Optimax

I had bi-laterl Epiflap PRK on Sat 7th June, 6pm by Dr Anwar @ the Glasgow clinic on my large pupils (7mm). I found the op itself painless but terrifying when everything goes blurry - I was convinced I wasn;t looking at the light !!! Dr Anwar was very reassuring. He has been an eye doctor for over 30 years, and has done over 4000 PRK's. I spent the rest of Saturday and Sunday in bed, no pain during the op or after but had great difficulty in opening my eyes. The uncomfortable feeling was comparable to having an eyelash in your eye and not being able to flush it away. Last night I started seeing the TV really clear = on and off. A little halo around my tv standby button in dark, but no worse than with contacts. I couldn't read anything yesterday close up and my eyes were very sticky and watery. This morning I got up, wiped my eyes with sterile water, put in my cream and have had my eyes open ever since. My near vision is fluctuating somewhat but enough to get by, my tv level vision is sharper than before but still not perfect although I have flashes of near perfect vision. My eyes are quite dry, not overly gritty and little hazy but I was expecting this. The improvment form yesterday to today is nothing short of amazing and long may it continue. Will keep you updated. One last thing, Dr Anwar is an excellent, lovely attitude, very honest (warned me about halos with my pupils) and willl not pressure you at all.

today 6/6/03 is the day i go too Leeds to see DR Samuel for my consultation,and hopefully treatment,if all goes to plan,i will keep you all posted

I go to the Glasgow clinic (Dr Anwar) tomorrow afternoon for lasek, my eyes are -3.25 and -3.74, no astigmatism. Must admit I'm a lot more frightened than I thought I would be having gathered all the facts - try http://faculty.washington.edu/vismatt/eyeknowwhy/ - very good site. Anyway, if all is successful and I can see afterwards I'll post my experience here. Why do I keep feeling I may never see again ? Is this normal fear ? Argh...

Update - 2 weeks 3 days post op Last night I played squash for the 1st time since the op, I WON!!, my vision whilst not perfect was fine, and I dont know why but my vision seemed much sharper afterwards. Today - my left eye aches and I am not sure but I seem to have a slight lump to one side of eye - has anyone else experianced this and do I have cause for concern - my vision is back to as before I played squash.although I think the left eye is slightly worse

"Last night I played squash for the 1st time since the op, I WON!!, my vision whilst not perfect was fine, and I dont know why but my vision seemed much sharper afterwards" You probably have lots of little irregularities on your cornea, and the buckets of oily sweat running into your eyes filled in the irregularities. Your eyes might be a bit dry, which is definitely a problem. Dr Sylvia Norton reckons that a moist cornea helps recovery.

Went for my second aftercare appointment and I'm very pleased with the fact that I have better that 20/20 vision in my right eye and 20/20 vision in my left. I Would definately recommend the treatment to anyone and have got to say that it was money well spent!

Just got a confirmation letter from head office for my next aftercare appointment. Quite amusing really - it stated that if i was over 20 minutes late for my appointment, then i would incur a £10 charge! At this rate Optimax must owe ME at least £300!!!!

BEING A STAFF NURSE WITH AN OPTHALMIC NURSE FOR A MOTHER YOU CAN IMAGINE I SPENT MANY MANY HOURS TRYING TO DECIDE WHICH CLINIC/TYPE OF SURGERY ECETERA TO USE. I WENT FOR AN APPONTMENT AT ULTRALASE IN CHESTER AND WAS IMPRESSED SEEN QUICKLY CLEAR EXPLANATIONS GIVEN. THE OPTOMETRIST WAS GREAT,SHE SAID HOWEVER THAT BECAUSE OF MY HIGH MYOPIA -5.75/-6.00 MY CORNEA WAS NOT THICK ENOUGH FOR LASIK TREATMENT BUT I COULD BE ELIGIBLE FOR LASEK. THIS WAS PERFORMED ONLY IN ULTRALASE'S MANCHESTER CLINIC ON A MONTHLY BASIS. SO OFF I WENT TO OPTIMAX IN LIVERPOOL AS I KNEW SOMEONE WHO HAD HAD LASEK THERE AND RECOVERED VERY WELL

Update: Finchley Road Clinic I went for my one week check up yesterday, the optomerist was quite thorough in her check up, but the sight test was pointless as things are still too blurry, although I can read the letters down to driviving test standard, its just that they are not crisp and sharp. She also said that this was a sure sign that my eyes have not healed yet. In fact last night my right eye once again went very out of focus, I do feel a little depressed over it, not because of having it done, because I am so pleased I did, but because of the lack of reasurance from the staff that all would be fine, I mean surely they have enough historical data to commit themselves a bit more than they do. I almost feel like asking them to zap my eyes a bit more now if they are not satisfied that they will turn out right. This brings me on to one more point, when they carried out my eye test, they said I was less short sighted than an independent optomerist did a week earlier, also they said that I had astigmatism in the right eye when the other said left. I mentioned to her at the time that I had just been tested and did she want to see the results, but she declined, so now I am wondering if this has anything to do with it. So if you are reading this Optimax maybe you would care to comment. maybe I am just getting paranoid!!! Anyway my next aftercare is July 8th, and hopefully all will be fine then

I was given Lasek (Epiflap) treatment by Dr. Almasri at the Finchley Road, London clinic on 22nd May 2003, and must say that I am really pleased with the the results. I found the staff at the clinic were very helpful, efficient and proffessional. Having spent many hours surfing the net for information I felt I was prepared for all eventualities. The treatent itself was painless and the aftercare instructions easy to follow. My eyesight was around -3.00 in each eye and I now seem to have perfect vision with none of the possible problems that you hear about.