Former Louth Rose Aoife Heffron takes the plunge and gets laser eye surgery

I finally got Laser Eye Surgery! Three appointments, six months wait, several scars and a new pair of glasses later, I am, for the first time in 21 years glasses free. In actual fact, I have 20/20 vision. 

Aoife Heffron 

Why did I choose surgery? 
I have always worn glasses. I was short-sighted, which means I couldn't see things far away but could see things up close.
In October 2017, I began to have issues with my eyes and contact lenses, which I would in favour over my glasses. Long story short and a couple of infections later I found out that I had dry eyes and scarring, due to this I would not be able to wear contact lenses anymore.

Taking the plunge
This spurred me on to take the plunge and get laser eye surgery. I chose to get my laser eye surgery with Optilase, who came highly recommended and have a refer a friend scheme that deducts €100 off your total cost. I got the LASIK Wavefront IDesign with Intralaseprocedure done which cost me €3,490. €200 of which was paid at my initial consultation. However, you can claim money back at the end of the year on the MED1 Health Expenses form.

The actual procedure
The surgery itself takes between 12-17 minutes and is completely pain-free. Anesthetic eye drops are used to numb the eye and surrounding area before the procedure. You are offered Valium before surgery - take it! I was nervous and the Valium got rid of those nerves.

You are lying down for the entire surgery and are moved between two machines. The first is to make the initial incision in the flap of your corneal. This is where I experienced some discomfort as the machine applies pressure to your eye to flatten out your cornea. Once the incision is made in both eyes you are move to the second machine. The Laser. It sounds scary but I found this process free of any discomfort and extremely interesting.

Your lids are taped down and a clamp is applied. I wasn't aware there was a clamp on my eye until it was removed! You are told to focus on the blinking light and the surgeon works his magic in resurfacing and reshaping your eye and cornea.

Post-surgery blur
Directly after surgery I could see, albeit a tad blurred. I walked back to reception where I took my painkillers (solpadeine is thee best!), put on my sunglasses, thanked the wonderful staff in Optilase and left with my bag of drops and goggles.
It was a sunny day in Dublin so it didn't take long for the pain and stinging to kick in, however once the solpadeine began to work and I got to the toll bridge near an overcast County Louth the pain had subsided and I could read the car registrations in front of me.

Taking care of your 'new' eyes
For one week after surgery, you must use two sets of drops, one four times a day, one six times a day.
You must also use artificial moisture drops as many Laser Eye Surgery patients experience dry eyes. Stay vigilant throughout this part of the process it is extremely important!

Light sensitivity is another side effect throughout the healing process, however I got away with no light sensitivity whatsoever.
Despite this I continued to wear my sunglasses whenever I was outdoors, to protect my eyes from dust etc.

Was it worth it?
Would I recommend it? 100 times yes. For such a short surgery with little recovery time and life-changing results I would highly recommend getting Laser Eye Surgery.