St Thomas’ Hospital

I had PRK surgery with Mr O’Brart in 1999. I was -2 to -2.5 and am now less than -0.5 is either eye. I fully recommend Mr O’Brart to anyone willing to pay for one of the best surgeons in the country.

I have written a web page detailing my experiences which is located at:

http://www.twinnies.demon.co.uk/prk/prkexperience.html

Cheers,
Paul

Thought it was about time to post my update. I had the previously aborted left eye done at the end of November. This time David used his brand spanking new custom laser with which he was more able to take into account the erroneous ablations of last June (see earlier reports). Thankfully all went well and David retrieved a difficult situation admirably (which shows the value of getting the right person when it comes to your eyes).

Anyhow, cutting a long story short, I have come form -9.00s in both eyes and last measurements (end December) showed left at 0.00 and right at +.25 ish. I was a bit concerned that as the right had moved from +2.00 to +0.25 that the left would have gone the same way – but there is no sign of that happening as of today. The thing to remember for you high myopic out there is that the correction is so great that getting to 0.00 requires quite a bit of luck as well. We all heal at different speeds. My right eye was done 4 months ago and it still continues to “fill in”…… and it hasn’t finished yet. Definitions are becoming more acute with every week that passes – sometimes almost imperceptibly, but you know it’s happening. this process can take months in cases like mine. This is inconvenient if you are working with PCs or you have to do a lot of reading. At my age (46) you might expect to have to use reading glasses. It seems that the short sightedness was hiding or delaying in some way the necessity for reading glasses (a muscular problem, not corneal) . I’m currently using a temporary +1 correction to read but as my eyes are still filling in, this might end up as final, it might be +.5 … or it may not be necessary at all. But hey, who cares. That’s nothing!!

I’m in for a test next week. I suspect I’ll be put back on the steroids for a few weeks as the eye is still in recovery mode but I have to tell you I’m ecstatic. Since having the eyes done I’ve been kayaking in New Zealand and I’m off to Finland in February for a bit of “Hole in the Ice ” (jumping in a freezing lake). I’m not telling you this to boast – but with -9.00s you tend to think twice about these things and you feel less inclined to take risks where you might lose you eyes (glasses). Now I don’t. It’s difficult to describe this feeling to those born with perfect vision. I’ll keep you posted.

Guys here are my experiences – hope they help others with their decisions. Would I do it again? YES. Ask me in 30 years though; don’t forget this is still an experimental procedure. Surgery Bilateral 2 weeks ago. -2.75 left and – 3.0 with astigmatism in right. Chose David ‘cos; 1. This website 2. Ophthalmology surgeon friend who recommended him after hearing him speak. 3. Wanted LASEK
I concur with all the other good comments about him on the website. OK despite being into various so called “extreme sports” bilateral eye surgery is the scariest thing I’ve ever done!!
Day of OP; Started immediately on full dose of Co-Proxamol pain killers. Despite this had severe bilateral pain for about 3 hours on day 1 and used the local anaesthetic drops 3 times each eye.
Day 2&3; bionic vision in left eye blurred vision in right eye. Both eyes “uncomfortable”
Day 3; lenses out – blurred vision in both eyes for rest of day.
Days 4-7 distance vision blurred in left (previously “bionic”) eye and very clear in right eye. Near vision intermittently blurred in both. Awoken with pain from dry eyes each morning. 6/7.5 and 6/10 at 1 week check up.
Days 7 – 16 (today). General gradual improvement in vision in both eyes. NOTE; this is better 1st thing in morning and fluctuates during the day. Vision can be as good as 6/4 in either eye but is occasionally 6/12. Seems to be settling down now with more time having great vision and less time blurred. Blurring also seems to be related to ability to focus and distance vision is worse for a few minutes after having been reading. Painful dry eye has now gone. Have only very minimal halos and glare and this is already settling.
I’m MASSIVELY pleased with this result so far and if it continues to settle and remains at 6/6 (or ? 6/5) in both eyes it’ll be awesome.
Lessons learnt; vision is ALL OVER THE PLACE for 1st week and you really can’t have any expectations. Everyone’s experiences are probably different. Things seem to start to settle at 10 days to 2 weeks.

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.

What can I say, but thanks to David O’Brart my life has changed. A year ago I couldn’t recognise my own son from 6ft away. I was -8.5 in the right eye and -8 in the left, both with astigmatisms. I tried Ultralase who only did LASIK but because I had thin corneas they couldn’t treat me. After research I found St Thomas’s and Mr O’Brart. It’s now been a year since I had my right eye treated (9 months for the left) and what a difference it has made. Very little pain with the right but more so with the left. David was very reassuring throughout and I felt much happier being seen by the consultant doing the operation in the first place than (like ultralase) being passed round from one assistant to another each doing their own tests. The only problem I’ve experienced was a little dry eye in very hot temperatures. And the result, I’m now +0.5 in the right, and =0.35 in left, legal to drive, no reading glasses needed and I can recognise my son across a football field. Don’t hesitate, do it now.