Charlie had her laser eye surgery this morning.  Apparently it went well, and she went straight home to try to get some sleep. She says she can see an improvement already, but that her eyes are very sore and sensitive.

I can remember the soreness after the suitability test, so my sympathies are with her — hope all is well (I’m sure she’ll be fine).

In my research, I came across an article from ten years ago about the poor success rate of laser eye surgery:

New scientific research from Germany shows that seven out of ten patients are left with defective vision after laser surgery.

Poor night vision is caused by the eye’s inability to respond quickly enough to changing levels of light, causing glare, ghosting, halos and starbursts. This is corrected in most patients by glasses. However, if you’ve had laser surgery, the condition may be untreatable.
['Watchdog Healthcheck', BBC Online, July 12, 1999]

One has to hope that with the rise in popularity and increased numbers of operations, that the success rate would have improved in those ten years. I got a bit worried after reading an article on the BBC’s website from 2003, about the training of “surgeons”:

Consumer experts have warned that patients undergoing laser eye surgery are not being told about the risks they could be taking with their sight…

But the investigation by Health Which? also reveals any doctor can carry out the treatment after just a few days of training – they do not need a specialist qualification.

The magazine also found complication rates vary between surgeons and clinics…
['Laser eye surgery risks highlighted', BBC, Tuesday, 18 February, 2003, 10:19 GMT]

That and the recent court case of  of Dr Haralabos Eleftheriadis (BBC story from 2007), means that, quite frankly, I would want to know a LOT more about the training and experience of my eye surgeon were I to go ahead.

It kind of worries me that the NHS won’t allow laser eye treatments to be done on the national health because “no-one knows the long term risks”. In other words, what happens to the eyes in 20 or 30 years time.  This is mentioned here:  ‘Laser eye surgery warning’, and also here:  ‘Routine NHS laser ops ruled out’, both from the BBC at the end of 2004, here’s a quote:

… The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) said the procedure was effective for people with mild to moderate short-sightedness.

But it said there is too little evidence to show its long-term safety for it to be widely used.

OK, it seems that Charlie and I passed the tests as suitable candidates for laser eye surgery, which seems to mean that we both fall into the pretty narrow category of “mild to moderate short-sightedness”. I guess the risks to us of complications would therefore be minimal.

She’s done her research (it was her idea that we get tested), and is happy with the cost and everything, so I am sure she will be delighted and that all will be well.  It has to be said, though, that the long term risk worries me more (maybe because I am a lot younger). I also need to feel a LOT better informed than I do at present, and I just need to shop around — I just can’t take the first price I get; I have principles!

In any case, it may be OK for her to get it done and to take time out to heal — but my life is completely different; I have two kids to look out for — it is so much more difficult to arrange, and I do feel I have more to lose as well.  But I shall keep looking and thinking because I really would LOVE not to have contact lenses and spectacles to bother about.

One good thing about my wearing my glasses at the moment is that it encourages Olivia to wear hers.