Laser Eye Surgery Patient - Gareth Rubin
Learn more about the experiences of
others who have had Laser Eye Surgery.
“Hi, I’m Gareth Rubin. I’m a Health
Journalist. I’ve written for all the broadsheets at some point or
another, so you’ve probably read some of my articles. I am
documenting my experiences with Laser Eye
Surgery, which I’ve written about before, but never actually
experienced. Because I’ve decided to get the surgery done because
I’m mildly astigmatic, which means that the world for me is a
little bit blurred, colours a bit muted, and I know there have been
some great advances in the surgical techniques over recent years
which have made it extremely safe and with very, very good results,
excellent results, even better then they used to be.
So, I’ve had glasses and contact lenses in the
past, but I found the glasses uncomfortable and because my eyes are
astigmatic in quite a complicated way, I had to get hard lenses,
contact lenses, because the strange way my eyes are astigmatic. And
because they are so uncomfortable, basically quite painful to wear,
I only wore them for a short term. But I liked what they did for
me, they made the world a much more vibrant place, colours really
stood out. I got to see people faces properly for the first time. I
got to recognise people when they weren’t standing just 2 metres in
front of me.
Working as a journalist of course, I have to
spend a lot of time reading. And whenever I’m in a newspaper
office, my secretary always laughs at me because I have to hold a
newspaper, basically right about here, right in front of my face in
order to see it. Whereas I’m hoping, in fact I’m pretty sure, that
from now on I'll be able to read it from right up here. So,
I’ll be able to hold it on the desk in front of me instead of
putting it right up in front of my eyes.
I went for Optimax because their surgeons seem to be as
good as any in the world. They really are international experts; as
good as in anywhere in Britain or America. And the equipment
they're using is the most up-to-date, most modern. The surgery is
very modern, very friendly, very welcoming; very pretty nurses,
makes a big difference. And they’re also quite a lot cheaper than
all their competitors from what I can tell. They’re 30% cheaper. I
don’t know how they do it because everything they use is really
the top of the range stuff.
So, I’ve met my surgeon. He put me at ease,
because, you know, no body likes having somebody else touching
their eyes, but I know he’s an international expert, so I’m quite
confident about this now. More excited than nervous really; a
little bit of nerves, of course, that’s perfectly natural, -it’s an
operation. But quite excited about the whole thing. So I’m hoping
that after the surgery, the world for me will just become a much
more vibrant, colourful place. It’s a very beautiful world so I
really want to enjoy every sight of it. I’ll keep you updated on
how it goes. The surgery takes place in about an hour and a half
now. And, very excited about the whole thing; I’ll let you know how
it went.
Well, it’s now about an hour and a half after
the operation. It all went fine. Mr
Boezaart, my surgeon, met me before, during and after the
operation, kept me updated on what was going on. You’re perfectly
awake and alert during the operation, although you can’t really see
what’s going on, so you don’t kind of worry about that, it
will probably cause you stress.
It’s all very relaxed; it’s not fun, you
wouldn’t think about doing it for something to do on a Sunday
afternoon. But it’s not painful; it’s uncomfortable, but it’s not
painful and it’s not really stressful or a really nasty
experience all round. So, I guess now we just wait and see how it
all turns out. I’ve got a slight pain in my eye, but very minor,
just a little stinging really, and that will go away very soon.
We’ll see how well I can see, from here on in. I’ll let you know
how I get along.
Right, well, it’s now about 10 days since the
operation, and it’s been a complete success in terms of the
correction to my vision. I can now see much farther than I could
before. I can easily read books holding them right up there, quite
a long way away from my face. If I want to, I can watch TV or films
in cinema without squinting, without having to sit in the front row
in a cinema. So it’s actually made quite a difference to my
lifestyle really. I can now enjoy going to art galleries and seeing
the pictures on the wall, and also the captions beneath them,
explaining what they are.
Also physically, it’s made a difference
because my eyes are much more open, much wider, because I don’t
have to squint to see things. And I don’t have the constant kind of
tension in my facial muscles now, which was what was happening when
I had a squint. That actually led to headaches sometimes, so that
doesn’t happen anymore. So, I’m actually much more
comfortable.
As well being able to recognise my friends from quite a long
distance away, so I don’t have to pretend later on that I didn’t
see them; it was slightly embarrassing if I didn’t recognise them
when they were waving at me or I’d have to try to recognise
them from, work out who they are, from what clothes they were
wearing and where they were, and that kind of thing. So that’s the
point. It’s great to be able to recognise people from 20, 30 metres
away, when you can actually recognise their face. It’s fantastic
really; it does actually make much more of a difference to my life,
than I was expecting to be honest. It’s been, it really has been a
complete success and more. So I’m now in the process of
recommending it to all my friends and my family as well. We’ll just
have to see if they take me up on my recommendation."
All our success stories are volunteered by Optimax patients
who are so delighted with results of their treatment that they
wanted to share their experience with others.
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