Laser Eye Surgery

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Permalink Reply by Mark B on January 21, 2012 at 20:17

Hi KP,

I had it about a year ago. No regrets.
I asked same questions as you and in the end for me it came down to, where would you go if it went wrong? Answer Moorfields eye hospital at Old Street.

They don't offer a free consult, and there was something like a 4 month wait. But I wasn't in too much of a rush.
In that consult I spent a lot of time with the actual surgeon who would do the job, and asked all the questions I wanted. This person did it.

http://www.moorfields-private.co.uk/Consultants/juliandstevens

I'm a scientist and I liked that he is a research scientist as well as a surgeon, and he has written lots of journal articles. Ticked all the boxes for me.

Surgery was a week later at 1930 in Moorfields. Took 1.5 hours total and probably only 30 or so minutes was the actual job.

No pain. Not comfortable, but ok. And that was it.
So I went on my own, and got 141 bus home afterwards on my own.
Discomfort you hear about was for me, only Iike a tired bad contact lens day - you know gritty. But never painful.
Next day checkup and then 4 months later another checkup, and that was it.
Real surprise was how bright everything is. I had thick glasses and even with clear lenses they took out a lot of the intensity. Without them it's bright. Took a lot of getting used to. Also my 5 yr old asked me what the cracks were beneath my eyes.....
I would say strong recommend for Moorfields from me, because at least you now they are not going to push you one way or the other, and you will talk to person who does it all the ways through. Sure you pay up front, but you are going to pay one way or other for that. Also weirdly I think Moorfields is not expensive compared to the private companies. I say weirdly as you would end up at Moorfields if something happened.
Good luck, and let us know what you decide, Mark

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Permalink Reply by Hugh on January 21, 2012 at 21:12

Mark, what level of improvement do they aim for / achieve? Does it work for all conditions, e.g. short sight, reading, astygmatism? Finally are you willing to share the cost?

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Permalink Reply by james walsh on January 21, 2012 at 21:32

Is it available on NHS ?

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Permalink Reply by HoL Site Admin on January 21, 2012 at 20:33

A reply to you on Twitter:

 

@LadysalSally

@harringayonline I've had it done if you can let this person know. More than happy to speak to them. DM me if you need my details.

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Permalink Reply by KP on January 21, 2012 at 20:39

Hi Mark

That's really helpful thanks! I had been thinking about Moorfields because it is renowned for it's work in eyecare and therefore would expect nothing but the best in terms of their knowledge and surgeons. It's good to hear that you have had a positive experience.

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Permalink Reply by Jacqueline Osley on January 21, 2012 at 23:59

I wanted this done, but my doctor at Moorfields said my eyesight is too poor. The optimum level for having laser surgery is -6 and below. Do you know your prescription? Researchers at Moorfields are currently working up to - 12, I believe, but since I'm -15. it's no good to me!

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Permalink Reply by pamish on January 22, 2012 at 0:33

Question to ask: How long does it last as your eyes change? I thought about it in my 40s (I'm very short-sighted) but since them I'm slightly less short-sighted but now have the classic presbyopia ie my arms are too short, can't read close up so need different prescriptions. So if my short sight had been corrected, I'd now need reading glasses.  And my eyes are still subtly changing from year to year, so would the surgery need re-doing?

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Permalink Reply by ElleCarumba on January 22, 2012 at 0:50

I had it done by Julian Stevens at Moorfields about nine months ago and would recommend. He had previously given one relative laser surgery and another a cornea implant and both were very pleased with the outcome.

The research suggests the key factor in the success of your eye surgery is the skill of your surgeon. Moorfields can provide you with an enormous amounts of data- I was sent Mr Stevens success rate for each different level of short sightedness (one set of data for reaching 20/20 and another set for the proportion that reached legal driving limit). They were also able to provide loads of information about the procedure and recovery time. You can see quite a bit of it on their website,

I was -4.5 and am now slightly better than 20/20.

I don't think this is something worth scrimping on. The initial consultation with Mr Stevens was £100 (lasts a couple of hours- you can't wear contact lenses for two weeks before the consultation) and there is about a five month wait for an appointment. You can be confident that if they don't think it is a good idea for you they won't recommend it - there is no hard sell.

There are two main types of laser surgery - LASIK and LASEK. LASIK is the more common one but I had LASEK as my corneas were quite thin. The recovery time is longer with LASEK - about 48 hours instead of 12. You would need someone to pick you up from the hospital and keep an eye on you if you have LASEK as you are given dilating eye drops and so can only sit in the dark for two days (you'll need someone to be able to count out your various eye drops and hand you the right ones because the light hurts for two days). But two days is still not very long.

I was 25 when I had mine (I had wanted it earlier but you need a stable prescription for two years before they will do it). I may still have some age related  decline in vision in my 40s (just as someone with naturally perfect vision would) and so may require either reading glasses or a top up of laser then. If you have laser in your 40s/50s then they can correct it all in one go - age related long sight and natural short sightedness- my aunt has perfect vision again now after prevously having both contact lenses  for short sightedness and reading glasses.

I still can't see through walls or round corners. That is the only disappointment. I like swimming and various other water based activities and it means no more worrying about losing contacts or swimming blind.

It cost slightly over £3000. That sounds like a lot but I worked out that I would spend the same money in contact lenses, solution, glasses and opticians appointments over 4 and a half years. Given that I hope to get 20 years out of it at least, it seems like a bargain.

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Permalink Reply by Hugh on January 22, 2012 at 1:05

Thanks - really useful info. Sounds like Julian Stevens is the man then. Correcting near short & long in one go! Grief now I'm seriously tempted.

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Permalink Reply by Mark B on January 22, 2012 at 8:42

What a great reply from ElleCarumba, that pretty much mirrored my experiences at Moorfields.

My prescription was worse than -6 and heading towards -8 in one eye, and the astigmatism thing. I was referred to Moorfields as my normal optician thought I had another problem. Turned out I didn't but I asked then about laser stuff and made an appointment.

I didn't want to get into what they can and can't do here as I think if you seriously considering it, then you should go for a consult and ask the expert surgeon. They can only give percentages of success so things like "98% of people end up with better than 20/20", not "you will end up with perfect eyesight". Everyone is different and so you have to make a personal choice.

After my 2 hour appointment and 40 mins talking with surgeon I decided that even though (as the local paper said), I am a 44 yr old father of 2, then if I ended up at -2 instead of perfect that would mean I could function without glasses, whereas at -8 I couldn't.
So I jumped.
There is a lot of expectation management in the process, and you will most likely be told that all older people need reading glasses as your eyes change as you age (see Pamish above), but again I thought I could live with that easily.
Turned out I ended up with perfect eyesight, but I can see I will probably need reading glasses in a decade.
One silly thing was I thought my eyes woulda be sort of perfect all the time. But now they are just like any other part of me. What. I mean is sometimes I feel I could run 10 miles, sometimes walking down the shops leaves me tired. Same with eyes. Sometimes I see perfectly sometimes when I am tired then not so well. That was always there but I think I blamed it on the glasses.
Final one was cost. Initial consult was 100 quid. I would say if you are thinking at all about it, then this is very well spent. EllaCarumba said no hard sell, but I didn't feel there was any sell at all. Just looking at you and what options are nada could be. This is a big contrast to a few years ago when I went to a commercial place and spent 3 hours with a salesperson and only a bit with an optician, and the optician didn't say much.
Surgery was 4k. Cleaned me out, and I wonder if I would have got it this year given the economy... But as already said by. EllaCarumba, glasses are expensive and I would have been in for 450 quid in glasses last year, but I also need contacts for my work. So 4-5 sets of glasses for me would have paid for it anyway. (and check online at the commercial places - that is not expensive)
I vote email Moorfields and ask for a brochure and you will get an excellent PDF explaining it all.
But don't expect to be able t get it done next week there like you would at a commercial place.
Sorry this a bit long, but it's one of those things that more is worth it,
Cheers,
Mark

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Permalink Reply by Mark B on January 22, 2012 at 8:44

I was told would need reading glasses as I age and that was it. So pretty much hopefully distance vision is going to stay perfect. Which is what I wanted,

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