Optimax

I had LASIK surgery on Tues 8th Oct 02 at Aberdeen. My surgeon was Dr Dan Reinstein. He was very professional and talked me through the whole procedure. I thought the surgery itself was a little uncomfortable but that was quickly forgotten when i woke up next morning and was able to "c" the other side of the room without reaching for my glasses! It's just a great feeling.

Received bi-lateral PRK Epiflap on 15/10/2002. My prescription was L -4.25, R -4.50. Found staff and Doctor to be professional and friendly. Treatment was painless. No bandage lenses offered or fitted. About 15 mins after treatment pain started and eyes closed. Extreme discomfort for 24 hours coupled with severe watering of eyes (having to pull them open to release pressure). Eventually opened eyes after 48 hours, quite light sensitive. Improvement in vision but still seems to be short sighted in both eyes. Now 3.5 days since treatment, no pain and still short sighted, hoping for improvement over next few days.

I had PRK-Epiflap on the 17th of this month. The process of booking was good and my appointment was on time when i arrived (not waiting for ages as some people have commented). Only one eye needed treating as i had one at -3.75 and one at -0.75. I did feel that the consultation was very rushed and the doctor could have gone into more detail. I had read some up to date articles about high does vitamins during recovery reducing risk of haze but he dismissed this without discussion. I still had it done though and it was quick and painless. I think i was lucky because i had very little pain and none of the discomfort described by the last couple of people. after 4 days i felt that my eye sight was probably no better than when i went in and was feeling a little depressed. I woke up on day 5 and hey presto things were clear. Since then it has just got better. Very little Halo, Very little night glare and good vision. I am really please with the result and for anyone having it done i would say be patient, you will get the result you want but you need to give it a little time.

I had LASIK both eyes on 17th October at Finchley Rd, performed by Dr Patel. My prescription was around -3.75 both eyes, and I had the choice of PRK and LASIK. After weighing up all I could find, and speaking to the consultant, I opted for LASIK, and I am thrilled. I took up the option of Valium, and highly recommend it - my brother was treated without it yesterday and found it quite disturbing to be so aware whereas I felt quite distanced from the whole procedure - definitely a bonus when someone is slicing through your cornea! My eyes were streaming for 4 hours after the treatment, however I had booked into a hotel nearby and was able to rest them almost immediately - another thing I would recommend, if you are forking out £1000, add the extra £70 for your own piece of mind - I felt comfortable being so near the clinic if anything went wrong. It was 3 days before I had any 'scares', and that was waking up with a deep purple bruise around my eye ball on the Sunday. This was my only complaint - I found the administration sloppy at times, in particular no out-of-hours contact number for panicking patients! However, I went back to clinic for reassurance on Monday and they saw me immediately, and again for my 7 day check-up two days later.

I attended at the Glasgow clinic on 26 October where Dr Anwar carried out my laser treatment. There was a lot of sitting about so I recommend having something to eat in your bag as I attended for an 8.30 am appointment and by the time I'd had the eye tests and the consultation (and waited for an age in between) it was 12 noon before I received my laser treatment and was hungry again. Although shaking with nerves I couldn't believe how simple and pain free the whole process was. I was given the option of having bandage lenses or patches and I opted for patches (one of which was clear so you could see). I was happy with this choice and although I was able to see with one eye on my way home this eye did close up soon after. Also, after getting home my husband went to collect the children and I gave myself a bit of a fright when I fainted! I did rely a lot on my husband for the rest of that day and the next as I couldn't do something as simple as tell what time I should be taking the pain killers. It was a bit scary not being able to see at all when I had the patches on so I advise you to think very carefully before getting both eyes done at the same time. Thankfully I did not have any great discomfort and didn't feel any of the 'gritty' feeling that I had been told to expect, hence I didn't need to take any of the sleeping tablets provided. Don't know if the fact that I stayed in bed and rested for these 2 days helped with this. I did notice that the vision in my left eye improved faster than with my right so patience is needed. I had my check up yesterday and have been told my vision is 20/20, although this could fluctuate slightly over the next few weeks. I'm one happy lady!

I had PRK Epiflap with Optimax at the London (Finchley Road clinic) on one eye on the 20th November to solve mild short sight and astigmatism. The organisation when arriving was confused (forms didn’t get completed and I missed my slot) and I felt the consultation was a little rushed and this didn’t instil a strong sense of confidence which I needed. However I went ahead. The operation was painless and the surgeon explained what was happening. I took the sleeping pills and slept OK that night. It was uncomfortable the following day and I took the patch off. After 2 days the pain was minimal but my eye still red and a little swollen. Over the last 3 days the cloudiness is going and there has been a steady improvement in vision and clarity and it is getting better every day. At the moment its very disorientating to have different focus (like wearing only one lens in a pair of glasses) but I am getting used to it. I have a follow up appointment on the 2nd Dec when I will also discuss my other eye. I am pleased I didn’t get both eyes done at once as I would definitely have trouble driving and working on a PC. So far so good....

There was a lot of problems for me on the day due to computer failure etc. I was basically sent home and asked to come back the next day. This is obviously not ideal if you're nervous or have made special arrangements, but is a service issue, not a surgical one I had LASIK on the 7/11/02 at a cost of £999. I had both eyes done on the same day. The actual operation was as painless as advertised and I was quickly out of the place. My eye sight was extremely poor before with 8.25 in one eye and 10.25 in the other, so I was borderline, but I was able to notice some improvement within a few hours. The next day I was driving. Now, some three weeks later, I feel great and have even been swimming. I have been told to expect some more improvement, so I am extremely happy. The only reason for good and not very good is the issue with the machine breaking down. No regrets at all.

I got eyes treated @ Aberdeen by Dr Ramstein on 18th November. I am absolutely delighted with results of the procedure. Found Dr Ramstein to be very thorough. Before the procedure he went through any concerns you had until you were comfortable and during the surgery itself he talked you through each stage of the process (although sometimes hard to hear over the jazz music!). One complaint I would have is that, although the girls themselves are excellent with dealing with the patients, at each consultation & the procedure itself there were delays. Initial consultation took 1hr 45 mins, the surgery 2hrs 30mins, next day check-up 1hr 45mins, 1 week appointment should have been today but got call yesterday asking to reschedule for tomorrow. Appearance given is a wee bit disorganised (possibly trying to squeeze in too many patients???) Hopefully ok to advertise this on this forum but there are a number of charities who operate schemes to re-use old spectacles for use in developing countries. All going well, a good number of you who visit this forum will no longer have any requirement for your glasses so please put them to good use! The following are some of the schemes available: Vision Aid Overseas - Old spectacles can be sent in a padded envelope to: Vision Aid Overseas, 12 The Bell Centre, Newton Road, Manor Royal, Crawley, West Sussex RH10 9FZ or give them to opticians who collect for them. World Insight Appeal - Operated by Help the Aged & Dollond & Aitchison. Hand your old spectacles into any Dollond & Aitchison branch or send them to World Insight Appeal, FREEPOST, Lon 131109, London, EC1B 1JY. Oxfam - recycle old spectacles, sunglasses and cases. You can hand them in at any Oxfam Charity shop. Lions clubs throughout the UK.

I had LASIK surgery (on both eyes) on 21st November, at a total cost of £999 - a special offer after attending an open day at the Finchley Rd clinic. Dr Patel did the op and was very good, he put my mind at ease at the consultation and during the op. I was petrified for weeks beforehand, but afterwards I thought to myself 'that wasn't so bad after all' and now I can see almost perfectly, one eye is slightly long sighted and the other slightly short, but considering I was approx -9.5 in both eyes I think that is amazing! Am going tonight for my 1 week aftercare so will find out my exact prescription then, hopefully there will be no need for a re-correction in 6 months. I was told that my corneas were thick (a good thing for LASIK) and that my pupils were large (not brilliant for LASIK as it can affect your night vision) so I knew the possible down side and still went for it. My night vision is not as clear as day but it's OK, I can drive at night (although car lights can sometime be a bit bright), but it may settle down in time. The healing has been fine, eyes do still get a bit tired towards the end of the day making vision a bit blurred and air con makes my eyes so dry they burn, but other than that 12 days later I sometimes forget that my eyes have 'been done' and I go to take my glasses off/ or lenses out but they're not there anymore. I wish I had this done sooner (am 26 and worn glasses/ contacts since I was 6), the freedom that I have now is great, cannot wait to go on hols next year and swim in the sea without worrying about a) getting sea salt in my eye (burns with contacts in) b) loosing my contacts in a big wave etc c) being able to see underwater for the first time in ages!!! The only down side of Optimax is they are always running late, both my consultation and my 1 day aftercare appt were nearly and hour late, but the treatment was early! Overall though very good- I have called them once as I was worried about something but they called me back after speaking with Dr Patel and put my mind at rest.

I had my LASIK op on 19th October at the Aberdeen clinic, with the surgeon being Anupam Chatterjee. I am now almost 7 weeks post op, so I feel it is a good point to give a balanced view. My initial consultation in September with Leanne was very detailed and at that point I had not carried out much research, so the guidance at that stage was excellent. I had some initial concerns about the surgeon, due to some comments on areas of this website, but found him to be efficient but not over detailed. The actual operation was fairly straightforward, however at this point I would like to state two specific areas which affected my own situation. Firstly I had planned to take a week off post op which was a wise move as I could not have worked with a computer 24 hrs after the op. Secondly I did not have the dramatic feeling the next day of perfect vision, it was better, but I knew it was not as good as with my contact lenses or glasses. The 24hr post op examination confirmed my concerns, both eyes were swollen and I was not at driving standard. This came as a bit of a shock and after frantically checking this website I realised this did not seem to be that common. I then decided to be extra diligent with the drop application and as the week went by I knew my sight was improving. However due to a personnel shortage the clinic cancelled my 1st week check, which was a concern to me due to the fact that I was using one set of drops two hourly and the guidance notes specifically stated that usage should be no longer than a week. Eventually I managed to speak to an Optometrist from the Edinburgh clinic who advised me to decrease the usage straight away. I ended up with my 1st week appointment being 13 days post op, at which my vision quality was improving. I had my most recent check-up yesterday and my vision is good, although my eyes can be a little irritable at the end of the day. The Aberdeen clinic seems to very busy, I recommended a work colleague, who had her op about a month ago, so it is nice to compare notes. However some money off vouchers for recommendations arrived yesterday, so I hope the clinic accepts mine post op!!!! for my recommendation. The staff in the clinic are very nice and seem to be coping with the newness of this clinic.