St Thomas’ Hospital

I had my first month's checkup with Mr O'Brart on Thursday 11th September 2003. The results were better than I had anticipated, in that I was just slightly under in one eye and just slightly over in the other. My vision is still stabilising and I am confident, as is he, that things ought to improve in 2 months' time. Driving has not been a problem. Some slight dryness in the eyes, partcularly the left, has been a slight annoyance when waking up, and some sleep residue in the eye once caused a painful moment when blinking, but otherwise there has been no cause at all for complaint. I am very pleased indeed with my results.

After years of if’ing and butting whether to have laser eye surgery, I decided to research the various laser treatments but more importantly, find a surgeon that I could trust. I‘ve heard a few horror stories in the papers and wanted to ensure I wouldn’t be one of them. I wear soft contact lenses and have an annoying problem in my right eye with the lens moving out of place (revolving). This is due to my large astigmatism (eye shaped like a rugby ball, i.e. not round). The Toric lenses I wear, although designed and weighted do however move out of place a little, subsequently affecting my vision. Hopefully refractive eye surgery would fix my problem and eliminate the need for aided vision. Initial consultation with Mr O'Brart outlined the risks and advantages and he did say that due to my large astigmatism I might need additional surgery. I liked the idea of LASEK due to there being no flap involved unlike (LASIC) and a better recovery period and less risk of hazing than (PRK). I decided to proceed with LASEK on my right eye on the 10/10/2003. My prescription was –2.75 diopter sphere with a –2.25 diopter cylinder at 180 degrees, corrected to 6/5. Surgery went ok on the day, which was a Friday. Zonked out over the weekend and on pain killers. The only problem I did have was on the Sunday when my eye was sort of developing an intolerance to the contact lens due to wearing it constantly for 3 days, I think my eye couldn’t produce enough tears to keep it wet. Returned to Mr O’Brart on the Monday to have the contact lens bandage removed, what a relief to have it taken out! I then returned again on the following Friday for another check-up and was told it was healing nicely. Stopped the antibiotic drops and carried on with the suspension drops for a month. During the first month it should be noted that the surface skin healing did give fluctuating vision from one week to the next. Another check-up 5 weeks post op my prescription is 6/6 unaided and corrects to 6/6 with a +0.5 diopter sphere with a –0.5 diopter cylinder at 50 degrees with nice clear cornea. The slight over correction takes a bit of effort focusing, but hopefully will stabilise closer to 0.0 as time goes on. Overall I am very happy with the results, I can now read my projection clock on the ceiling even if it is only with one eye! I am also glad I had one eye done at a time, as Mr O’Brart said there are very rare complications that can happen which is why he prefers doing one eye at a time. It also enables you to get on with your normal day to day life pretty easily, alternatively I would have needed more time off work if I’d had both done at once. The down side of course is having to go through it again, although that’s a small price to pay when you consider it’s your eyes we are talking about here. I am having my other eye done in January and would strongly recommend Mr O’Brart to anybody considering Refractive Eye Surgery. Watch out for future posts.

After about 5 years of indecision (and afraid of the pain of PRK and potential complications of LASIK), in 2003 I finally decided to go for the new LASEK method which seemed a good compromise between the two others. My eyes were short sighted, -3.75 and -4.00 with some astigmatism. I was treated by David O'Brart last August, and to save time had both eyes treated the same day. In my left eye I never felt any discomfort whatsoever, but my right didn't seem to respond to the anaesthetic and I felt every bit of the operation, and agony for around 9 hours afterwards. This quickly faded to discomfort over the weekend and was no problem by 3 days post-op. I was also very light sensitive the first week - the first two days I hid indoors with all the curtains shut and the light off! My eyesight was immediately better than it had been before, though a little blurry for the first 4 or 5 days. By a week or so I was OK driving. My right eye quickly had no short sightedness at all, my left lagged a little behind in the healing though on the first couple of check-ups. Using both eyes together, I was able to function perfectly well around 2 weeks post-op. At my 6 month check-up, my prescription was -0.125 in my left, +0.375 in my right. Using both eyes together, I can read one line BETTER than 20/20 vision on the eye charts, so I am very pleased.

Just an update on my previous comments below, following my surgery (LASEK) in Dec. 02 (left eye) and Feb. 03 (right eye). My vision is perfect, I have no problems at all. Night vision is perfect, my eyes are not dryer than before, really... it's boring there is nothing to say!. I am starting to find difficult to read very small letters, but this is probably age related (hitting 40 in 2 months!). All in all very glad I did it and that I chose David!

I had both eyes 'LASEKED' five days ago. I concur with many of the comments on this website, believing I chose the best man for the job; Mr O'Brart. The surgery seemed to go without a hitch and Mr O’Brart always reassured me and let me know what was going to happen next. After the operation I had about 24 hours severe discomfort in both eyes, but after that I had very little trouble. Currently my right eye is pretty blurred and I have some sensitivity to light. Will let you know when the blurring diminishes, but I cannot stress how amazing it is not to be encumbered by glasses anymore!

I regretably had LASEK at Ultralase in St. Albans and afterwards suffered burning eyes and blurred vision, I was advised that I could go back to work (I'm a PA working on a computer in an airconditioned office)as long as took regular breaks and promptly suffered sudden flashing lights and floaters, which I now have been advised is a partial vitreous detachment and at 31, this should not have happended. I then have been also left with burning eyes and blurred vision for 5 months until seeing David O'Brart at St. Thomas's who patched my eyes with antibiotic cream and gave me punctul plugs and now I am in no discomfort and can see! Ultralse kept telling me I had Blephritus and there was nothing they could do whereas David healed me within a week! I would strongly advise anyone to go to David for their treatment and only wish I had. I am now left with all these floaters which I firmly believe are from straining my eyes on the computer that I could hardly see and so wish I could turn the clock back!

So, I went for my consultation with David o'Brart yesterday afternoon and I've decided to go ahead next week for Bilateral LASEK - I have -3dioptres in both eyes - so I'm mildly myopic I was please that he didn't offer LASIK - as the flap option really disturbs me. He's obviously an incredibly competent guy and very well respected in the international community. He was extremely pleasant and answered all of my many questions. I recommend taking a friend family member with you for your first consultation as they may have questions you forget to ask! So I go next Friday - watch this space. For more info on David go to: www.davidobrart.co.uk

I have spent the best part of the last year doing lots of research on the internet with regard to Laser Eye surgery and have found this web site to be absolutely invaluable. A friend had already recommended David O'Brart to me, and his name had been mentioned by others, but the comments on this web site assured me that he was the best person for the job. I had my consultation in November, very impressed with the way everything was explained to me and I was pleased that I was suitable for Lasek, as the invasive technique of Lasik had never appealed to me. Would you believe it took me weeks to pluck up the courage to book my first eye in, and with some trepidation, I arrived at St Thomas on 17th January with my sister, Janice, who had also decided to take the plunge, and have Lasek to correct her short-sightedness. I was very nervous, (understandable, I suppose, after all, it's not every day that one has eye surgery!), but David was very patient and calming. My right eye, the weakest, was duly 'zapped', and, apart from some pain after the protective contact lens was removed on the Monday, everything has been fine. It is now 2 weeks since the surgery and the vision is absolutely unbelievable. I was -8.25 with a severe astigmatism of -3, (I hadn't realised that I was that short sighted !!), but following my 10 day check up, on 27th January, I am ever so slightly long-sighted at +0.65 and I'm told that this will improve still. David has said that my left eye could be done in approx 6 weeks, which is great. My sister, Janice, is equally pleased with the results of her surgery. Anyone reading this who is unsure, I would say do your research like I did, but I would thoroughly recommend Mr O'Brart. I know that it's still early days, but for someone like me, who has worn glasses since the age of 7, and GP contact lenses for the last 18 years, it is truly remarkable. Looking forward to the next eye being done, and being free of contact lenses completely.

Mr. O'Brart has given me the go ahead to do my right eye now (March 1st). The left eye has stabilised such that I could have 20/20 vision with a +0.5 dioptres lens. Opticians will not prescribe glasses for this level of correction. I am delighted at the outcome.

Mr. O'Brart said that he doesn't know why people do LASIK or PRK since LASEK is so much more predictable in his experience.

I've now had both my eyes LASEKed by Mr O'Brart, and can't recommend him too much! Part of my reasoning was his involvement in post graduate training, and the various listings you can find for him on the web. I'd rather trust a single person than an anonymous somebody at a clinic.
Both my eyes were a relatively uncomplicated -4, with slight astigmatism.
After the consultation I was confident that I had made a good choice, and all my subsequent experiences have confirmed this. I was happier with his conservative approach, and the lack of salesmanship, pointing ot that spectacles had caused no problems for 700 years.
My first eye was more painful than expected for 48 hours, and then suddenly settled down to an occasional itching. Interestingly, my second eye was less painful, and for only 4 hours!
My left eye after 6 weeks is now +0.5, and my right eye is still settling down after 1 week, but has been deliberately left slightly under corrected to compensate for the slight long sight in the left.
Suffice to say, I'm very happy with what has been done.