At some point you realise you’ve read pretty much all you think there is to read on laser eye surgery. The differences between Lasik and PRK, the various side affects, recovery times and tens if not hundreds of testimonials.

You’ve also probably spent a good deal of time trying to separate market spin from actual experiences. It’s annoyingly time consuming but it’s worth it if it helps you in making a properly informed decision.

At this stage it’s time to start thinking about where to get your procedure done. I’d like to be able to say I chose my clinic based on numerous recommendations and experiences of people who had it done but the truth is I wound up booking a first consult without any input.

That’s not to say it was a whimsical decision but most places in Melbourne offer you a free consult so I figured if I didn’t like the place I could always shop around and try another until I was happy.

The practice I chose was ‘Laser Sight’ in Melbourne, primarily for the following reasons;

• Their website make me want to run away screaming.

• They claim “5 of our surgeons as well as 34 staff members, their families and more than 130 of our affiliated optometrists have successfully undergone the LASIK procedure at Laser Sight.”

  If you’re in the business of surgery your eyes are obviously important. If 5 of their surgeons have undergone the procedure that speaks volumes about the confidence they have in their procedures.

  One of the surgeons to have the procedure done is the founder and medical director, Peter Stewart so it’s not like we’re talking about some random interns having got it done whilst they worked there.

• The practice is located right next to the Victorian Eye and Ear hospital. Like a lot of clinics near hospitals I imagine the surgeons there work both privately and publicly, lending credibility to the practice. I’m not suggesting they’re bulletproof but if you’re going to work in a hospital there’s usually standards you need to meet.

Despite these reassuring facts though obviously I was still a bit nervous about the whole thing. If the internet was anything to go by laser eye surgery is a pretty lucrative business and there’s plenty of horror stories out there.

Still, I’m not one to back out of something with at least giving it a try. It’s not like they were going to do anything irreversible at a simple consultation right?

Getting an appointment was relatively easy and I had one booked within a week of calling them up.

The day arrived and I rocked up my appointment about five minutes early. I was required to fill in a standard details form you’d have to fill out at any new GP practice and then waited to be seen.

The waiting time was easily less then ten minutes when I was taken away by one of their optometrists.

Inside the appointment room the first thing she did go over the two types of laser surgery (PRK and Lasik) and made sure I understood the difference between them. After asking if I had any questions or if there was anything I wasn’t sure on we proceeded on.

We went to another room that had two machines and two stools. I took a seat on one of the stools and I placed my chin on the rest. I think this was some sort of xray machine as I had to stare at a dot whilst a light moved across my eyes. The machine then did a color printout of a whole bunch of graphs and numbers.

The second machine in the room was something I hadn’t used before. You place your chin on the rest and just stare forward. Then a image of a ice capped mountain goes in and out of focus for a bit whilst the machine measures something.

Curious I asked what it was we were doing and I was told the machines were taking various measurements to calculate the suitability of my eyes to either PRK or Lasik.

The rest of the appointment was like a normal eye checkup. Back in the first appointment room they used the same big ‘goggle’ machines to test your eyes (you know, the ‘clearer with, or without’ routine) to establish my prescription.

Then came the good and bad news.

The good: I was a suitable candidate for laser surgery. My corneal bed (the bit they reshape I believe) thickness was more then adequate.

The bad: Corneal thickness (not to be confused with corneal bed thickness) is a major player in determining your surgery options as this is where the flap is cut for Lasik.

The measurement they use is microns and in layman’s terms, if you have more then 500 microns of cornea thickness you can have lasik done but if you fall under it’s not an option. My corneas fell just short of 500.

The good: That didn’t mean I couldn’t get Lasik done, not that I had my heart set on Lasik or anything but I wanted to keep my options open at this point. Turns out when you wear contact lenses full time as I had been for a decade or so they eye adjusts to this and your corneal shape changes slightly.

The bad: The only way to establish whether your corneas would retract or expand naturally is to not wear contact lenses for at least two weeks. This means wearing glasses.

For me, being told I had to wear my glasses again was probably the second worse thing behind hearing ‘sorry but we totally stuffed up your surgery and you’re now blind’ after the procedure itself.

But only just.

I had an old pair of glasses I hadn’t bothered to update since about 1999 and since wearing contact had probably worn for less then 24 hours total.

In my preparation reading though I had read that this might have to happen (I knew I definitely would need to give my eyes  a rest a few days before the procedure anyway) so even though I was a bit gutted I sucked it up and accepted what needed to be done.

I went home and dug out the old frame from a dark drawer where nobody goes and put them on. Looking into the mirror made me want to cry, and I don’t cry easily.

The next two weeks were going to be a horrible nightmare.

1. Getting laser eye surgery done: The second consult
2. Claiming a laser eye surgery rebate on Medicare
3. 10 must read blog posts on laser eye surgery
4. 5 things to ask your lasik eye surgeon before surgery
5. My one week checkup after Lasik eye surgery