Laser Eye Surgery: My Consultation at Optimax

You may remember from this post here that I need to wear glasses and contact lenses and as such I have thought about having laser eye surgery for a long time. Generally people think I’m crazy for wanting a laser anywhere near my eyes but I think that unless you wear glasses or contacts it’s difficult to imagine what life is like with them.

I’ve never really taken to contact lenses despite having tried many different brands and types (dailys, monthly etc.) so I wear my glasses most days but manage to suffer a few hours of contact lense wear for a night out - not an ideal solution!

Wearing glasses effects which clothes I buy, what makeup I wear and even how I have my haircut! I can’t rock huge celebrity style sunglasses because I need prescription sunglasses. I can’t go swimming on holiday as you can’t wear lenses swimming and have you ever been in the sea while wearing prescription glasses? Nightmare!

Last week my glasses fell off my face and one of the lenses fell out while I was at a kettlercise class. I was flailing around for the rest of the class and I had to drive home with one eye closed so that I could see through the one remaining lense in my glasses!
I’ve lost count of the number of nights out, weddings, gigs etc, I’ve been miserable at because a contact lense has fallen out my eye/ got stuck at the back of my eye/ has something stuck behind it etc. etc. You see where I’m going. I don’t want to sound like I’m saying “boo hoo, poor me”. I know I’m fit and healthy and should be thankful, but needing glasses or contacts is not an insignificant nuisance in my life, it defines who I am and not really in a good way.

Me with my glasses on (I always take them off for OOTD posts!)

So all this brings me onto my consultation at Optimax. Initially I’d booked a consultation with Optical Express but I read a few bad things about their Glasgow clinic. I know nowhere will have a 100% perfect review rate but I just heard too many negatives about Optical Express and wasn’t willing to take the risk when it’s my sight that’s at stake!
When booking my consultation with Optimax I immediately got a better vibe from them. They were very professional and much less sales focused than Optical Express. They told me what would happen at my consultation and what I should bring with me. A few days later I received a booklet in the post which covered most of the questions you would have about the surgery ie. what kinds of surgery are available, what prescriptions can they treat, what’s the success rate, what’s the recovery process like?

On the day of my consultation I was really impressed as soon as I walked in the door. The waiting room looked like a proper medical waiting room, it was really busy (a good sign for any business!) and I loved the perspex bucket of abandoned glasses from previous customers who no longer needed them! There was also a visitors book which you could sit and have a read through. It was full of people with lovely things to say about the care they’d received and how the surgery had changed their life. There was the odd negative comment such as one woman saying she had to come back for further surgery, but I would have been suspicious if there was nothing negative in there at all!

The friendly girl at reception (Stephanie) was wearing medical overalls (another reassuring sign) and she led me to a computer where I had to answer a short medical questionnaire and fill out a form with my next of kin and GP’s  information.

Next Stephanie took me into a dark room where she had me sit a various machines so that she could perform some tests on my eyes. None of these tests were remotely scary or distressing and most of them I’d had done before when having an eye test anyway. She told me she was measuring my pupils, measuring the thickness of my corneas, things like that.

After that I was introduced to Melissa, the optician. Melissa performed a standard eye test on me. What letters can you read on the screen? Is the red brighter and clearer or the green? If you wear glasses you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about! Then she talked me through my options.
Basically I have thin corneas so I’m not suitable for the Lasik treatment. This is what 80% of people who have laser eye surgery get. It involves creating a flap with your cornea so that the laser can get at your eye.

I was recommended for the Lasek treatment though. This involves using alcohol to push aside the top layer of cells on your eye so that the laser can get at it. The recovery is longer and more painful with Lasek as you have to wait for the layer of cells which have been pushed aside to grow back again. I have to admit this threw me a bit. I’d researched Lasik for weeks as it’s the most popular treatment and was then told I’d need Lasek instead!

After Melissa had answered all my questions I was then handed back over to Stephanie who took me through the pricing. The cost of my surgery would be a little under £2200 with a 10% deposit required on the day of surgery and 18 months interest free credit for the rest. Stephanie also gave me loads of information to look over including details of the surgeons who work at the Glasgow clinic, how many surgeries they had performed on people in my age group with my prescription, their success rate, their education and work history etc. I had more information than I knew what to do with to be honest! Which is a good thing!

I sat in the waiting room and discussed everything with Mr Juicy for a while. He’d been dragged along with me for moral support! Eventually I decided I wanted to book in for the surgery. My surgery date is the 27th of April!!! I was given an aftercare leaflet which told me how long after surgery I would have to wait before I could wear makeup/ play sports/ go swimming etc. It gave advice on things like how long you should take off work to recover and what to do if you get something in your eye. Stephanie also said she’d give me a call a week before my surgery to tell me how to prepare for it.

Mr Juicy and I were so impressed with Optimax that he’s booked a consultation with them too! At the moment I am so excited to have the surgery and have started looking at what sunnies I’d like to buy! I’ve also booked a hair appointment to get the fringe I’ve always wanted but didn't get because it wouldn’t sit right on my glasses! I know when the day of my surgery finally comes around I will be unbelievably nervous though! Sick with nerves! At the moment though, I’m just enjoying the excited feeling.

Gorgeous Bvlgari sunglasses from Pret a Voir. One of the many I have my eye on!

I’ll keep you up to date with my laser eye surgery journey as and when things progress. I haven’t went into loads of technical details about the surgery here as there is loads of information available on the Optimax website and I’ll discuss my actual experience of the surgery after it’s happened.
Have any of you had laser eye surgery? Would you have it?
Lisa x