Sam Patterson's LASEK Journey
27 June 2019
We recently had the pleasure of having the wonderful Sam Patterson in for his LASEK treatment at our Liverpool clinic.
As a content creator, Sam has had the opportunity to travel the world and see amazing things. Likewise back at home, the strain of wearing glasses and contact lenses became a nuisance, particularly for everyday tasks.
We caught up with Sam and asked him a couple of questions now that he’s settled into life with clearer vision:
Which procedure did you have?
I had the LASEK treatment.
What made you choose Ultralase?
I did a lot of research before deciding on a company and everything I read seemed to point to Ultralase. They had the best reviews, best prices and I loved that I would get the Lifetime Guarantee.
What motivated you to go through with eye treatment?
I had been thinking about getting laser eye surgery for a while and every time I bought another pair of glasses or re-ordered contact lenses it was in the back of my mind. Eventually I did the maths and worked out that, for the amount of money I was spending per month on my eyesight (I used daily contact lenses almost every day as I always lost the monthly ones!), if I got laser eye surgery the costs would equal out after a few years… and I’d have perfect vision!
How have any of your hobbies/interests benefited from surgery?
I regularly travel and do a lot of extreme sports. When travelling, I don’t have to worry if I’ve packed enough contact lenses or if I’m cliff jumping, for example, I don’t have to worry about my contact lenses falling out from the impact with the water (which used to happen regularly). It just makes me feel so much more free.
How has eye surgery affected your happiness or quality of life?
Dramatically. It’s still surreal to wake up and not have to blindly fumble around for my glasses to be able to see then drag myself to the bathroom where I’d put my contact lenses in, never knowing if I’d put them in inside-out - and that’s just the start of my day. My vision is now better than 20/20 so I’m seeing things better than I ever have before, and all without the aid of something stuck inside my eye. It’s amazing.
What was the first positive thing you noticed after surgery?
As soon as I got out of the operating theatre, I noticed my eyes were already much better than before (without aid), even though everything was a little blurry. It was such a dramatic, instant change that I went back into the room and asked the surgeon if the bandage contact lens he put in my eyes were my prescription, to which he laughed and said no - they’re just to protect my eyes, no prescription. The realisation that it was my own eyesight made me pretty emotional!
What advice would you give someone who is thinking about having eye surgery?
Do it. You really won’t regret it. It has honestly changed my life.
How do you feel the actual procedure went? Was it as excepted?
The actual procedure was much shorter than I expected - I was in and out in around 15 minutes. The surgeon kept me at ease and let me know what he was doing at all times. It was a little uncomfortable (anything to do with my eyes has always made me wince!), but wasn’t painful at all, which was a huge relief. In all, the procedure went really well - much better and easier than expected.
How has eye surgery impacted your lifestyle/ social life?
The biggest difference for me is just not having to worry about anything to do with my vision. I don’t have to wake up and decide whether to wear glasses or contacts depending on what I’m planning on doing that day, I don’t have to take my contact lenses out at night and repeat the process the next day, I’m not worried about swimming, showering, extreme sports or anything else that could affect contact lenses. It’s just stress free.
What problems did you experience with the use of visual aids?
I never had any serious problems with visual aids, but they were definitely annoying and restricted my lifestyle. My glasses would regularly get dirty, break or get lost, my contact lenses would regularly fall out and I would run out and forget to order more. My contact lenses also made my eyes very dry, red and itchy pretty often which was very annoying.
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