As some of you may know, I had my laser eye treatment yesterday. I’m still in the early stages of recovering so I’m typing these blog posts blind! I just got bored of lying in bed.
Yesterday morning, I went to Ultralase Cambridge. I was bookd in to get LASEK Ultra Elite treatment at a cost of just under £3600; on a 2 year 0% interest deal. They recommended LASEK (instead of LASIK) because I had “steep eyes” which makes cutting the flap difficult in LASIK. The downside to LASEK is the longer recovery time. In LASIK, patients can normally see clearly within the first 24 hours. For LASEK it can take from 3-7 days.
The treatment: I had already been in for a consultation about a month ago, so they already had all the measurements. Before getting operated on, the surgeon (Dr. Chris Stephenson) did some quick checks and had a last minute talk and went over the procedure. I didn’t have any questions so he led me to a nurse who cleaned my eyes and put a hair net on me. She also put some anesthetic in my eye before leading me to the entrance of the laser room! Here she covered my shoes so that I wouldn’t make the laser room dirty.
I waited for a few minutes before the doctor came out and asked me to come in. The laser was encased in a white arch that stretched over the bed. It was much cleaner and more finished to all the lasers I was use to working with back at university – basically, you couldn’t see the laser since it was all enclosed – which is good in terms of safety.
Anyway, I lay down on a bed with my head resting in a specially shaped hole so it wouldn’t move around. The put a pillow under my knees so I was comfortable then I found I was staring at loads of lights. One of the nurses asked me to confirm my name, date of birth and procedure I was expecting – presumably so they don’t lase the wrong pair of eyes.
There were two or more white lights around the outside so the surgical team could see what they were doing. Then there was a red light and a green light. Most of the time, I had to concentrate on the red light.
The doctor covered my left eye then taped my eyelids open on my right eye, before inserting some brace which ensured my eye didn’t close. It was a tad uncomfortable but wasn’t too bad.
I then saw a small circle come down onto my eye before it was flooded with an alcohol solution which softens up the surface layer of my eye. The doctor said I would feel some pressure here but I didn’t feel much at all – good the anesthetic was working. The nurse counted up to 40 seconds before all this was removed. The doctor carefully pushed aside the surface layer. Once this was done he said it was time for the laser. All the lights went out. At this point the red light, which started off as a small point was now one giant blur. I did my best to look at it.
The laser had 3 shots on my right eye and 5 on my left. I could smell my eye burning as the laser was working. I guess each shot lasted less than 10 seconds each (probably less) but it was all over really quickly. Once the laser was finished, the doctor put lots of fluid on my eye, so much that it was dripping all down my face. Then, he put a clear contact lens in as a bandage – this will get removed in the next week.
Once both eyes were done the nurse led me back to the consultation room where the doctor checked my eyes and the positioning of the contact lens. All seemed OK and he explained that the surgery went very smoothly.
Back to the nurses room where she cleaned my eyes and gave me my goody bag full of eye drops and medication.
The entire visit lasted about 1 hour and I was free to go afterwards. My prescription prior to treatment was -1.00 (L) and -1.50 (R), so not that bad. After treatment, I could see things in the distance but I had a layer of haze/blurriness that prevented me from making things out – so not much immediate improvement but they say this is expected; after all you’ve just had your eyes blasted with a laser!
(Apologies if there are loads of typos as I’ve got my eyes closed 
)
