeling of pressure when they did my left eye. (And don't worry about asking someone to hold your hand, as I did!)

Afterwards, their literature said that patients would be taken to the "post-treatment lounge" but instead I was taken to the general waiting room, which I thought was a little disappointing. After having surgery and paying so much money, I'd have appreciated a private place to lie down and recover for 15 minutes, rather than a seat in a room where anyone could walk in from the street. In fact, I decided not to go to another (cheaper) clinic partly because of that reason, so it was a little annoying!

A bit of advice: try bringing some mints with you, as you can taste the eye drops they give you in the back of your throat and they're really bitter!

Once I got home, I rested for most of the evening, in between applying eye drops (I found it very useful having someone else to put in my eye drops the first few times). I'd been preparing myself for pain, but there was very little discomfort at all. In fact the most uncomfortable part of the day was sitting in the air-conditioned waiting room after I'd had surgery and feeling cold!!

The next day was great - I could read car number plates, and when I got back to the clinic they said I had 20-20 vision! I was on a real high that day and kept exclaiming at the things I could see - passers-by must have thought I was mad.

Since then it's become obvious that while my left eye is great, my right eye isn't so good - everything looks darker through it, things are more blurred, there's still astigmatism, and also haze/starbursts around lights. I was hoping this eye would catch up with the left eye, but so far it's not happened. So be prepared for the chance that you might end up with different vision in both eyes.

But overall, I'm really glad I had it done. I feel more confident without glasses, and it's great not to have the inconvenience and discomfort of lenses. And getting rid of the glasses I'd had to wear since I was nine was a wonderful moment!