Optimax

Hi I had lasik surgery @ Optimax London clinic on 4th Dec 2003 as of today 19th Dec 2004 my vision is still blurred as everything looks out of focus and black writing looks greyish. And when watching TV there is no sharpness in vision.I can only read second line on eye test chart and symptom is same in both eyes.I have been to clinic three times since surgery and seen Surgeon every time as I am worried. Dr says my recovery is very slow.I saw him last on 15th Dec .I had to have bandage lenses for one night and they were removed day after my surgery. I am not suffering from dry eyes symptom or any other symptoms. Has any body had similar symptoms in past and if so please let me know as I am getting extremely worried.

I had bilateral lasek on Tuesday 18th Nov. The surgery, as expected was tense, but not painful (tense due to natural concerns). Slept most the day, on and off, and was glad I had my sister to stay with. No pain at all though, and I'm a bit of a weed! The most uncomfortable things were the contact lenses as I'm not used to wearing them. On Friday I went back in to get the lenses taken out and my first sight test....already at driving standard. Things have got better every night. I'm so pleased that I bit the bullet. I appreciate that my final prsciption will not be known for a couple of months, so fingers crossed. Dr Doyle came across as very capable, although he did not spend much time dicussing things on my initial consultation. No problem for me as I had done a great deal of research. He did answer a lot of my queries over the e mail prior to the sugery - very helpful. I did not book him through Optimax I went direct through his website, therefore was booked as his private patient. I believe that this gave me the advantage of direct contact for the many questions I had, as mentioned above. It's the same price. Nobody can make the decision for anyone else, and I would not like to try to influence them, but I personally am thrilled with the results to date. V

I had bilateral LASEK at Optimax Manchester on the 1st of November. 2 things to say. 1) OUCH!!! & 2) WOW! The first 24 hours were terrible, probably similar to pouring extra hot chilli powder into your eyes. Every few minutes i had to pull my eyelids open to release the pressure caused by the build up of tears. The sleeping tablet helped and the next day was better. The pain didn't last long but it was very intense and not being able to rub your eyes doesn't help. Things might have been easier with bandage lenses but i wasn't able to go back to have them removed so I went without. Very light sensitive for a few days and still don't like bright lights now, 3 weeks on. Vision is excellent. Better than I had hoped for and still improving every day. At my first aftercare i was +0.7 in both eyes from -2.75 and my sight is even better now. My advice to others thinking about it is, DO LOTS OF RESEACH. That way you can be confident and prepared. I printed off over 200 pages of stuff, good and bad, and read every single piece and everything i could find on the net. I read every posting on this site, back then it was 29 pages. It took a long time but it was worth it. As for Optimax, bit like going to the dentist, not really friendly but not miserable ether. Didn’t have to wait long like some people have said. Didn’t get pampered like at Ultralase (went there first to be sure I was suitable). Asked a lot of tough questions of my surgeon and was satisfied with the answers. 5 stars for results and 4 stars for service. Good luck to all and a special hello to Nina, the lovely lady I joined up with for the 2 for 1. It was good to meet you after talking to you via email, a distraction from the surgery. Final thought.......I CAN SEE MY HOUSE FROM UP HERE.

I am looking for someone to partner with for the 2-4-1 offer. I will be receiving Epiflap treatment in their London clinic but my partner can use any of their clinics at any time, all that matters is that our files are linked. Cost for both eyes will be 495 (PRK) + 5 credit card fee, Consultation costs 60, so, the total for both eyes will be 560. Please email me if interested in joining me on this deal.

I am looking into booking Lasek treatment at the London branch of Optimax. Can any past London patients please give me their opinion on the doctor who did their treatment. I want to do the 2-4-1 offer, but don't want to forfeit half the quality, so rather scared! If anyone can help it'd be most appreciated, thanks :)

I am just about to book Lasek treatment at the Brimingham branch of Optimax with Dr Gopee - His CV is impressive, but i would appreciate comments, good or bad, from anyone he has performed Lasek on.

I am presently researching about PRK, as I would like to get it done myself. I have just read the following in Paul Hill's PRK Experience in the UK on the links page and i was wondering, out of those who have had the PRK procedure done, who agrees with this? "Short sighted people such as I (-2 dioptres) have very good macro sight (that is for distances closer then, say, 20inches) I've noticed that for distances further then this my treated eye is superior but for closer distances my untreated eye takes over. Using a highly accurate system (arular) I have found that my untreated eye can obtain sharp focus down to 3 inches (amazing) but my treated eye can only focus down to 4.5inches BUT the image is also smaller which means I see less detail. Now I have been told that the normal distance to get sharp focus is around 10 inches and I did have a 'reading test' with Mr O'Brart which showed I was perfect but I feel I'm loosing something by having surgery. Moan Moan moan..... :-) Also the amount of effort required to focus my treated eye close is quite extreme and I get a headache quite quickly. I guess that my eye muscles haven't had to work as hard as this before - relying on corrective vision and all."

I had bi-lateral Lasik on Wednesday at Optimax in Ipswich. I had my post-operative check-up the day after and was told by the surgeon that I had a graze on each eye. I woke up on Friday with very hazy vision. I managed to see the surgeon at midday and was diagnosed as having DLK. I have been told to take steroid drops every 2 hours. Can anyone let me know if you have had similar problems and if so, how long the blurryness will last and if it caused any long-term complications. From Shirley

I went for my consolation at Optimax (Manchester) and everything was going fine until the consultant was looking at the lenses in my eyes. He then said I was not suitable because I have the early signs of cataracts in both eyes. Thats not a nice thing to find out when you are only 44. June

Just a quick update on my experiences of bi-lateral lasek. I had it done at Optimax in southampton on 23/10 with Dr Ayoubi. He was very thorough and explained everything well. He went through the procedure and the after effects & I was perfectly happy to go ahead & get it done that day. The receptionists and assistants were all very nice & the clinic wasn't very busy. Procedure itself was as described, but a little weird to go through! Coming out of the treatment room with one eye bandaged up and the other with a plastic cover over gave my 2 year old boy a shock. They gave me 2 Solphadol (paracetamol & codiene) immediately after the treatment, and gave me the aftercare pack with leaflets & drugs to go home with. This included 6 more Solphadol (worked very well but made me drowsy) and 4 Diazepam (which were prescribed as sleeping tablets but are actually anti-depressants !!) but didn't need the Diazepam. Listened to some TV that night after my wife changed my dressings (taping the eye lids closed with meopore is a good idea as it stops you opening your eyelids which causes pain), and the clear plastic lens was replaced by an absorbent pad. Slept well the first night, but had to keep draining the tears from my eyes as they were building up under the closed eyelids. Following two days were spent totally blind as it was impossible to open my eyes. This was achieved on the third day, and quickly became easier, though light sensitivity meant that I was wearing sun glasses with gas welding goggles over the top !! Day by day it got better and easier to see. At the one week checkup Dr Ayoubi said my corneas were healing perfectly & was very pleased. So was I! Its now been two weeks & my right eye is perfect ! Can read the bottom line of the chart, which I'm assured is very good. Left eye is still not brilliant, as it starts off focussing well in the morning, but just after lunchtime it gets pretty blurred, but then clears up again in the evening ! sometimes it can be as good as the right, but not for long. Its getting better day by day though, and its still early days yet. Update you all later when I have my three month checkup just before Christmas. Steve