Let There Be Sight

Ireland’s climate is just not well suited for wearing glasses. You walk out the door when it’s sunny and five minutes later it’s raining torrentially. And when you wear glasses, every drop of water has the potential to obscure your vision. That’s why ever since I was 16 and my chemistry teacher underwent laser eye surgery, I’ve had my sights set on having the procedure done.

Back when I was first prescribed glasses at the tender age of eight, I used to wear them all the time. But when I turned 13 and self-conscious, I decided to only wear glasses in school or when watching movies. The rest of the time I would bundle them away into their case and make do with poorer eyesight, until I was able to have laser eye surgery.

My ophthalmologist advised me to wait until my mid-20s to have the surgery, which is when eyesight tends to stabilise. So I put it on the back burner and got on with my life.

Years passed. I’d gotten used to not being able to see the bus numbers from afar, or recognise people as I walked down the street, or appreciate a beautiful man across The George’s dancefloor. But after having laser eye surgery three months ago, I fi nally understand just how much I had been depriving myself of.

I decided to bite the bullet and book in for a consultation at the Wellington Eye Clinic. The first day I went in I had the usual tests to measure my visual acuity and the health of my eyes. The friendly nurses took a scan of my eyes with a Wavefront machine, which allows them to calibrate the surgery specifically for the shape of each eye, irregularities and all, and helps provide a more precise result and better vision.

I met with Dr Arthur Cummings next, one of the founding consultant ophthalmologists in the Wellington Eye Clinic, who talked me through the procedure that would best suit me. Because of the work I do, writing and editing video on computers, Dr Cummings recommended that I get both eyes corrected to ‘zero zero’, with Wavefront assisted LASIK, which would give me 20/20 vision.

He did make me aware that in about 20 years I will need glasses to see things up close. This was a trade offI was more than willing to make, so I booked in for surgery.

The day of the surgery I arrived at Wellington Eye Clinic early and well-fed. The nurse walked me through the post-surgery instructions and medications to take, and then she gave me a Xanax, which helped calm my nerves!

After donning my fetching hospital garments and matching hat I was given drops to numb the pain, and another detailed brief on aftercare later, I was finally ready for the laser.

The procedure itself was painless, albeit a tad uncomfortable, and Dr Cummings talked me through every step of the way, which helped with nerves too. For me, the laser correction part of the surgery took about eight seconds on each eye, and then I was done.

My recovery really didn’t take long at all. After the surgery, my eyes stung for a few hours, but by six o’clock that evening, the discomfort had subsided. For about a week it does feel like you’ve got something in your eye, like a speck of dust or an eyelash and you have to wear eye guards at night so you don’t rub your eyes. At three months in, I’m still seeing some glare and starbursts at night around lights, but this should continue to improve over the next few months.

I went for my follow-up appointment the day after the surgery and my vision was already slightly better than 20/20. I really noticed the difference when I went to see RIOT, one week after the surgery. My vision was so sharp I could count each one of Ronan Brady’s abs! On holidays in the Algarve, the natural beauty around me had me guffawing, I was like a kid, looking out of an airplane for the first time, seeing the vast sea of clouds.

Laser eye surgery changed my life in so many ways for the better and it’s only been a few months.

If you are interested in booking a consultation with the Wellington Eye Clinic please call (01) 293 0470 or visit www.wellingtoneyeclinic.ie