Accuvision Laser Eye Clinic

Op Date: 26th Feb 2004, Wavefront, £2900 total.

Now almost 2 weeks since my operation and I could not be happier. The pre and post op staff are excellent, always explaining everything well and ensuring I was happy with the process. Service on the day was more brisk, but I appreciated that as I didn't want to mess around. Some people may have expected more preparation on the day but I suspect that the team knew how I wanted to be treated and would take more time with some other patients.

The procedure was completely painless but at the same time was one of the horrific experiences of my life. I hate things touching my eyes so maybe it was worse for me but the array of clamps, tools and liquid that they put in your eyes was truly terrifying. Concentrating on the green light was very difficult while they are doing god knows what to your eye! You do smell burning flesh but that was the least of my worries.

Having said all that I could not be more pleased with the result. Vision has been excellent since the next day and has steadily improved over the last 2 weeks. I have always had dry eyes in the past and vision is not perfect when they get dry but a couple of drops solves that problem which is becoming far less frequent now. I can read most of the bottom line on an eye chart with both eyes together which I had not expected at all. Accuvision have been excellent all they way, I can not recommend them highly enough.

Operation Date 16/2/04.

I had an op booked with Maxivision through Optical Express but became increasingly concerned about the ability of the surgeons there to carry out the op. Their continuous backtracking and uncertainty led me to cancel the procedure. I then contacted Accuvision to whom I explained the situation and also that I had already booked time away from work for this operation. They promptly booked me in for a consultation at which my suitability for surgery was confirmed. My left eye already had better than 6/5 vision but my right eye was an unaided 6/21 and at best corrected 6/7.5-2 with a prescription of +3.25 increasing to +6.25 with the eye relaxant drops inserted. I am 37 and this imbalance had been in place all my life, but for quite important personal reasons I needed this correcting as best as possible. The surgery aimed to correct 4 dioptres of vision and was completely painless. There wasn't even the degree of discomfort during the procedure that I was told to expect. Following the op I rested and returned the next day for a check-up. The op had exactly corrected 4 dioptres and I was able to read to 6/7.5 unaided. During the following week I discontinued the use of the antiseptic drops as directed and found no need for the artificial tears as my eye felt completely normal. At the 1 week follow-up appointment the surgeon was unable to even detect where the flap had been taken from my eye such was the level of healing and precision of the replacement of the flap following the op. Amazingly I could now even pick out some of the letters on the 6/6 eye chart which showed that my vision had been corrected to a degree I never expected to achieve. From being unable to recognise faces and all but the largest of newspaper headlines I can now read the small print on a bottle of eye drops and write this email using my right eye. My vision has been corrected to a degree I never expected possible and I would recommend Accuvision to anybody considering lasik surgery.

13 months post-op – having purposely left my comments until now I can honestly say that I am ecsatic with the results. My vision was -3.00 in one eye and -3.25 in the other. I chose the monovision option so that I can put off needing reading glasses for as long as possible. I am 39. I now have 20 – 20 vision, my night vision is perfectly fine and I wake up every morning so thankful that I can see clearly out of the window without having to put on specs. I can only suggest to anyone considering surgery that they don't let money be an issue, do as much research as poss to know what the procedure actually does, listen very carefully to
what you're advised is a realistic outcome at consultation and follow post-op instructions to the letter. Accuvision's level of professionalism and patient care surpassed all my expectations, thank you so much!

15 months post-op – I keep meaning to post comments on this site because I remember when I was investigating the surgery that I found it very frustrating that hardly anyone posts comments after a year or more after their surgery. The reason I haven't done yet is that my vision is so good that I forget about all the frustrations I used to have with glasses and contact lenses.

For a brief history of my prescription and operation see my posting of 27th Nov 2002 on page 10. Suffice it to say, I had very bad eyesight.

I now have 20/20 vision using both eyes in good conditions. Night vision is fine. I notice a difference when I am very tired and in low light, but much better than it was with contact lenses when they would dry out. At first after the surgery I worried constantly about protecting my eyes and whether I had made the right decision or not. I now only worry occasionally and for the most part really enjoy having 'normal' vision. I know Accuvision are expensive and other clinics are hopefully catching up on the technology, but when I had my surgery done, they were the best. They don't have a 100% success rate, but no surgery does. It is a decision that only the individual can make and it really is their responsibilty. My advise would be to wait as long as you can to have the surgery done as there are no long term examples of lasik surgery. If you feel you must have it done, do your eyes a favour and find the best clinic you can regardless of the money as you only have one pair of eyes, but you can buy another pair of glasses if they break.

Don't forget, I am very happy with my results, but I might not have been.

Good luck. Please e-mail me with any questions.

I had Lasik at Accuvision in January 2003, with a relatively high prescription of -6.75R and -5.25L. I had previously been to Boots who turned me down due to my high prescription and corneal thickness. I had seen on this web site the claim that Accuvision could treat people turned down by other clinics so I contacted them and was informed that they would be able to treat my prescription.

Due to my age, I was advised to have monovision (one eye slightly
under-corrected) which would enable me to continue to read without the need for glasses as it seemed silly to replace one pair of glasses with another.

Accuvision were extremely professional throughout. Everything was fully explained and I went for my consultation having already sought out as much information as possible so I would know what to ask about. They were very patient and quite happy to answer my numerous questions.

On the day of treatment, I was like a nervous wreck and as the surgeon approached me I nearly took off out the door. The treatment itself was uncomfortable completely painless and having the benefit of not being able to see what was happening because of my short-sightedness was a bonus. Due to living 100 miles from London, I had to stay overnight in an hotel as I would need to be checked the next morning. I also chose an appointment late in the day so I could just return to the hotel and rest my eyes for the remainder of the day. My eyes felt gritty for a few hours, but by 9 o’clock this had passed. My husband had to administer the hourly eye drops, which was the only time I opened my eyes until the next morning. It was immediately struck by being able to see the clock when I woke up, something which I haven’t been able to do for a long time. However, I was unable to read, but it was early days and was told this could improve. The next day I was +0.5 in both eyes. When I returned for my monthly check up, this had reduced to +0.25 and, as there was a possibility that this would be the case, I was already booked in for an enhancement to be done on the same day. I must say I went in feeling rather blasé about it all having already had the procedure once, but the downside was that I could see everything they were doing which was a bit daunting. Everything went well and the discomfort after was much less than the previous treatment due to only slight surgery. I still had to have an overnight stay so I could be checked the next morning. Anyway, the next day I had 20/20 in the right and -1 in the left which was the intended outcome so I can function without any need for glasses. I would point out that during the whole process I was meticulous about my eyes, ensuring nothing got into them and following the advice on eye drops, etc, to the letter. I even wore the eye covers overnight for an extra couple of nights as I was petrified about rubbing my eyes in my sleep.

A year later my eyes are stable and it still amazes me that this can be done at all, especially after 20 years of wearing contact lenses. It is brilliant to go on holiday and not to worry about falling asleep on the plane and getting lenses stuck to the eyes and not having to carry numerous of pairs of contact lenses with me. I can’t thank Accuvision enough. It was a bit of a pain having to keep travelling back and forward to London for the regular checks, but it was certainly worth doing and I would recommend Accuvision to anyone. Obviously there are risks, but you need to weigh up the pros and cons and I feel Accuvision are one of the leaders in the field.