I wrote this post in May 2011 but I never actually published it. I came across it just now when sorting through old drafts that never saw the light of day, so here it is in all its unedited, non-picture glory.

If you’re interested in reading about my original laser eye surgery experience, you can find it here: LASEK laser eye surgery – it bloody hurts.

Also, let the record state that two of my offline friends have since had it done, and one thought it was amazing and one hated it. So there you go – it really does divide opinions.

On with the original post.

I was thinking recently about how it’s been a year since I had laser eye surgery – highlighted by a cute little card that Ultralase sent me with a birthday candle on it. I could hardly forget, since my eyesight is now something that continues to make me happy whenever I see something beautiful. I come from a pretty arty background as we had some professional painters in our family history (in fact, there was an exhibition for one of them a while ago) and my mum did Art History at uni, and we were always brought up with creative and artistic things to do.

I just love beautiful things, whether a great design, breathtaking scenery or the world-class digital effects used in films. They are the things which will push me to the top of a steep hill in the blazing heat to take the perfect photo and that will make me stay up until daylight to perfect a theme design. Ironically, it’s the time when you’re most likely to see me frown as I’m concentrating to make something perfect, but it makes me happy in the end :)

I appreciate everything so much more now. I can see better than when I wore glasses, and people often ask me what it’s like. To me it’s like the difference between watching a small portable TV and viewing something in crystal clear HD with a couple of million pixels. I notice a lot more – not always a good thing when there are spiders on the ceiling or cobwebs in the corners – and life is actually a lot easier. I’m still short, obviously, so that does still detract a bit from what I can see, but it’s so convenient to be able to read signs from a crazy distance, be able to see everything going on when I go swimming, not having to wear two pairs of glasses at once at a 3D film etc. Some of these things could be solved with contacts, but I’m just too squeamish. I really hate messing with my eyes, and although they’re a bit dry sometimes, it was definitely worth it in the end. I can wear eye make up without it being mostly covered up. I don’t get annoying indentations on the bridge of my nose. Such simple things, but they do make a difference.

So far (touch wood), I’ve been less affected by hay fever too. I know it’ll come back if I spend too long outside/near pollen that irritates me, but it’s much more manageable now. The only thing I’m concerned about is having an eye test. I’ve not had an independent test since I’ve had the surgery, and to be honest my eyes hate anything going near them now. I say ‘my eyes hate’ rather than ‘I hate things near my eyes’, because they twitch on their own if they sense they’re going to be messed with – it’s not a conscious thing at all!

Having said all this, I wouldn’t advise ANYONE to go and get laser eye surgery, especially if it’s the painful version that I had to have. It’s definitely something that is down to personal choice. It took me a long time to feel like the pain was worth it, because I don’t deal with pain very well. The other issue is the cost. As I said before, I chose the most expensive option, and I’m still paying it off until November. It’s not as cheap as all the deals would have you believe, but then again it does depend on the shape of your eyes and how bad your eyesight is.

Would I go through it all again? I’d like to say yes.