Captain Alan Carmichael

I would start by saying that Alan and Alana’s experiences were very similar from the outset. Both of them went with a view to having laser surgery done only to find that they were both not suitable.

“I would definitely have surgery myself if I needed it in the future.”

In Alan’s case we had never even heard of the alternative which was the ICL and to be honest it sounded very scary at that time and we really had to give it a lot of thought. We asked if anyone we knew had even heard of it and we could only find people who had been for laser surgery. We quickly decided that he would go for it and Alan went ahead. At that time it was performed at the Mcindoe Centre at the Queen Victoria hospital and he had one eye done first and the second eye done one year later due to both the nature of his job and his poor sight.

In Alana’s case we were once again disappointed that she could not have laser surgery done but to be honest I think we knew she would also have to have the ICL done. Having talked to her dad and seen how well he could now see this was not as scary as it would have been for her had Alan not had it done. Coming to the new purpose built building and having one eye done on the Monday followed by a check up on Tuesday, second eye done on Wednesday and check up done on Thursday seemed so quick and not as long and drawn out as Alan’s although we understood the reasons behind Alan having such a long time in between each procedure.

I really felt privileged to be able to watch the laser surgery and also Alana’s ICL procedure being carried out. I knew she was in good hands with Dr Daya and found it fascinating how quickly and painlessly both procedures were performed.

I think most people would expect and probably want to be knocked out for such invasive surgery but when you see how well the patients are so very quickly after the surgery it makes absolute sense to only be sedated. I also knew Alana was not in any pain as she had told me from the previous Monday that she was aware of what was going on but could not feel any discomfort.

“I really felt priviledged to be able to watch…”

After 42 years of very poor sight, 11 tortureous years of thick glasses and 26 years of wearing hard contact lenses i decided the time had come for a radical change. After a 2 year secondment to the middle east and many days and nights spent in the desert my mind was made up it was time to look at my options. I contacted Centre for Sight after trawling the internet and decided to go to a seminar.

I was very impressed with the whole set up and booked myself in for a consultation with Mr Sheraz Dayer. After my consultation which revealed that I was not a suitable candidate for laser surgery I was given the option of ICL and spent some time reading the literature provided. At first this sounded like a very invasive step but after some thought I decided to go ahead with this option.

“Life changing experience.”

I initially had one eye done, my worst eye and can only describe the outcome as truly amazing. It was absolutely pain free and I was able to read a letter chart down to the bottom for the first time in my whole life. All this was done in a very short time most of the day was spent having drops inserted into my eye the actual operation lasted fifteen minutes or so.I was advised to leave my other eye for a period of six months to make sure there were no problems with the first one of which there were none. I had my second eye operated on in exactly the same way and had exactly the same fantastic results.

“I have no problems with the elements in either jungle or desert surroundings.”

I have been wearing contact lenses since I was 7, due to being very short sighted and having a high astigmatism. Recently at the age of 22, I began to have problems with them and I didn’t want to have to resort back to wearing glasses full time. Having seen the difference in my dad after he had ICL, I was sure it would be beneficial for me too, so decided that it would probably be the best option for me.

After speaking with my dad I wasn’t nervous about the procedure, just a little anxious about being awake and aware of what was going on throughout the operation. But in actual fact, I quite enjoyed knowing what was going on around me and it also meant there wasn’t a long recovery period after the procedure, like there is if you were put to sleep.

“Being able to see as soon as I open my eyes, it’s incredible!”

On the day I was having my second eye done it was being filmed and streamed live to a group of optometrists for training on the procedure. This didn’t phase me much as the operation was exactly the same as the first one, so I was quite happy with everyone to watch. I also later found out my mum had watched it live, which I found quite comforting as I knew it meant she knew I was in good hands with Dr Daya.