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Forum Newbie
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 27 March 2009 23:59
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Having found these posts really helpful before I had my surgery in November 08 I thought I would share my experiences now. It seems like a good time, before I forget details, but long enough after the operation to put things into perspective.
My eyes were both -2.75 before the surgery. I was quite happy wearing glasses but the prospect of not having to think about them was really tempting. I wore contact lenses but often couldn't be bothered with all the fiddling about they require and they often felt a bit uncomfortable.
I went for my initial appointment on the Tuesday. On the way I had serious doubts about my bravery to go through with the surgery. I felt nervous going for that appointment. At the time I thought that there was a possibility that the surgery would happen on the same day if everything was ok to go ahead, even though I had a provisional surgery appointment booked for the Thursday. Turns out that surgery only happens (happened?) in Leicester on a Thursday.
The reception staff were all very friendly and I found that my various tests and consultation with the optician, Arif, were pleasant. I didn't feel rushed at any stage and the waits between individual parts of the process were short. I felt that the options for surgery were given to me in an unbiased way. As I am in my early 40s Arif suggested that I might want to consider monovision. This is a way of dealing with the long sightedness that everyone, apart from short sighted people, tends to develop from their mid 40s. One eye is intentionally left a little under corrected so that it retains near vision. The demonstrations were surprisingly convincing, but I felt certain that I didn't want to compromise any of my potential for really good distance vision. I am happy to wear glasses for reading if I need to. Before my appointment I had talked to people who had had the surgery before lasers (Intralase) were introduced to cut the corneal flap for Lasik surgery. They had had good results and I was tempted by the possibility of a quicker recovery than is likely with EPI Lasek, and a lower price than the Intralase. Arif said that Lasik did have a higher risk of complications but they could still perform the operation in that way if I chose. I was given a price for each of the options and confirmed that I would be back on Thursday for surgery. I decided to wait for my consultation with the surgeon to finally decide on the type of surgery to have.
On the Thursday morning I arrived for my consultation with Dr Bhojani-Lynch. Three or four other people were in the clinic at the same time as me with surgery planned for the same day. I initially felt that Dr Bhojani-Lynch had quite a brusque manner with people, calling us into here consulting room from quite a long distance away. When I talked to her I felt she was confidence inspiring and that she listened to me, giving me relevant advice. She explained that she would perform Lasik without Intralase for me if I wished, but said that since Intralase had been introduced she had only performed a very small number of these operations. I decided to be brave and go for EPI Lasek with Wavefront. OK, the prospect of more pain was a concern but it was much less money and the potential for things to go wrong is possibly lower than for any other option. I liked the thought that my eyes would not have a flap to heal.
The operating room is reassuringly like a proper operating theatre, although I couldn't see it clearly as I was asked to hand my glasses over before I went in. Dr Bhojani-Lynch was very matter of fact about the process and chatted with her assistant during the procedure. Overall I think that this helped me to feel more relaxed. You lay back on a chair similar to a dentist's. It is fully reclined so that you are laying flat on your back with the laser equipment above your face. The doctor stood behind my head. Firstly pain killing drops were put in my eyes. I could feel nothing but a little pressure when the Dr. used a surgical instrument to scrape my epithelium back. I was instructed to look at a dot on the laser machine while it did its work. I could feel nothing, but the burning smell that many people mention was very clear. Bandage contact lenses were put in my eyes (like ordinary lenses) and I walked out of the theatre feeling pretty good about myself and how brave I had been. I could see ok and could tell that my vision was much better. Dr Bhojani-Lynch explained to me that my eyes would start to hurt when the pain killers wore off and that the pain should be better in the morning. I sat in a darkened room with my wife for 15 minutes, received my medication (good job my wife was there because I couldn't see writing clearly and wasn't in the frame of mind to concentrate on instructions).
We then set off on the 5 minute walk along Charles Street to where we had parked in Lee Circle. My eyes still didn't hurt. I could see ok, but was pleased to have my wife to guide me across the roads safely. We had a 30 mile drive to get home and it started to get dark as we left Leicester. At this point the pain started to kick in. I had to close my eyes, but still felt sensitive to the oncoming headlights even with dark sunglasses on. The pain was bearable, imagine soap and grit on a contact lens. I went to bed as soon as I got home, still wearing sunglasses. The pain came and went a little, but was quite bad throughout the evening. I took the pain killers that I had been given and slept reasonably well.
The next morning the pain had gone. I was aware of the contact bandages and they regularly felt uncomfortable but this was eased by using the eye drops that you get in your medicine package. The vision in my left eye was really good, although both eyes had hazy vision and were sensitive to light. I could see the time on the DVD player clock across the room! My right eye was much more blurred and hazy so I was pleased that the left was ok.
My vision improved gradually over the weekend and I looked forward to having the bandage lenses removed on the following Monday. I was a little dissapointed when these were taken out because I thought that they may be responsible for much of the hazy vision and remaining discomfort. It helped but the world didn't instantly become clear and discomfort free. Arif took the lenses out and confirmed that my eyes were healing normally. My left eye was driving standard (just), the right could see the top 2 lines of the Snellen chart, but was very hazy.
Over the next week my vision and comfort improved day by day. At the time it seemed like ages until I felt I had normal vision again, but looking back it seems a very short time. I was able to drive a week after the surgery. the haziness had gone by that time but my right eye was still a long way behind my left in terms of vision. I used false tear drops on a regular basis throughout the day, as my eyes often felt dry, and always put them in before I went to sleep at night.
After six weeks I felt that my vision was close to what it had been with my glasses before the surgery in both eyes. They continued to feel dry. I had a check up with Arif in January. He told me that dry eyes are more likely with winter operations due to cold weather, air conditioning and heaters. He suggested Viscotears, a gel instead of the false tears I had been using. I wish I had used Viscotears earlier. Their effect is much longer lasting and I realised that my eyes had become so dry in the night that it was slowing the healing process. No excruciating horror stories of pain and damage when I opened my eyes, but it still slowed my recovery.
Vision in both of my eyes is really good now - So good I just don't think about it any more. I still use the Viscotears before I go to bed, although this is becoming more of a precautionary habit now rather than an essential.
I know that this post is really long. If you have made it this far I hope that you have found it helpful. Overall I would say that the surgery has been great for me and I am very happy with the way that all the staff at Optimax Leicester have treated me. The process of recovery (vision and comfort) was slower than I might have allowed myself to think it might be before the operation, but I would certainly do it all again knowing what I know now.
Jonathan
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