Saying goodbye to Specky (From The Northern Echo)

Saying goodbye to Specky

3:32pm Tuesday 4th October 2011 in Health By Gavin Havery, Reporter (Derwentside & Tyneside)

Thick-lensed glasses were a way of life for Gavin Havery, until he opted for laser eye surgery and discovered a whole new world.

SPECKY, four eyes, X-Ray specs. I had the lot. Sometimes, I had a combination of all three. It wasn’t easy growing up wearing a pair of National Health goggles.

I was about four or five when I started wearing glasses and they looked like Buddy Holly’s.

Not a great look for infant school, but they were the same as my granddad’s and that was good enough for me.

I never enjoyed wearing glasses. Although I had my eyes tested regularly and choosing new ones was interesting, it was something I had to put up with.

When I was about 18 and started going to pubs to meet friends, I would leave them on a shelf just inside the front door so I would know where they were when I got back. I would tell people I only really needed them for reading and schoolwork. In truth, I should have been wearing them all the time.

I suffer from astigmatism, a cornea that is rugby ball-shaped instead of round, as well as long-sightedness, and have such a strong prescription that people would usually cry “whoah, far out” when looking at the blurry, wobbly life through my lenses.

During university, and as I started work, I would just wear them all the time; from the moment I woke in the morning to the minute I switched the light off to go to sleep.

Still though, after 30 years, I wanted the freedom not to wear them and after a few friends raved about how pleased they were with the results of their laser surgery, I decided to give it a go.

The idea of using lasers on one of the most delicate sensitive and important parts of the body sounds plain wrong from the outset.

When you hear what they do in detail, it doesn’t get much easier to deal with.

A flap of the outer layer of eye is cut away, leaving a hinge, which is peeled back before precise computerised laser beams correct your prescription and the flap is replaced and allowed to heal. My stomach jumps just thinking about it.

In 1987, Marguerite MacDonald, a member of Optical Express’s International Medical Advisory Board, performed the world’s first excimer laser treatment. Today, the company has branches across the UK and Europe and offers laser surgery in locations you might not expect.

I went for my consultation at the Metro- Centre, in Gateshead, to see if I was suitable for the treatment – not everyone is – and was pleased, though a little apprehensive, when they told me we could go ahead.

I was booked in for LASIK – Laser-Assisted- In-Situ-Keratomileusis – currently the most frequently performed elective procedure in the world, as well as Advanced CustomVue Wavefront and iFS 150 Intralase, to further tailor the treatment to my needs.

As well as feeling a bit squeamish about the procedure, the other thing that might put people off is the cost. Optical Express can treat people from £395 per eye, but surgery can run into thousands of pounds, depending on the complexity of your prescription. Finance deals are available and many people take into consideration the cost of what they would spend on glasses or contact lenses over the years.

On the morning of the procedure, I met my surgeon, Professor Jan Venter, who has performed more than 68,000 treatments. Former patients include the athlete Daley Thompson and the actress Brigitte Nielsen.

“One of the most common myths of laser eye surgery is that a hot laser ‘burns’ your eyes when, in fact, a cold laser beam is used which can’t harm your eye surface in any way,” he says. “During the procedure there is no discomfort due to the eye being frozen with anaesthetic drops. For the few hours after the procedure, you may experience a mild sensation of discomfort, but this soon settle down.”

Of the 100,000 people who undergo corrective laser eye surgery each year in the UK alone, the majority are very happy with the results. Overall complication rates are less than one per cent and there have been no reported cases of blindness.

Prof Venter says the majority of laser eye surgery complications are not serious and are normally treatable by your optometrist or surgeon, with many of the complications resolving over time as the eye continues its natural healing process.

For me, the surgery itself was a little like being at the dentist; quite unpleasant at times, but I knew I would have to stay still because it would be worth it in the long run.

It is a bit weird giving someone such access to your eyes, smelling the chemicals, hearing the clicking of the lasers and then seeing the translucent flap being lifted back over your eyeball.

The important part is to stay calm, focus on the orange flickering light and try to think of something else to stop yourself sitting bolt upright shouting “What the hell am I doing?”

The procedure didn’t take long and afterwards my partner, who had spent the time shopping, was there to take me home.

I felt a bit woozy for the rest of the day as my eyes were streaming constantly and quite sore, but I’d been told that was to be expected and was given a range of drops to prevent infection, inflammation and dry eye. I was also advised to take a pain killer.

The next day I felt fine and after a follow-up eye test, I was told I now had 20/20 vision. I could read more lines of letters on the chart than I could with my glasses.

It really is amazing seeing things clearly in a way that most people take for granted and not from behind two pieces of curved glass.

I love the way I can see now, but I am still getting used to not being a glasses wearer and still look for them as my face feels a bit naked without them.

I have even caught myself pushing imaginary glasses back up the bridge of my nose.

• To find out more log on to opticalexpress.co.uk or call 0800-023-20-20