Consultation with Ultralase

Ultralase, Chelmsford, 2pm.

I've now had my second (and hopefully last) laser eye surgery consultation. The first with Optimax, the second Ultralase. It's fair to say I know a fair bit about my eyes now, which can only be a good thing. I'll post a detailed comparison of the two different companies and their consultations later, but for now here's the 'fly-on-the-wall' account of my experiences today...

First impressions of the Ultralase clinic are good. It has a modern, comfortable feel and instantly you feel like you're in the hands of a company that cares about giving a good impression.

I walk in and get given a form to fill out with my details and a few questions. I tick boxes to state why I'm interested in laser eye treatment (options: convenience, long-term financial benefit, sport, personal appearance, other); how long I've been interested in having laser eye surgery (options: less than 6 months, 6-12, 12-24 months, more than 2 years); what has prevented me from having laser eye surgery before now (concerns about success, finances, fear, other); and what expectations I have of laser eye surgery (complete freedom from glasses/contacts, reduced dependency from them, other). Then I have to list my main concerns today. Mine are finding out if I'm suitable, what is recommended for my prescription, and cost.

Next part of the form is health - where I list any medication I'm on and check the boxes for diabetes, history of glaucoma and all those sorts of things. Thankfully I'm pretty healthy.

Then I hand the form back and while I'm waiting I flick through a portfolio of client testimonials. I consider what a great sales tool it is to have so many snapshots of glasses-free people smiling out at you alongside their handwritten notes on how great life is with just two eyes. I try not to visualise myself amongst them just yet.

Before long the Clinician - Jay - calls me in and we start the tests. There are four machines in total and I go to each one in turn, Jay chatting away to tell me what's happening and counting so I know when to blink. I come to the conclusion that I'm a blinking addict as two of the tests we have to repeat because the results have not been clear, but Jay takes several from each machine anyway because he likes to have an average to give to the surgeon. I like his thinking.

Jay tells me as we're going that my eyes are quite steep, and already he can tell that LASEK (no cutting) and Intralase are my best choices. Bingo - they are my choices. I'm still liking his thinking.

At some point in the process drops are put in my eyes to expand the pupils. Next we head down the corridor to a standard opticians room where Jay looks at my eyes under microscopes and more tests are done (red light, green light, which line can you read without squinting, yellow drops to check for dryness, numbing drops and ultrasound to check my cornea thickness etc. etc.).

Then we start talking about my work environment and the fact that I'm prone to dry eye because I work with computers all day, he says that LASEK would be best for this as LASIK procedures (cutting the cornea) can cause dry eye problems during the healing process. He also advises that while I don't have thin corneas, my corneas are towards the thinner side of normal and if retreatment were needed (this would be free of charge) then LASEK is the much better option as less tissue is removed. Because the cornea does not regrow when it is removed, you are limited by what you have. I like the fact that he is upfront and honest about retreatment being a possibility. One of the questions I ask Jay is how long before I'll want to be back at a PC after LASEK, he tells me I won't want to be back until at least a week. I like the way he doesn't fob me off with the knowledge that all patients are different, but advises me what the average is, based on his experiences with other patients.

All the equipment used during my consultation is clinically clean and either brand new or well cared for. I'm sure I don't need to explain why this gives me peace of mind. Jay himself has had LASIK laser eye surgery three years earlier and somehow that naturally makes me feel confident that he knows what he's talking about on a personal level besides facts and figures.

I ask a few questions as we go and he really takes his time to answer my questions fully. One thing we keep coming back to is wavefront. From the research I've done I have to say I like the sound of this. Basically it's 3d mapping of the surface of the eye so the laser can make the best cutting for your individual eye, rather than a one-size-fits-all job where too much or too little might be cut away than is necessary for the best vision. Because I'm not an expert though, I'll refer you to Ultralase's webpages about wavefront: click here to read about it.

Jay shows me some as-yet unpublished statistics which can determine my chances of success. Basically I have a 99.1% chance of having driving standard vision and 81.1% chance of achieving 20/20 vision without glasses after laser eye surgery. Jay also advises me that after any laser eye surgery you should try not to evaluate the success of your surgery until at least 6 weeks after, to allow for any fluctuations and healing.

After I've asked all my questions Jay hands me over to Kate, my personal advisor, who tells me first about the procedures - things like I won't be able to let my eyes near water for 2 weeks and I should bring sunglasses on the treatment day to both protect me from the light and also to act as a physical barrier to stop me from touching my eyes. She also advises me that no matter what surgery I have, I would have a next day check up, followed by a further one at 4 to 7 days. We go over the fact that with LASEK I won't be able to drive for around 10 days.

Next we chat about her experiences and she advises that with LASEK the most uncomforable thing is the bandage lenses. I won't pretend I won't be scared if I do go ahead with LASEK laser eye surgery, but only scared of a bit of discomfort not of actually developing flap complications or of anything going wrong.

I leave the surgery with absolutely no pressure to book surgery. Jay himself recommended that I go away and think about things. So enough of all this, let me do some thinking...