Lasik Eye Surgery

I had originally written this following piece just after my surgery in september 2001. Its been on my hard drive for years, and the writing is a little raw and giddish, but bear in mind I wrote it only 2 days after the surgery. Anyway, I hope it will help to inform someone who is reading this deciding whether to go for it or not. All this time later and my eyesight is still 20/20 and it remains by far the best money I have ever spent! Contact Michael Brown, Blackrock clinic 01-2064222

I did'nt use glasses at all until 18. Almost as soon as I started a psychology course in UCD, my vision seemed to go, and I became very near sighted. Over the years, I really hated this object permanently on my face. For other reasons ( I have Friedreich's Ataxia, which put me in a wheelchair at 17) contact lenses were never a real option. I could, with difficulty and a lot of cursing, get them in, but could'nt get them out(coordination problems).

So, I sort of resigned myself to life with specs. It wasn't really until this year, when on the net reading about other peoples experiences, that I decided to see if having the laser was at all an option for me. At the end of june, I went to the blackrock clinic for an initial assessment with Mr Michael Brown. My guiding belief was that, if something is wrong and you can fix it, well then FIX IT! I explained that I was'nt the healthiest creature alive (to my surprise, he knew about FA). I had read that you were always to accept the initial assessment, you DON'T go shopping around until you get the answer you want.

When he said after the eye tests that I was a suitable candidate, I was a bit taken aback. The one thing, I did'nt like was the conveyor belt atmosphere at the clinic. The waiting room was full of people (there was some problem and everything was running late) waiting, going in, coming out, paying.............. I had the thought that maybe, I was'nt really such a suitable candidate, but maybe for £3000 I would qualify. I swear to God, I have a major trust problem, i.e I trust no one!

I did'nt make an appointment on that day, but I was told that there were only 2 windows, either have it done in september or wait until december. I knew that if I was going to have this surgery done, I was going to get both eyes done at the same time, and not have one done and go around half blind in the interim. Went back to work the next day, and phoned up the surgery in the afternoon to make a date for monday, september 3rd. This seemed like a very neat way to use my 2 week summer holidays.

My good friend was getting maried in spain, on saturday sept 1st and everything had to arrange itself around that date. So I headed to madrid on sunday 26th of august. As it turned out, it was a great decision being away and relaxed in the sun a week before the surgery. It helped that a lot of people told me that the laser surgery is very popular there. I knew that if I had been at home the week before the surgery, I probably would have talked myself out of it. I very rarely follow through with plans................ The wedding was on saturday evening. The weddings are always in the evening there on account of the sun.

During the wedding photos, I had to put in my pre surgery eye drops. 2 days before surgery you are meant to administer eye drops, which will prepare the eye. Never having taken eye drops before, even though I was very precise about putting them in 4 times a day, I must admit, as much of the stuff rolled down my cheeks, as actually went it. The eye drop was actually really nice and soothing. They had shown me how to put in the eye drops in vision express, the week before, so I knew the drill, you tilt your head back and drop it in the corner of the eye blah blah. The reception went on all night. We finally got back on sunday morning at 9am. My flight was at 7pm.

After a couple of hours "rest", I packed and boarded the flight. Of course there was only one thing on my mind. I met some nice couple from lucan and we were talking of course about the only thing I could talk about. The woman told me that her dad had had the cheaper surgery in england and was thrilled with the results. We got into dublin at 9.30pm. I was completely knackered (I'd only had 3 hours sleep) and out of my mind with worry. Was I paying £3000 to fuck up my body even more? Blind and in a wheelchair...........................lethal injection please!!!!!!!!

My uncle and aunt, who had just come back hours earlier from Lourdes picked me up. I had my hand luggage with me and wanted to get back to their house in Rush and SLEEP!!!!!!!!!!!! Looking back I was in a complete zombie state. I was in short sleeves, even though it was pissing down. I spent the car journey back revising everything, the bank draft for £3000--------check, hotel reservation---------------check. When we got back, I was getting ready for bed when it struck me that apart from my hand luggage, EVERYTHING else was back at the airport. Remind me never to fly in so late again. I felt terrible as my uncle drove back to the airport to pick up my luggage (he's staff there so he could go alone).

Once I had ALL my luggage, I could finally finally go to bed. The appointment the next day was for 3pm, which meant that I could have an unrushed morning. No one in my family thought this eye surgery was a good idea, and as I was driving toward Blackrock I thought of what else I could be doing with my hard earned money! I had booked a room in the Montrose hotel which is 5 mins from the clinic. I wanted to be nearby directly after it, so I could rest. Left my bags in and got a taxi to the clinic. Once inside, I felt VERY alone and was! I did'nt know what I was letting myself in for, but it was too late to turn back.

After giving some details, I was brought down to the waiting room. Another chat with a nurse, and had to fill out a form saying I understood that lasik was still an experimental procedure. The door of the operating room was open, and although we couldn't see the people, after about 5 minutes we could hear a fairly loud, almost machine gun sound. A few minutes later and the person came out with an eye shield. There was NO talking among those of us waiting, even though strange as it sounds, I was getting quite giddish and would have loved a chat. There was a big basket full of specs beside me, presumably as a testimony to all the people who were able to throw away their glasses. A gimmick, I'm sure, but it worked on me!

When it was my turn, there was Mr Brown a nurse and another english man. They were all decked out in their surgical scrubs, and to my surprise they were joking and the atmosphere was fairly calm. They helped me onto the dentists office like chair. I had read so many online lasik diaries and sort of knew what to expect. Mr Brown talked to me constantly, telling me exactly what they were doing and what to expect next. This was the BEST thing he could have done, and I was totally calm as they put sticky stuff over my eyelids to keep them open and locked my head into position to stop me moving. Its really not that squemish, sure you see them lifting off the top part of your eye, but you feel nothing so what the hell!

With all the stories that I'd read on the web, I was honestly expecting it to be much worse. I remember asking if there was any wrinkling (trying to sound like I REALLY understood this procedure) and was told that everything had gone perfectly. That was it, Mr Brown examined my eyes and put in drops. I felt very relieved as I could see him and the nurse quite well even though I had my eye shields on. Had a cup of tea, paid and ordered a taxi to take me back to the montrose. I was delighted to have a room booked in a really nice hotel nearby. No long car journey etc. From the very get go, I had no pain, discomfort or tension of any sort.

True to form, that monday had been typically irish, grey skies and thunderous rain. When I was leaving the clinic however the sky was brilliantly blue. Had a really nice taxi man, and I was quite giddy as I was studying everything, even directly looking at traffic lights . Absolutely no glare! I could tell the taxi man had red hair and a mousache, but I could'nt make out his fine features, like the colour of his eyes. I could read the signs on the road such as "left turn only" and "taxi lane" fine which was a reallly promising sign. Could it be after all this worry and anxiety, that it was all going to be as effortless as this?

Got back to my hotel roon, with the intention of staying there until midday the next day. Felt very self conscious, with those big shields on. Unfortunately for me, their internal phone service was down, so I had to go down to the lobby to order some dinner. Back in the room, I was amazed that it was less than 1 hour after the surgery and here I was looking at the pictures on the wall, and clearly reading the alarm clock. Made some phonecalls home and to my aunt letting them know everything was fine, had my 4 course meal, and went to bed. I know you are recommended to have a nap, but I could'nt manage more than ten minues at a time.

Within 2 hours definately, I was seeing better than I did with my glasses. Everything seemed to have a heightened sense of colour and vitality. Tired as I was, there was just no way I could sleep more than 20 minutes at a time. The following day was a lovely sunny day, and I could wear non prescription glasses as I drove to Raheny for my check up (the surgeon has to see you within 24 hours). I stumbled when I could read EVERY single letter on the chart. The previous day I could just about read the top line, and then everything else was a guess.

Mr Brown told me that I was in fact over corrected ,and that the additional drops that I had to take for the following 10 days would bring my eyesight up to the optimum level. Delighted I drove home, I kept noticing new things like for example before even with glasses my distance vision was never great. If I was on the motorway, I'd have to be almost on top of the exit sign in order to read it. All that was changed now. In fact I must have gotten a little too excited as I was pulled over by the garda for speeding. That slowed me down!

Even though I still had the rest of the week off, I honestly could have gone back to work at this time, and my job requires me to be staring at a pc all day. When I was home though I was on the net as usual. Perhaps I overdid it as by thursday, I felt really tired. For the next ten days my days revolved around putting my 2 sets of drops in, 4 times daily. You are told not to rub your eyes for the first month, and that is a bit tricky. I was petrified that I was going to poke myself in the eye at night or rub too hard first thing in the morning. Its a small price to pay though, and within a month you can rub as hard as you want.

In summary, the lasik was the best thing I've done in ages. I feel I've made an investment in my own body. I have'nt seen Mr Brown since the day after the surgery. Its hard to believe that it was as sinple and effortless as that. I would recommend it to anyone. If it worked for me, it will work for anyone!

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