Diary - Optical Express Performance Thread

MisterEpicurus

Okay folks - decided to take the plunge and go for Laser Eye Surgery and after much deliberation I decided to go with Optical Express. I'm setting up this thread for the simple reason in that I'm going to provide folks on here with a detailed examination of how OE treated me as a customer and my experience, recommendation and so forth. So I'm starting the thread today to discuss what happened when I arrived at the clinic and what others can expect in case they're wondering. So, all in all, hopefully this thread will shed some light to others about the process and procedure.

I had my appointment the other day in Dublin at 3pm. After filling in several forms I was brought into a room where a member of staff did some basic eye tests, the same ones you get done at any ordinary opticians. I discovered during these tests that I was ineligible for the standard Lasek/Lasik treatment and required Wavefront. The reason being that when they measured my pupil size, it turned out to be 8.4mm and according to safety tests it's recommended you have a pupil size of less than 7mm for the standard treatment i.e. the one where it's €495 per eye depending if your eyesight is -1/-1 or +1/+1 I believe.

I also discovered what my prescription was - and judging by the figures I read around the net (i.e. people saying their sight was bad and they were -6 or -10 etc.) I thought it would be the aforementioned figures. Mine was -2.75 in one eye and -3.5 in the other if I remember correctly. I was shocked to be honest as I thought my eyesight was really bad but alas it's not as much as I thought. This obviously meant my costs would be reduced somewhat.

I then went into the Optometrist who did some unusual tests which I never had done before - for eg. orange dye into my eye - I thought I was the orange Incredible Hulk for a second. The anaesthetic feeling in the eye was also unusual and sort of feels you've had a drink or two. After about 3-4 hours, the slight blurriness goes. Anyway, after all that I was finally quoted my price which was well over €3,000 euro.

This was far too exorbitant for the Advanced Wavelength procedure in my eyes and hence I sought a reduction - and I recommend anyone here who's thinking of going to the clinic to always try and negotiate a discount - you can't lose and only gain. Then I had a discount voucher too, and after tax relief my total cost came to €1,600 euro. But again, this figure depends on the eye and procedure and so forth. So I decided to book my procedure for next week, Friday the 19th October.

Overall, my experience thus far with OE was very positive. Contrary to other reports claiming they were 'rude' and 'rushing you around for money' did not seem obvious to me at all. It was a very well organized and timely procedure and ultimately, the price wasn't bad either after deductions. So, I hope to give an update on Day 1 on the 19th October to see how the procedure actually goes for me - I'm very curious to know about what the discomfort, if any, I'll experience during and after the procedure and no doubt, I'll update here to let folks know. If anyone has any questions concerning the OE consultation, post here and I'll try to answer as best possible.

Mister Epicurus

Charisteas

Best of luck for next week, are you having both eyes done on the same day? Are you having LASEK or LASIK?

MisterEpicurus

Charisteas wrote: »

Best of luck for next week, are you having both eyes done on the same day? Are you having LASEK or LASIK?

Having LASIK done on both eyes at the same time, should have mentioned that in the other post.

MisterEpicurus

Okay, so I had the surgery done yesterday.

19th - I arrived at 3pm was seen to very quickly to get all my stats checked and verified. Once this was done, I'd say by 3.30pm I was brought upstairs where all the surgery takes place. I met the surgeon, a Mr. Minos who despite being almost mouse-quiet-like was nonetheless pleasant enough. He had a glance at my eyes and I was good to go. After waiting another 5 minutes, it was about 3.55pm when I was brought into the surgery room which was quite small and pokey looking except for the equipment used. The staff were very accommodating during the whole process and didn't get the negative vibes that other peoples pointed out (I had it done in Ballsbridge).

I was always curious to know how surgery felt as I heard many opposing views on it i.e. some saying very uncomfortable even highly painful while others say it was a breeze. My experience was that it was surprisingly comfortable in most parts. I walked in and lay down flat on the chair with my head in a mould. The nurse proceeded to put copious amounts of anesthetic into both eyes. The surgeon soon followed in to begin the procedure. The only discomforting part was when they had to place the clamp in the eye which was highly pressurized but not painful - thus it was uncomfortable but not painful. Once they had the clamp in, you don't feel it there at all and all you're asked to do is stare at a red light. The laser process takes place next which involves loud 'click'-like sounds and you can of course smell your own eye burning.

Personally, I didn't like the liquids being rubbed on my eye as I thought it was almost weird but otherwise it's a tolerable process. Once they completed the first eye, and they said they always start with the Right eye - they moved onto the left eye and repeated the process. All in all, I was about 9 minutes on the chair. As soon as I got up, I could see very well already - much better than I could without glasses however things were foggy or cloudy. The best analogy I could use was that it's like looking through clingfilm at times. I had a drink and the surgeon checked my eyes in a room next door and after giving me the all clear, I was put into a dark room for about 15 minutes - they say 'dark room' but really it's not that dark. A nurse explains how to use the drops and explains what you can and cannot do eg. avoid dusty environments, no swimming or exercise etc.

After this, I went straight home and my sight was improving more and more. Luckily I experienced absolutely no pain when the anesthetic wore off nor was I experiencing 'incredibly watery/teary eyes' which apparently lots of others experience. I was recommended to sleep for a few hours when I got home which is exactly what I did and I recommend you do the same as well. When you wake up, your eyes are much better as the visual acuity improves. If you have bandages placed into your eyes, fluid may collect behind and hence make the view slightly more cloudy however this resolves the next day when they are painlessly removed.

Today, the 20th, I woke up and my eyesight is perfect. I saw a optometrist today who informed me I had better than 20/20 vision and that it will improve even more over the forthcoming days. I can now see significantly better than I used to with glasses and because I've experienced absolutely no side-effects or pain or discomfort (not even the gritty eyes experience), I consider myself lucky when compared to others who's correction failed or otherwise. Overall, for Optical Express themselves, I can wholeheartedly endorse them for surgery. Whether it came to the professionalness of the surgery staff on the day or even the consultation staff in Dundrum, I never had the feeling they were trying to exploit myself as a customer or were 'hurrying' me along as others have said happened.

If anyone has any questions relating to this procedure or Optical Express themselves, then ask away. I had Wavefront Lasik done for €1,600 and certainly it was money well spent.

Mousewar

Thanks for the info. Glad to hear it went well. Promise us you'll post again if your eyes explode or something...:)

MisterEpicurus

Mousewar wrote: »

Thanks for the info. Glad to hear it went well. Promise us you'll post again if your eyes explode or something...:)

Yup I sure will - but it'll be difficult to find a computer if my eyes explode ;-)

But, so far today, for being 3 days after surgery, feel absolutely fine in both eyes, not a bother either way. :-)

Mousewar

MisterEpicurus wrote: »

Yup I sure will - but it'll be difficult to find a computer if my eyes explode ;-)

But, so far today, for being 3 days after surgery, feel absolutely fine in both eyes, not a bother either way. :-)

Yeah good point.

And your reading vision is fine also?

MisterEpicurus

Mousewar wrote: »

Yeah good point.

And your reading vision is fine also?

Yup - no problems up close. I read before that some folks had difficulties reading up close but thus far have not had such problems. Maybe I'm one of the lucky ones though (!?)

Mystique Explosion

Hi
I dont know if you will pick this up as you havent posted since last year on this thread but,

I hasd my consult with OE in Dundrum and i dont know if i can get the guts to go ahead with the Op.
The day before my consult i was made redundant so i dont know if i shold be spending money right now. How did you get the discount voucher.
I wonder if they still do them? don know if i have the guts to ask for a discount as i assumed they could say no these are set prices.

Can you give an update on how you are getting on since going through with it.
I was thinking of using the Doctor you had.
Can you give any more info on him. Or how he was on the day?
Thanks

DungHT232

Hi MisterEpicurus, I will have eye surgery in Optical Express this month. I booked on 22 march but I think I will change to 8 of March because I don't think I can wait for so long time, so I want to ask some information, hope you can help me to answer.
I live in Athlone and Optical Express said I need to use bank draft to send them money before eye surgery. Do you need to do that when u have eye surgery. Because that is a big amount of money for me (2514e), so I'm so worry for that. They said they will give me receipt on the day of surgery, so I'm not sure should I send that amount of money by bank draft to them or have better way for that.

The second one I want to ask is claim tax, because I'm foreign person, so I don't understand how to do that. Can you tell me some information about that, and also can I ask does it take long time? Because I will leave Ireland at the end of May, so I don't know can I make for claim tax or not.

Thank you so much and waiting your answer.