"I feel so fortunate to work at a hospital which offers the latest form of laser eye surgery – SMILE"
Roel Cabellon, Healthcare Technician at Optegra’s central London flagship hospital and Becky Prince, Healthcare Technician at Optegra Eye Hospital Manchester have both supported many patients on their journey to better vision – and recently took the steps to improve their own eyesight!
Roel, age 42, says:
I feel so fortunate to work at a hospital which offers the latest form of laser eye surgery – SMILE.
I have been short-sighted for a long time and dependent on glasses for over a decade.
Since treatment a big improvement is not having to wear glasses in the rain! I cycle to work every day and also cycle to record vlogs around the capital – I used to have to keep stopping to clean rain from my frames, but now I can cycle freely and basically do more without thinking and looking for my glasses. It’s fantastic!
Wearing glasses is costly especially as my prescription kept changing. I was not keen on contact lenses as they make my eyes dry, but I have been wearing those over the past year.
When I had my initial consultation with optometrist Jay Bhatt and surgeon Mr Amir Hamid, which is a really thorough series of eye tests to check prescription and eye health, I was told I was suitable for laser vision correction, and I made my decision to have the surgery straight away.
As well as being short-sighted I also have mild astigmatism s0 the shape of my eye is not a perfect round and this also affects the eye’s focus – and sometimes gave me headaches.
It was so frustrating to have to put glasses on and off all day, especially at work.
On the day of surgery, although I have seen the actual procedure before, I was still nervous – I think that is pretty normal!!
The whole thing went so quickly and I didn’t feel any pain or discomfort at all.
I was so pleased with the outcome afterwards. My vision now in both eyes is 20/20.
I am so glad I had the treatment – it is the best investment I have made for myself.
Another Optegra colleague, Becky Prince, age 24, also had laser eye surgery earlier this year.
She says:
I have been considering having laser eye surgery for some years but never had the courage to go through with it – until I learnt more about it and saw the fantastic results when I started working with Optegra.
I started to have conversations with eye surgeon Mr Say Aun Quah who explained the different types of surgeries.
After having a thorough consultation, we discussed that LASIK would be the best option for me and as I had the weekend of Friday 14th February off it made sense to book in for that Friday so I had the weekend to recover. It was a Valentine’s Day with a difference!
My vision was quite bad before treatment and I had depended on glasses for over 12 years.
Without glasses my vision was so poor without I couldn’t see anything in front of me clearly, even faces were blurry. I was short-sighted with a slight astigmatism in both eyes.
Having to wear glasses every day was a bit of a hindrance during work if I needed to wear a surgical mask due to my glasses then steaming up.
Away from work I found that glasses weren’t always convenient and I had to get prescription sunglasses which aren’t always the most stylish!
I also wore contact lenses for seven years which were more convenient but I was suffering with dry eye and also have an allergy to silicone hydrogel contact lenses, so my options were very limited in which contact lenses I was suitable for.
The laser surgery itself was brilliant. I didn’t feel a thing. Mr Quah and the theatre staff made me feel at ease through the whole procedure.
Each step was explained before they proceeded and I was reassured through each process and told to control my breathing if they felt I was holding my breath.
I noticed improvement pretty much straight after the surgery. Obviously because of the anaesthetic my vision was a bit hazy, however by the evening I was able to read number plates which I had not been able to do without glasses for years!
I am now seeing better than 20/20 which I never even thought would be possible after wearing glasses for so long.
It has honestly changed my life!
Being able to see straight away when you first wake up, not being reliant on glasses or contact lenses, not having to change between normal glasses and sunglasses… Everything is brilliant and it has been the best decision I have made.
To discuss how laser eye surgery could change your life, book a free consultation.
