I can see clearly now (well, almost)

[simon t]

Been out in the car today. "So what" I hear you say. Well its the first time in around ***** years that I've done it without contact lenses or specs!

Yep, Saturday saw me sh*tting myself on a couch as a surgeon vaporised my eyeballs with a laser . Apart from the fear factor it's all proved completely painless.

I've gone from a -8 prescription to about -0.5 with hopefully more to come as the healing takes place. It's kind of miraculous when you think about it.

So, no more foggy specs inside the helmet - make a change to see where I'm going . Would I recommend it? Yeah, I would.

[lee67]

nice to hear m8

[Beamish]

Interesting, did they say anything about any pitfalls? seriously thinking about a similar approach. Who did you use and if you dont me asking mind how much was the procedure?

[warby221]

I fancied having that done but after seeing it done on the TV it put me right of started clucking like a good un
Any way hope it all go's well and you have 20 20 soon m8

[VTRgirl]

That's fantastic news. Congrats.

I recommend it to anyone. It's gotta beat wearing specs or shoving little discs in your eyes. I believe there's a possibility of a "top up" op about 5 years later, but then that's it for life.

The only person I know who's had it done went from coke-bottle glasses to perfect vision & it's changed her life. Without the specs she's found a new confidence & really come out of her shell.

From a medical point of view, I've yet to hear of any negatives.

[simon t]

Beamish (and others) I spent quite a while scaring myself reading all the scare stories on t'internet, but I pretty sure that with a reputable company and proper aftercare it's safe. I used Optical Express who are probably the biggest in the business, so can afford all the latest kit and aren't going to risk their rep by doing innapropriate treatment.

I paid £3400 which is right at the top end of their price list. Starts at £500 per eye, but add another £400 each if you have a high prescription like me. The preferred technique now is 'wavefront' which measures all your eye surface and treats each part appropriately, rather than just doing a single prescription for the whole eye. Add £500 per eye for this.

Preferred method for cutting the flap which has to be lifted to allow treatment (are you all still with me here? ) is by laser rather than mechanically. This is vital for a high prescription like mine, as it allows a flap thickness (stop sniggering at the back) about half (100 microns) that of the mechanical method (180 microns). Add £300 per eye for this.

A few more stats: your eye is around 550 microns thick and they remove around 15 - 17 microns per diopta, so my -8 prescription required 120-130 microns to be torched. This is why the extra 80 microns of flap (see above) is so vital. Around 3% of patients need a 'top-up' treatment later, though this is higher with a higher prescription. This can be done around a year later. Guideline settling in time is one month per diopta, though you'll be 98% of the way there within a few days of the op.

So yeah, I paid the price of a mint Storm for it, but as VTR girl says, it can be a life changing experience. I've probably been a bit complacent about it, as I've worn contact lenses for years, so it doesn't feel that different to me. But out walking the dog last night I looked up at the stars (yep, even in the middle of Leicester) and realised just what a bloody miracle it is.

[sirch345]

Brilliant news Simon

I think you're very brave, I don't know if I'd have the guts to have that done

It also good too hear that from VTRgirl 'I've yet to hear of any negatives.'

Chris.

[Beamish]

£3400 Oh well, I look like an academic with the glasses ( or is that just a nice way of saying GEEK! ) Like you say its a life changing event, If I land a decent job post working for the queen I will get it done.

[Stratman]

You have reminded me to get mine checked. Trouble is, I can read without glasses or lenses but with lenses I need reading specs, ergo with laser surgery I will need glasses to reads the computer screen etc.

This is because, at my advanced age I have presbyopia, wg=hich is effectively what you have when you have to hold the book half a mile away before you can read it.

Some companies can now implant a lense to correct this as well as do the laser for short-sight, so I will see what they say.

Would be great to be lens/spec free though.

Now, where did Brucie get his hair transplant done.................

[LotusSevenMan]

That's really good. Glad it has gone so well.

It would certainly be a life changing thing for me. At that price I'd have to start robbing post offices to pay for it so it might change my life even more than I thought if I got caught!!!!!

[VTRgirl]

It's about 2 grand an eye over here, so rather than pay your 3,400 pounds you could pay for an airfare here on top of our fees & shout yourself a holiday to boot

[simon t]

Well you could get it done for as little as a grand in total, but it's yer feckin eyesight we're talking about. Mine's paid for thanks to my redundancy cheque

[kevg]

Well done simon, i've been toying with it for years, but up till just recently they haven't really been doing it in my strength as i'm a blind barsteward, lol, -11 in left and -9.5 in right plus astigmatism in both.
i had two friends who had their eyes done last year and they are both very pleased with the results, 20/20 or better for both of them.
i'd not heard about the top up ops before, that was one of the things that was worrying me, that in five/ten years time my eyes will deteriorate naturally and i couldn't wear lenses again cause of the op, i've been wearing them for 20 years now and don't want to go back to glasses, so had decided to just stick with them rather than an op.