My initial consultation was at the Ultralase clinic in St Albans. I must say that all the staff there were great - knowledgeable and really did seem to take time to treat me like an individual.

The consultation sugested that, as my corneas were quite thin, I should go for LASEK. However, the details were sent to the surgeon who said that I should have Ultra LASEK PLUS (the most expensive).

Although I did book a time for my surgery, I had to postpone as I was going abroad for work. When I returned, my surgeon no longer came to St Albans - only to Hammersmith. As such I resceduled my surgery to be done at Hammersmith.

I had my surgery done a week agao - on the 18.6.05. I was the first one scheduled. As it was such a hot and humid day, the laser was not at the right humidity to operate properly, so we had to wait.

However, what this meant was that the surgeon spent about 5 mins with me in order to "catch up" with his work load. He waved away my questions, told me we could discuss later, had the nurse put drops into my eyes and THEN asked me to sign the consent form. Again I said that I had questions around the thickness of my cornea - he said that everything will be fine but if not, the operation to correct anything would not be possible. Obviously, I was feeling full of confidence and excitement!! The man didn't even respond to my "good morning" when I met him.

Before I knew what was going on, we were in the theatre, the laser did its thing, and the 'Dr' was away!

He was 'consulting' with another patient even before I had got off the bed.

I was also in a LOT of pain - I couldn't open my eyes at all. I was lead back into the waiting room - and not the post-op lounge they mention in the brochure, as there was nobody to staff the lounge. Nobody then came to ask how I was, if I needed anything, or why I was clutching my face!

Only when my friend came to pick me up and saw how I was, and only when she then told one of the nurses, did this 'Dr' come back. He went back into his room (i was supposed to follow - with my eyes shut!). When I got to his room, he put what felt like a bucket of anesthitic drops into my eyes and told me I would be fine.

The whole day and night was very uncomfortable. I had my post-op check the next morning at Hammersmith. Different doctor, same service. Apparently they only open on a Sunday if they had to - and clearly it was a particular burden for them. The chap had no time to answer any question or concerns. "Keep taking the pain killers" was his only comment.

I was very glad to go back to St Albans a week later. As always, they were all great.

When you spend £3000 and have something done to such a precious part of yourself, you want to feel as though the people you deal with actually care - that actually you are more to them than a new entry in their bank book.

My vision a week later is still blurred, but I have been assured that this will get better in time. Don't get me wrong - it is certainly better than before. I had a -3.5 prescription in each eye. But now I can see far better. Once the haze and blur goes, I will be over the moon.

But it is such a shame that I was made to feel the way I did - and to be honest, it scared me because I thought I had made such a bad mistake and had messed up my eyes.

I haven't heard or read a poor comment about Ultralase - and that's why I picked them. My advice - get to speak with your surgeon first.