Laser eye surgery (and my review of it)

I do not wear glasses anymore!  This is big news for someone who has been a four-eyes almost all of her life.  I've tried contacts but never found them comfortable (dry eyes).  Some people suit glasses and look good in them. I'm not one of those people.  It doesn't help that I'm a size six (UK) and only 5ft 2 and have a head in proportion to my midget-sized body, meaning that most glasses look enormous on me.  And now I'm an international athlete (meaning I run in London and when I'm abroad) and I run in the rain, wind and snow, wearing glasses became even more of an irritant. A run in the winter would typically involve me having to use my fingers as windscreen wipers in order to see anything in front of me.  But all of that is now over ...

I have R to thank.  That and a few glasses of vino.  We had R around to dinner and he talked (at some drunken length) about how his laser eye surgery was the best thing he ever did.  That same night I drunkenly went onto the internet and booked myself a consultation.  I had an appointment the next day and a further appointment for laser eye surgery only one week after that.

The procedure itself didn't hurt.  It was done privately but by an NHS surgeon.  I googled him beforehand and was pleased to see that he seemed to have extensive experience!  And, unlike the procedures of old (or the cheaper procedures of the current day), no knife was used - in fact, I couldn't see any implements at all descending onto my eye (which is what I was most worried about).  All I could see were some flashing lights and all I could feel was, at one point, some pressure. And then after about five or ten minutes it was all over.  That was a Saturday morning.  I was warned I would experience "some discomfort" after the anaesthetic eye drops wore off and for about four hours but was told I would be fine to go back to work on Monday. 

Now, if you're reading this and thinking about getting the surgery done, there are a few points to note. 

1.  The prices advertised are not the prices they charge.  Those prices are to get the old-fashioned "slice and dice and zap" surgery.  The more modern (and painless) version is a fair bit more expensive (all up it cost me around £3,000).

2.  Discomfort is a medical term for "pain".  Once the eye drops wore off my eyes did hurt for about three hours and I had to keep them closed.  The pain was bearable thanks to a couple of valium downed with some red wine.  But it wasn't pleasant.  After those three or four hours, there was no more pain. But my eyes did feel really dry and gritty for about a week - they felt like my eyes felt when I'd had contact lenses in for too long.  But that was manageable with eye drops.

3. I got the most high-tech (and so expensive) procedure done.  I have no idea what the other procedures are like.  Thankfully, there are interest free payment plans, so for me it was pretty economical (considering my astigmatism and expensive prescription).  But it may prove less so if you have a pretty run-of-the-mill prescription.

4.  The advice that I would be fine for work on Monday was totally wrong.  First of all, I looked like a zombie from 28-days later.  My eyes were so bloodshot a worried colleague ran up to me and said very loudly "oh my god, your eyes are bleeding!!".  But, more importantly from a functional perspective, my eyes were hyper sensitive to light and the vision still was pretty blurry, particularly when looking at a computer screen.  Perhaps if I didn't have a computer-based job I would have been fine but, as it was, it was not until Wednesday that I could comfortably read a computer screen.

5.  It took about a week before my vision was "good".  No one warned me it would take that long - up until then, I was getting tension headaches from my eyes straining.  When I went into the surgery, I had only read the book of "testimonials" where people had said that their "personal experience" was that their vision was dramatically improved within an hour of the surgery. That was, most definitely, not the case for me.  In fact, my vision is still improving and apparently it isn't until about 3 months after the surgery that it's at its peak.  Bizarrely, I think the staff (at least at the place I went to) try to minimise what it is that you are having done.  They never refer to it as "surgery", it's always referred to as "the treatment".  As far as I'm concerned, a "treatment" is a facial.  This is most definitely eye surgery.

6.  The staff at the provider I used were much more upfront after I had the procedure done.  It was only then that they admitted that for people with stronger prescriptions than mine, they have to sometimes do "top up" treatment (which they do for free) after the initial treatment, because when their eyes heal they sometimes undo (don't ask me how) the laser treatment. 

7. For the first week after surgery you have to wear very unattractive goggles to bed.  You also can't get your eyes wet (so no putting your face under the shower), wear makeup or play any sport (including running). 

Notwithstanding all of the above, I have to say that I am incredibly glad I got the laser surgery.  I got it done about three weeks ago.  One eye is still a little red, but it's only noticeable up close.  And my vision is terrific! 

Paris!

G and I finally made use of our free Eurostar tickets to Paris last month (just before the tickets expired) and spent a weekend in Paris, leaving on a Friday night after work and returning Sunday evening.  The free Eurostar pass was given to us by Eurostar to compensate for the disaster of a journey we had from Paris to London approximately a year ago. We decided that this trip we would overlay the bad memories of Paris with new, happier ones.

The journey got off to a good start - the train left London on time and did not break down.  So far, so good. We arrived in Gare du Nord around 9 pm and had a very easy ride to our hotel (Hotel de Nice) in the Marais area.  Our hotel room was tiny, but that's pretty standard in Paris.  It had charm, was in a nice area and the shower was big enough that you could actually turn around while standing in it, rather than at our last hotel where turning in the shower meant having to exit and reenter it.  In short, things were looking great.  At least, until I unzipped my handbag to discover that at some point on the metro a thief had managed to unzip my bag, steal my iphone and then zip my bag back up, ensuring I didn't discover the thievery until it was far too late to identify the culprit.  The next hour was spent on the telephone to my mobile provider to cancel and lock the iphone and with me tipsily storming around our hotel room cursing all the thieves in Paris. 

Thankfully, after a night's sleep (and after remembering I have pretty good travel insurance) the weekend recovered.  Fresh baguettes and coffee the next morning, at a nearby cafe, certainly helped my outlook.  And the process of obtaining the police report was relatively painless.  Mobile phone stealing on the metro seems to be a national past time, and the police (although they didn't speak any English) were well equipped in dealing with foreigners who were victims of the metro thieves.  All I had to do was say, in French, "mobile telephone", "metro" and "stolen" and I had all the relevant forms to complete given to me and within 20 minutes had in my hand the signed police report that I needed to claim the phone on travel insurance.

The Saturday was sunny and perfect, and we decided to spend the rest of it exploring some of the  areas in Paris we haven't seen, being mainly the trendy east part of Paris - the Marais and beyond.  We spent a considerable time in the Parc des Buttes Chaumont, enjoying the sun and the outdoor bars. 

Then it was off to dinner at Restaurant Le Gaigne.  I'll put some photos up in the next couple of days.  We had the tasting menu and it was all very nice, although not exceptional.  We heard about the place through a review in the NYT from 2009 that came up when we were google searching restaurants in the area.  Unfortunately, most of the other diners were Americans who were also there seemingly because of the review, so it was not exactly a "local" experience, as the various tables of Americans were busying introducing themselves to one another, and shouting introductions across the very small restaurant. Nonetheless, it was a good night.

The next day we wandered around some of the Sunday fresh food markets and then had brunch in the Marais.  That was more of a traditional experience.  Burnch was a set (enormous) menu, including a croque monsieur.  When I asked the waitress whether it was possible to get the latter without the meat (given I'm a pescatarian) she looked horrified, saying to me "it is a problem.  It is a problem for you, as it does not taste good".  Eventually she relented, and I had a tomato and cheese croque monsieur (which, incidentally, did taste rather good).

Finally on the Sunday night we were off and back to London.  In comparison to our last trip to Paris, I would say this one was a success, the thievery notwithstanding.