Optimax consultation

Here's what happened. (Imagine this like a movie, where I'm played by Keira Knightley, only with a slightly less posh accent, and more meat on my bones, and with blonde hair...oh and I'm also wearing glasses. Goodness it's like you were there with me!)

5.15 Arrive
What does the Optimax laser eye surgery place look like? I think I'm expecting a standard doctor's surgery but I'm greeted by a room filled with comfortable-looking chairs, with a few doors and corridors off it and a long reception desk.

Immediately the receptionist has me over at a little computer in the corner of the room filling out a health questionnaire - am I on any medication, do I have any allergies and then I scan through options and tick boxes that apply to me. These are things like do I have a family history of glaucoma, have I ever had a heart attack, am I epileptic, etc. etc. A few of them I tick yes to: yes I have hayfever, yes I am due to have surgery soon (having a mole removed). Worryingly it says at the top of the list that any ticks might mean I'm unable to have the surgery.

Once I've finished I go and tell the receptionist and she then leads me off to have some tests done. I sit at three machines in turn and have to stare straight ahead and try not to blink. It's quite hard not blinking when all you can think about is not blinking. Mostly I tried to blink a bit before what I thought was the crucial time - but two of the tests she needed to repeat quickly so I was probably rubbish at predicting when the crucial time was! One of the tests was also one I'd read about where a puff of air is blown into your eye. Even though I knew it was coming it still made me jump the first time.

After that the show really started. I guess the time now is about:

5.30
The doctor comes out and calls me in. He's short, not of English origin and wearing a suit. I couldn't tell exactly where he was from, not that it matters of course. I enter the room.

First impression is that he's a typical, professional, no-nonsense doctor. On the one hand you could say he is abrubt, with poor beside manner I suppose. But on the other - and this is my experience with most doctors - he's just doing his job and he isn't there to hold my hand or make me feel at ease. He's not a salesman. If he were, if he was sitting me down asking how I am and am I ready to change the way I view the world and make my life ten times better?... I'd be running out the door right now.

He does some standard tests you get with glasses or contacts - looking at my eye, my prescription etc. He asks if I brought an old prescription along and I give him my old glasses which he goes off to measure to get the prescription.

When he comes back he puts drops to numb my eyes and then uses this instrument to measure the depth of my cornea. To do this he puts something against my eyeball for a few seconds. It's weird to have a numb eye - my eyelid feels kind of bouncy when it closes. Then he puts yellow dye in my eyes to have a look at their health through the microscope.

Next we go through my health form and I discover that my hayfever is not a problem, my upcoming surgery won't make a difference. Then he tells me that from his tests he can tell me that I am a candidate for either epi-LASEK or LASIK laser eye surgery. He asks if I know the difference between the two and I nod and say that it's basically the start of the procedure flap cutting with one, alcohol solution removal with the other. He nods as if he can tell I'm 'one of those ones that does their research' and asks which I prefer.

I say that epi-LASEK appeals more because of the lower risk factor. He then tells me that it is a surgery and as such can never be 100% guaranteed or safe. In my prescription case he tells me that there is a 95% chance I should have 20/20 vision. He informs me that when I reach 45 or so, I will need glasses for short distance again, as do the majority of people who have good eyesight for most of their lives.

I ask him about night vision problems. He tells me that my pupils are actually on the smaller size of normal so this is unlikely to be a problem for me. I say that while 20/20 vision is important, I also do not want to lose any contrast sensitivity. I ask if Wavefront would lessen the chances of this. He tells me that if this is not a problem now, it is unlikely to be a problem after surgery, and because the shape of my eye is pretty much average Wavefront is unlikely to make much difference to me. I ask about how long before I'm comfortable at a computer and he tells me it will depend on my personal recovery - most people can be fine after about a week to ten days but others can be more.

Mostly I get the impression from him that it's impossible to predict exact times. Every case is different in the pain threshold / speed of recovery etc.

After this we get to the fun part - where I get the pupil enlarging drops in my eyes. He tells me this is so he can view inside my eye. It feels fine for a few minutes but once he turns the lights back on after looking through the microscope at me I realise my close vision is a little blurred. Lights have also started to be a little bright.

He asks if I have any more questions and as we've covered all the ones I could think of I say no. And that's it, I'm done and dusted. The receptionist asks if I'd like to make a booking, I ask her to write a few available dates down at the end of May / early June as I need to check with work for booking a week off that will be followed by a few quiet days.

It's about 6.20 at this point and I walk back to the car with my boyfriend. The lights are hurting my eyes and my long distance and very close vision is blurry so there's no way I'd be able to drive. I start to wonder how weird it would be actually having surgery. I decide I have to give myself a few days to let everything sink in before I make a decision.