I wake up in the morning and the whole world is a blur. I can’t see my feet let alone anything further than that! I fumble around for my glasses on the bedside table and all becomes clear.
I have worn glasses and contact lenses since I was 10 and at the age of 32 I am now considering laser eye surgery.
Over the last 6 months I have paid attention to the Ultralase, Optical Express and Optimax adverts on the TV and in the national press. I am tempted as Optimax advertise from £395 per eye. I can afford that I think! As with anything there is a cheap, lower end and the more you research the more you end up paying. Lasek, Lasik, Intralase the options go on! Do I want a recover time of weeks or hours? Do I want to pay £800 or £4000? Of course it’s the lesser but I figured when it comes to your eyes, of which you will only ever have one pair, you only want the best!
Now comes the dilemma, how to raise the funds. I consider a loan from Lloyds TSB, bank of mum and dad, or to pay in instalments to Ultralase, Optimax or Optical Express.
The next step is picking the right company. Having been bombarded with literature in the post from Optimax and also frequent phone calls I opted for Ultralase, after all Jonathan Edwards can’t be wrong - right? It seemed more pricey with Ultralase which was somehow reassuring to me and they were not willing to negotiate on price, well not for long anyway!
I booked my 2 hour consultation which was extremely thorough and I felt at ease. I was in good hands with Ultralase in Maidstone, Kent.
The next choice was the surgeon, Yes they actually let you chose! The beauty of private I guess. This is a whole different topic. How many procedures have they done? Is 18000 tries enough? Are they accredited by the Royal College of Opthalmologists? Do they have certificates in refractive surgery? Mr Ammar Almasri seemed the best match and he specialises in patients with astigmatism. For those of you who wonder..... it means rugby ball shaped eyes.
......So I have a surgeon and I’m booked in. The wait is only 3 weeks.
They don’t explain the procedure to you at the consultations and there is a good reason for this. It was not pleasant! You put shoe and head covers on then see the nurse who puts drops in your eyes and takes you to lie down on the operating table. They numb your eyes with drops, theres no needles, and then make the laser cut which is the LASIK treatment. They then laser the eye. Prepare to smell burning. Yes, your own eye. The do both eyes virtually together so you can’t get one done then think you might leave! I must stress this does not hurt one bit and once they have put your cornea back, you are done. 20 minutes for both eyes. You then go to the recovery room to relax. It’s hard to relax when you don’t know if you can still see or not. Within another 20 mins you get taken into another room for an eye test with the surgeon,
It has worked!
I can see my feet, the door and the big letter at the top of the chart. Who knew it was an 'A! That evening I can see everything and after one day the mild pain has passed and my eyesight is 2020. For a month or two I had to wear my sunglasses on bright sunny days, and yes I even wore my Prada sunglasses at my desk, Zar Zar Gabor is my new nickname at work!
It’s been 6 months now, my night vision is excellent, I can tolerate sunlight like I used to and I can see my feet when I wake up. The staff at Ultralase were amazing and the aftercare was second to none. I can definitely recommend Ultralase. Sorry Optimax I know you still send me mail every week but you are too late!
