I had my consultation today at 4pm. Having been through it all just over a year ago I knew what to expect; if anything I suppose I was a little excited thinking I'm finally going to go through with this.
I took the train to Chelmsford station - the clinic is literally about a minute walk away. It seemed like the better option than getting someone to drive near to rush hour. I got there a bit early but didn't have to wait long before I was taken off for the tests with the optometrist.
Everything went along smoothly. The optometrist, Caroline, talked me through the tests as we did them. She did each one a couple of times to get an average reading. I sat at each machine in turn and blinked when told, held my eyes open when told, moved to the next machine when told. A bit like a robot really. We moved rooms a couple of times as they have specific rooms for specific equipment but before long we'd done all the tests and it came down to discussions on the types of surgery that I was suitable for and telling me what exactly was involved with each procedure.
The main story hadn't changed from last year - my eyes are quite steep and so I'm most suitable for Lasek or Intralase. After I'd asked all my questions (actually I didn't have to ask many, most of my list of questions she'd answered already as she went though everything).
Before she handed me over to Heather who covered all the non-clinical matters relating to surgery, Caroline showed my prescription to the surgeon Dr Vinod Gupta and he confirmed Caroline's advice.
'It's great that you have the choice.' Caroline said. I jokingly replied that actually I'd prefer it if someone else decided for me. The main difference between the two (lasek or intralase) is the recovery time. With lasek you have to wear a soft contact lens for a week after the operation and as the laser work is carried out closer to the surface it involves a slower recovery time. For example driving after about a week. With intralase an incision is made with a laser and then the work on the eye is made a lot deeper so it heals faster. Both Heather and Caroline quoted being at driving standard probably the next day, or two days after intralase. Either operation means a certain amount of instability in the vision for about two months until fully healed.
I asked Caroline if the risks of infections were different between the two and she said that there was no difference. I was torn between the two for a few minutes. Apart from the recovery time, another consideration is the cost of Intralase. (Intralase is currently £325 extra per eye with Ultralase). I'd already opted to go for wavefront having researched that and of course discussed it again with Caroline. Which meant the cost was into the multiple thousands. Ouch.
So I deliberated, I chatted with Heather, and then I decided. Yes, I'm going to have Intralase. And my surgery is now confirmed for next Weds (25th July) with Dr Tahmina Islam. I have to say I love being able to read up about my surgeon on the Ultralase website. If you've not followed any of my links here today, go and have a play on their website. All your questions will be answered I'm sure.
http://www.ultralase.com/
http://www.lasereyeforum.com/
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment