I had always taken pride in my eagle-eyed vision and being first to spot wildlife in the field.
So, when it began to deteriorate I muddled through with glasses and contact lenses, but it wasn’t the same. Glasses steamed up or were forgotten, and lenses irritated my dry eyes when, eventually, I mastered wearing them.
I had been mulling laser eye surgery for a few years, never really seeing myself going through it though as I am far too squeamish, and besides I thought it was too expensive
The turning point came when looking for lemurs in Madagascar while my lenses were in my luggage stuck in Paris. Having to juggle glasses as well as a camera, binoculars and sunglasses was the final straw. Enough was enough.
It was about 18 months ago that I faced my fears.
The treatment was one of the most terrifying but most worthwhile experiences
of my life.
Here I try to explain why.
I hope I don’t put you off!

Seeing the light
Cowardice was not the only reason I had put off taking the plunge.
My sight wasn’t that bad and I was reluctant to splash out on treatment that could deprive me of it forever.
I entered a few competitions to try to win surgery for free and during a follow up call I decided to make an appointment to find out if I was even suitable.
Ironically, I went along to the consultation hoping my eyes were unsuitable, so I could forget all about it.
They weren’t, so as far as I was concerned there was no going back.
What’s more, it also made sense financially.
Accounting for the cost of glasses and lenses, the surgery, at about £2,000, would have paid for itself in less than a decade. And interest-free payments spread over two years made it more affordable.
I left nervously excited, armed with leaflets and a dvd which, looking back, I regret not watching.

Blind stupidity
Blissful ignorance of what I was letting myself in for didn’t last too long as I headed to the surgery on a Saturday morning.
The appointment started about two hours before I was treated, and in the meantime there was the paperwork to complete.
This really opened my eyes to what I would be going through.
Each paragraph must be signed in acknowledgement that you have read and understood it and once I had reached the end, the enormity of the risk had set in.
I was ready to bolt.
For reassurance, I asked the surgeon how many patients the company treated each week, and when he told me it was about 2,000 with minimal complications, I was back on board.
The only hurdles were that it was not advisable to fly to sunny climes for at least a month after the treatment or to scuba dive for three months.
So I decided to put it off one last time to fit in a trip somewhere exotic (see Bahamas On A Budget) in case I would never get to see the world again.

The procedure
Visions of alien abduction raced through my mind as I lie back in wide-eyed terror trying to stay focused on a red beam shining directly in my eyes.
This was not the laser, just something to concentrate on as part of a ploy to keep the eyeballs still.
The rings placed in my eyes to stop them closing were surprisingly comfortable thanks to anesthetic eye drops administered earlier, but the horrible bit came when the vacuum was turned on.
Again, it did not hurt, but was very unnerving.
Then the clicking of the laser started.
As the surgeon cut the thinnest flap in the surface of the cornea I felt nauseous, but no pain.
Next, the laser reshaped the inner surface, and the flap was closed and wielded shut.
The sensation was still not pain, but more like the intense irritation caused by accidently scratching your eye.
All this took just a few minutes, and then it was straight on to the other eye.
After less than ten-minutes, the ordeal was over and I was whisked off to a dark room to recover in my transparent eye shields.
The surgeon seemed surprised at my level of anxiety during the treatment claiming that some people find staring into the bright lights relaxing, even enjoyable.
I can’t concur.

Sight for sore eyes
I could think of better ways to spend a Saturday morning, only to be followed by an afternoon of recovery lying in a darkened room feeling stupid for having taken such a risk.
My recovery was made worse because I had used up the pain relief eye drops too quickly.
You see, during the briefing the surgeon called me in for a quick word, and I declined a recap thinking I would be able to read the instructions later.
That afternoon was spent lying in bed, eyes shut beneath eyeshields to prevent any scratching while I listened to the TV.
Deal or No Deal was a first for me, though the producers should know it is no good for the blind as when the boxes are opened towards the end Noel doesn’t actually tell you the amount of money inside.
By 5pm, just as they said, the pain stopped and I was able to remove the eye shields.
Lights had halos around them which would disappear gradually over the next few weeks, but my vision already felt more acute, and I was sure the surgery had been a success.
At my appointment the next morning, this was confirmed and I was free to drive and return to work right away. I would have to sleep in the shields for another week and continue with the eye drops for another two.
What they don’t tell you is the drops cause a bitter taste in the back of the throat which took some getting used to.
For about a month after the treatment I relied on regularly applying comfort drops to stop my eyes drying out, but they had been susceptible to this before.

On reflection
To be free from the hassle of glasses and contact lenses is well worth the cost, but being able to hone in on wildlife is priceless.
In hindsight, the treatment wasn’t so bad, my fears were just magnified by ignorance as I did not research the procedure beforehand. I chose to go in blind for fear of wimping out.
The sickly-sweet smell of my burning corneas would linger in my nostrils for a few days, and any mention of the word “flap” in the following few weeks saw me clinching my firsts as I cringed.
However, these dark memories have faded but the results should last a lifetime.

More information:
The treatment was at Optimax’s Ipswich branch in April 2012, www.optimax.co.uk.
Astigmatism in one eye only slightly complicated the surgery.
I was discharged with better than 20:20 vision in August 2012.
About 18 months after the surgery an eye test with a competitor confirmed that my vision had slightly deteriorated, but was stable at near 20:20.