Newspaper Article

Northern Eye Logo

from Stafford Post Thursday Sept 11th 2003 (Post-woman)

"The Eyes Have it"

by Sally-ann Bloomer

For me, people basically fall into two camps. Those who can see the time in the alarm clock when they wake up in the middle of the night and those who can't. Until recently I fell firmly into the latter camp. Short-sighted, floundering and disorientated until I'd fumbled around long enough to find my specs. It's a familiar story. It's the same when you go swimming. There are those who can eye up every passing 20-something and can calculate their lengths per minute ratio to the nth second thanks to the poolside clock and those who think they're lucky to have made it into the pool at all without tripping over the feet of the lifeguard. Again, I was that woman holding onto the wall until I squinted long and hard enough to make out the edge of the pool. But all that changed for me earlier this year thanks to the modern miracle otherwise known as corrective laser eye surgery.

I'd worn glasses since I was a teenager and had toyed with the idea of laser surgery for several years, but had been put off by both the cost and the scare stories, which in hindsight I realise were only ever from people who'd not had it done. But this year I decided to bite the bullet and after checking out the carious well-known companies which offer the service, I got in touch with Optimax. Optimax offers both types of corrective laser surgery, LASEK and LASIK (more of that later ), have had 10 years experience in this field and have a team of highly skilled, experienced and qualified medical practitioners. I decided if I was going to let someone fiddle around with my eyes, I'd like them to know what they are doing. After a brief consultation over the phone to make sure my prescription was within the parameters of their treatment range, I made an appointment to see Dr Doyle at their Manchester clinic. Before going, I checked out his personal cv on the company's web site and was delighted to see not only had he performed thousands of the operations, he also gives lectures on Refractive Surgery for the Royal College of Ophthalmologists and regularly gives talks on PRK/epiflap (LASEK) and LASIK to groups of doctors, optometrists and other professionals.

During my appointment with Dr Doyle I felt nothing but confidence in both him and the technique. He discussed the two options available to me as my prescription would have been suitable for both procedures and carried out a series of tests and measurements. (A word of warning, it's worth taking your sunglasses along as I had a dye in my eye which made my eyes extremely sensitive to even the quite dull light outside afterwards). Happy to proceed, I just needed to make up my mind about which procedure to opt for as Dr Doyle wouldn't recommend one or the other. I made an appointment for a couple of weeks later and tried not to think about the actual 'operation' but just focused on being able to see without the help of my lenses or glasses.

On the day of the operation, I arrived at the clinic, very plush, pleasant and bustling with lovely staff, and was sent to the treatment area after signing my consent forms. Here I was met by a nurse who asked if I'd like to to take a valium tablet to stay calm, and why not. Dr Doyle had previously told me about one incident where the surgery hadn't been successful because the patient in question had been so nervous that she leapt off the couch mid-procedure. - I didn't want to take any chances. Shortly after, when the world seemed a better place, I was taken into the treatment room.

Dr Doyle confirmed again which procedure I wanted and began. The patient is asked to lie on the bed and tape is placed over the eyelashes of the first eye to be treated to keep them out of the way. Various eye drops and solutions are then put into the eye to anaesthetise it, a clip is applied to hold the eyelids open and the surgery begins. The squeamish should skip the next paragraph.

As I was having LASIK, I was to have a small flap cut into the cornea to allow lasering just below the surface. If any part of the treatment is at all uncomfortable, I would say that it was this part. You feel a slight pressure on the eyeball and then all goes dark and a flap is cut into the cornea - it takes just seconds. After that, Dr Doyle lifts the flap, which is still attached in part to the eye, and the laser is applied onto the area beneath the flap. This part of the treatment was entirely painless but there is a noise and a slight smell emitted from the laser. As soon as the lasering is finished, the flap is put back and remains in place initially by natural suction. It's all over for that eye and then the procedure is repeated for the other.

The patient is in and out of the treatment room in less than 20 minutes. Eye shields are then placed over the eye and the patient is sent out to the waiting room, eyes closed, for 20 minutes. Dr Doyle then popped out, lifted the shields, checked the flaps were in place and the patient is free to go home.

Walking back to the car fell a little odd with plastic shields to cover my eyes and my friend leading me through the streets of Manchester, but as soon as we got into the car, I closed my eyes and let the healing process begin. Once home, I went to bed for a couple of hours with my shields on, as instructed, and woke up able to read the titles of the books on the shelf. I really could see but couldn't quite believe!. Although my eyes were slightly tender, as if I'd spent slightly too long in a chlorinated pool, I found I could see everything I looked at with amazing clarity. first I checked one eye and then both - I could see!

The next day I went back for the first of four check-ups at the clinic and, yes, everything was fine with my eyes and yes, my prescription had gone from around -5.75 in both eyes to -0.25 and +0.25, virtually perfect vision. The first few weeks my eyes felt quite dry and I had to use artificial tears but gradually this wore off and now I almost can't remember what it was like not to be able to see this well and I would recommend the treatment to anyone.