Paul Burke
The alarm goes off and its time to rise, fumbling in the dark reaching for the glasses. Found them, ah that’s the time…grand, another few minutes left before its time to rise and shine.
This morning ritual is now a distant memory, and can be achieved with a blink of an eye lid thanks to laser eye surgery.
Of course this is not the only reason I got the laser eye surgery done, but it certainly is a great feeling to be able to see perfectly when one opens their eyes in the morning.
Before the surgery, I was wearing glasses for work (the life of an accountant!) and contacts lens socially in the evening and on the weekends. I do a lot of swimming and over the past two years have been entering triathlons. Prescription goggles are fine for the pool, but not ideal for triathlons when one changes from the open water to the bike in transition and need to be able to see. So I wore contact lens under normal goggles, which are an option as long as the goggles don’t leak! But during the cycle & running stages sweat from my forehead would get into my eyes causing discomfort. So following conversations with a few mates who took the laser option, I decided it was time for me.
A free consultation was booked at the Dundrum clinic. After this, you will know if you are suitable for the surgery – thankfully I was. Staff also talks you through the whole process at this stage and answer the string of questions you have, no matter how off the wall they may be i.e. ‘What if there is a power failure during surgery!’
The day of the operation came around fast. I got my right eye (the dominant one) done first followed by the left one. The valium tablet you are given before the operation certainly calmed any nerves I had. Chilling in the waiting area watching The March of the Penguins DVD on the flat screen mounted on the wall and wearing my glasses for the final time. I was relaxed, but not sure if was because of the valium or Morgan Freeman’s narration. Your time is called, a few eye drops in the eye and into surgery we go. Lying on your back, your eyelids are held back during the procedure to avoid blinking. With intralase technology there is no manual blade required, a flap is created on your cornea and the laser does its thing taking several seconds as the surgery staff countdown the remaining seconds. It was not painful for me but I can only describe the experience as surreal looking into the light and hearing the laser humming in the background noise. The whole procedure took ten minutes per eye. The vision is slightly hazy after the surgery, but over the next few hours the improvement is impressive. My eyes were sensitive to the external brightness post operation, but shades are provided. Back into the clinic early the next morning for the check up and all is fine. Two days of rest and I was back to work crunching the numbers.
Its now two months since my operation. My vision is better than 20/20 in both eyes. Back swimming after one month and it really has been a life changing experience. A big thank you to both the clinical and surgical staff that were flawless during it all. I look forward to scuba diving in the Maldives on my honeymoon next month. Having to wear glasses on the flight over certainly won’t be missed. As KT Tunstall sang this summer ‘Suddenly I see why the hell it means so much to me’ and she was right.