Laser eye surgery

It won't cure a need for reading glasses. So many can stop reading now! It will however, subject to lots of ifs and buts, cure short sightedness, the one where it is difficult to see stuff in the distance...........

Having worn glasses since the age of fifteen, I had long been curious. I had always put it to the back of my mind, mainly because I was not keen on the thought of my eyes being "lasered'. It all sounded a bit dramatic, and frankly, like most people, I was scared.

Then, purely in the nature of reseach for this article (of course), I succumbed to the power of advertising and went for my free test for suitability. I had already had my free CD and brochures which explained the procedure and made it clear that not everyone would benefit from the treatment.

The appointment day arrived, I went to the very pleasant eye clinic and was soon being subjected to an array of tests far exceeding anything I had experienced at the optician. As well as the usual charts there were a lot of green and red horizon tests and much shining of bright lights at the back of my eyes.

Eventually I was told that I had astigmatism, which I did not know, but as it was mild, it could be fixed, I had no early sign of cataract, which apparently is fairly common in anyone over fifty, and that therefore I was a suitable candidate. There was no pressure to make any decision to have surgery, so off home I went to consider a future without glasses.

Interestingly, when being told that the surgery will not fix a need for reading glasses, I was told that if I had surgery I would still need to wear glasses for reading. Also, if there was any sign of cataract, laser eye surgery was of no benefit, but that if and when I had cataract replacement surgery, any shortsightedness could be corrected at the same time! So why wait, if cataracts are beginning, it is possible to regain clear vision and lose the glasses at the same time.

It only took a few days to decide that I would have the surgery. I reported to the clinic at around 9 am; after a short prep, it was into surgery.............and out again, all over in about 30 minutes for both eyes. No pain, just mild sedation. Having my head securely held and my eyes clamped open were the only things I had to endure. I was still wondering when it would start when I was told it was all over! So, driven home with plastic eye patches, sedatives to take, and told to rest in the dark for 24 hours. I was to report back for the patch removal the next day.

A restful 24 hours passed, mainly listening to radio, I did not take all the sedatives, then it was soon back for the "unveiling". Patches removed, standard eye chart test, Wow! a real "pick up the bed and walk" moment, I could read the bottom line with both eyes, apparently better than 20/20 vision, whatever that means, but amazing by any standard. Off home again with a series of eye drops to be used several times a day for about one month, told to take it easy, no contact sports, swimming etc. for a week or two.

A modern miracle is really all I can say. I should probably have had it done years ago. I still look for my glasses, push them up the bridge of my nose, and carefully rub my eye to avoid smudging the glass, only to realise of course that they are no longer there, and when it rains, ha ha ha!, I laugh at the rain! As for reading, I bought some mild grade two dollar reading glasses, but unless it is poor light, I never use them, and I don't carry them with me.