I have been very pleased at how my post on our experience of
plagiocephaly and helmet treatment has been received, and hope that it will
help some parents to have an honest mother’s opinion of the treatment and help
them to make the decision on whether to go down that route for their child. In
thinking along this theme and jotting down ideas for blog posts, I thought I
would write my experience on something that after many years of thinking about
I finally was brave enough to take the plunge this year. It also helps that at
this stage in my pregnancy I can now only sleep for around 4 hours a night
(hello insomnia) and at least I have the peace to write a review in the early
hours of the morning before little mister wakes up.
In April 2014 I had laser eye surgery, and I really have to
admit, it is one of the best things I have ever done in my life and I am so
pleased with the results. Since the age of seven I needed to wear glasses – I
had terrible eyesight. I remember at the time I did not have a particularly
nice or understanding primary school teacher, and after complaining many times
that I could not see the board but not being moved my mother went into the
school to be told ‘Lynsey only wants to move because another girl has been
moved to the front who has a patch over her eye.’ 2 weeks later it was with
great satisfaction that my mother delivered me to the classroom with my new glasses
and a bit of a stern chat with the teacher.
I hated my glasses from the outset. In 1992, I had thick
plastic pink rimmed glasses with milk bottle lenses. I wish I had an image to
share. They hid my whole face, and were truly awful. It was not long after that
I began to get bullied. It did not help that I had very unruly curly hair and
was quite quiet and shy. The bullying continued well into my high school years.
Eventually through time it stopped, ultimately coinciding with new styles of
glasses and lens thinning which for me meant I could wear trendier glasses –
goodbye bottle tops!! I still hated wearing glasses though. The styles I wanted
were very expensive, so I still had to go for the cheaper styles (which of
course as a teenager was not a good thing). My lenses needed thinned and even
though I was entitled to free glasses as a child, the lens thinning did not
come cheap. I was warned I had to take very good care of my new specs!
I moved out of my childhood home at seventeen, I was still
in high school doing my A levels. I then moved on to University, all of which I
funded myself. I lived on rations of beans and toast for most of this time
(probably one of the reasons I cannot stand the sight of them now). Still, I
needed to find a way to fund my expensive eye care. I had very low self esteem
throughout this period. At one of my appointments at a local Specsavers I was
talked into a trial for contact lenses which was something I had been pondering
for a while. I went along and tried them out. I found out I had very sensitive
eyes, I could just about wear contacts but only for a maximum of 5 days out of
7 and for up to ten hours a day even with the most comfortable and soft of
lenses. I figured it was better than nothing and gave me a little bit of confidence
back. Contact lenses are not cheap though. I ended up for years just buying on
an as and when basis, which meant that I still had to rely on my charming
glasses. Hurrah. All in all my glasses once every year or two were costing me
around £250 (2 for one, but eventually I opted for designer pairs – after all I
wore them day and daily, and the lenses needed thinned costing £60-£99 for both
pairs) and my daily disposable toric contact lenses cost £40 for 30 pairs (one month’s
supply). At this stage I had a prescription of -3.75 in one eye and -4.0 in the
other eye (short sightedness) along with astigmatism in both eyes.
I began to hear more and more about laser eye surgery.
Mainly good reviews from people I knew who had went and had it done. At this
stage though the treatment was still hugely expensive, in some instances around
£8,000. So I struggled on, using contact lenses which irritated my eyes and
made them red and sore if I went over 8 hours a day, and wearing glasses which
I hated that always caused me some sort of discomfort to the bridge of my nose
and whenever I took the glasses off you could always see the marks from where
the glasses sat. At one stage I was allergic to something in the glasses which
caused two lovely oval marks where the little pegs were placed. Fun.
A few years ago I started to think what I really wanted to
change in my life before I was 30. One of these was fixing my eyes. I was fed
up now, after over 20 years of wearing glasses and hating that fact I decided
enough was enough. I was always setting things back due to money worries.
Eventually I figured I had nothing at all to show for all my hard work over the
years so I might as well bite the bullet and get it done. I started researching
laser eye clinics. I had received enough mail through the door over the years
advertising the different companies that I knew of the most popular – Optimax, Optilase,
Ultralase and Optical Express were the main clinics I had heard of offering the
treatment. I wrote to both Optimax and Optilase but chose to go to Optimax as
it was closer and they had appointments available for a consultation within a
few days. I had also googled a number of reviews on each and found Optimax to
be the most favoured locally.
I would suggest of course you do your own research as with
anything, but I felt it was appropriate to discuss briefly the different types
of laser eye surgery. I will not go into too much detail here as the
information is readily available on the internet. There are currently two main
types which are called Lasik and Lasek. Lasik treatment has a speedier recovery
time but I did feel that it was more invasive. In this surgery a flap is cut on
the surface of the eye (epithelium), peeled back and the laser in then used to
reshape the area underneath the epithelium, the flap is then replaced to heal. Lasek uses an alcohol solution to
loosen the epithelium, it is then moved back and the laser is used to correct
the sight. I decided upon
the lasek treatment as I had heard issues with lasik surgery in that the flap
had reopened again.
I went along to Optimax clinic in the Lisburn Road in
Belfast for my first appointment after receiving an information pack through
the post. The information pack discussed the treatments available as there are
different types of corrective eye surgery, the general prices with information
on their monthly direct debit payment plan to make it more affordable, contact
details and some reviews. You do need to make sure that you have transport to
and from the clinic as drops are used in your eyes which make your vision too
blurry to drive for a few hours afterward. The clinic was welcoming warm and
bright with comfortable sofas to sit on and a homely rather than clinical feel.
The receptionists were very attentive, introducing themselves and showing me to
the waiting area which had a coffee machine and numerous magazines and leaflets
to occupy my attention. I was brought a cup of coffee and asked to fill in a
little questionnaire on a computer at the end of the room. The questionnaire
was very quick and straightforward and asked for further information on you and
your background. There was nobody in the waiting room at the time when I was
filling in the questionnaire, but even if there had of been the computer screen
was placed in such a way that nobody would have seen what you were writing.
After filling in the questionnaire I was taken into another
room down the corridor which had two machines and two seats. With the first
machine you placed your head on the chin rest and looked through the lens were you
were asked to focus on a red balloon that went in and out of focus, you were
told when to blink (a red light appears as a warning) and then to hold your
eyes open for an image to be taken. The second machine is one I think everyone
hates, were a puff of air is blown into your eye. You are warned of this
however and talked through each stage. It is not uncomfortable or sore, and is
over in a matter of milliseconds.
After another short wait in the waiting room I was taken in
for my appointment, I was asked a few questions relevant to the eye surgery and
previous history – I had another quick eye test and check. I was told I would
be suitable for the eye surgery. By this stage my eyesight over the years had
worsened to -4.75 in one eye and -5.0 in the other but this had stayed static
for a number of years which was something that was of relevance to the surgery.
I also had astigmatism in both eyes. I was told that they can treat most people,
even up to around a -10. It is best that your eyesight has not changed recently
to get the best results. I was offered to ask any further questions. I was
finally taken into another room at the end of my appointment to discuss the
cost of my specific surgery (I chose Lasek with wavefront) how I could pay, how
much the deposit would be if I chose to pay monthly and also a little advice
and information pack which listed the different surgeries and of course any
potential risks. It was very thorough. I was advised to read this fully and to
make an informed decision, but that they had never had any serious problems and
that I would be taken care of. It also helped that a few women who worked in
the clinic had got the eye surgery so you could ask them their honest opinions
too. I got a really good offer of around £2,200 for both eyes. This was the
cheapest I had seen it anywhere, and my eyesight was very poor.
I went home armed with this information and a fair idea that
I was going to go ahead with the surgery. I wanted to talk to my partner about
it first as of course it was a large expense, but I felt it would benefit me in
the long run and certainly I would be much more comfortable and happier. I had
agreed to pay a down payment of £400, and then monthly instalments of £95 a
month for 18 months if I decided to go ahead with the surgery. I read through
all of the information that I had been given about things which could
potentially go wrong and had to sign my name against each one. I have to say
some things were quite daunting but I had to go by the facts and figures and I
knew that it was only a very small percentage of people who ever had
complications. Again you could call anyone at Optimax to discuss these at any time
if you so wished.
I decided to go ahead with the surgery, there are numerous
appointments so you really do have a lot of choice, and on a very short time
scale. I decided on the 10th of April 2014. The night before the
surgery I did not sleep. It was booked for around 11am, my partner drove me
down and left me off as he was looking after Oliver (my 2 year old). I went in
and was made comfortable in the spacious waiting area, again given a hot drink
and I was able to ask any other questions I had about the surgery. I had
already been given the paperwork I needed for the day which I had read over a
couple of times and signed off ready to hand in on this day. I was taken in to
a side room to get kitted up for the surgery (this is a part that gets foggy, I
was very nervous) and then led in to the laser room.
The doctor carrying out the surgery was very talkative,
asking questions about my background (he had an interest in archaeology – I am
a qualified archaeologist and worked as one for a number of years) and simply
trying to take my mind off things. I did get a little nervy and upset at one
point, and a nurse came and held my hand then whole way through.
I was asked if I still wanted to proceed, to which I agreed. I lay back on the
bed with the laser machine above me. Anaesthetic drops were put into both eyes
so I would not feel a thing. My eyes were tested for sensation, and then a
device was put into my right eye to hold it open during the treatment. A metal
ring was placed around my pupil and a solution to soften the epithelium was
placed into the ring – then this was counted for a certain amount of seconds.
After that, a little spatula was used to move part of the epithelium of my eye
and the laser was brought down. I was advised there would be a slight smell,
but that it was coming from the laser and not my eye. I was told to look up at
a mark on the device and to hold my eyes steady for a 10 second count. I didn’t
feel a thing at all. The same routine was carried out on the other side and
then bandage contact lenses were placed over my eye. All in all it took about 7
minutes. As soon as I got up and walked to the recovery room I could already
see. I could not believe it.
I was given a bag of various drops ointments and
instructions, and told to go home and lie down with my eyes closed the rest of
the day and to wear sunglasses. At that moment in time the anaesthetic was
still working and I felt fine. I put my sunglasses on and went outside for the
journey home. The whole way up the road I was pointing out number plates,
letters, name on buildings. It was such a novelty. When I got in I went
straight to bed to rest and lie down and fell asleep. When I woke up I have to
admit at this stage I regretted what I had done. I wouldn’t call it so much
pain as feeling like I had grit and stones under my eyelids. Every slight
movement made it worse even though my eyes were closed. I was wearing
protective googles to sleep in, and my eyes were streaming with water. You can
only use the anaesthetic drops at specific times, and I was literally counting
down the moments until I could use them again. I finally found a way to calm
down enough to hold my eyes completely still and I fell asleep again, when I
woke up next, this uncomfortableness was gone. This was the only time I
experienced this. I continued to use the drops into the next day but I believe
I did not need to. I never again felt this discomfort, and at no time did I
feel what I would describe as pain. Just irritation.
On the second day my eyesight was blurrier. This lasted for
a few days (although I could still see a thousand times better than before and
could still read, write, watch TV and function correctly). My only issue was
the bandage contact lenses, specifically in my right eye – as my eyes are
sensitive having a contact lens in my eye for that length of time was very
uncomfortable and that particular eye became irritated, red and puffy. When I
went back for my review a week later I couldn’t wait to have the bandage lens
removed, I was told that this could cause the same discomfort again but
thankfully it did not. My eyesight was almost 20/20 already in both eyes and as
soon as the bandage lens was removed from my effected eye the redness and
puffiness disappeared. It was such relief!
It did take about a month to settle – my eyesight was quite
slow to get to 20/20. I returned to work after 6 days and to be honest should
probably have had a bit more recovery time as I feel this slowed my recovery. I
use a computer all day at work and my eyes got tired quite easily. The staff at
Optimax is available for contact at any stage and they get you in for
appointments to see the specialists very promptly. 6 months after the surgery I
went to my final appointment were I was signed off, and I had reached 20/20. I
was told that any follow ups can now be done at my local opticians, but that I
could still make an appointment to see the surgery at any time (there is a £25
charge for further appointments).
All in all my experience with Optimax in Belfast was fantastic.
I would highly recommend this treatment to anyone, and for the small level of
discomfort the day of the procedure, the final result is well worth it. My
eyesight is perfect, I do not have to worry about purchasing expensive glasses
or contact lenses, I do not have to fuss around the find my glasses in the
morning so I can see. It is truly one of the best decisions that I have ever
made, and I do not mind paying the money. It has given me so much confidence
and a completely new lease of life.
If you would like any further information on laser eye
surgery you can search websites and reviews on google, but I would also suggest
popping in to some clinics for an appointment. Like everything if you look
around and talk to people you can get the best deals. Take heed of the pros and
cons, pay attention to the minimal risks, but if you are affected as much as I
was by your lack of sight I would advise to get it done.
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