Sometimes a culmination of factors – such as a new job or starting a family – can make you take a fresh look at your vision. And after 20 years of wearing glasses and contact lenses, this is exactly what happened for new dad Drew Hudson-Viles, 37, from Mansfield.
A laser eye surgery procedure has transformed his vision. He said: “I had exceeded 20/20 vision in less than 24 hours – what could be better than that?”
“It was during a family holiday last year, the first since the birth of my daughter, that I realised I’d had enough of lenses and glasses,” said Drew. “The constant switching between prescription sunglasses and glasses, taking contact lenses in and out for swimming, was such a pain.”
Drew has been wearing glasses since passing his driving test at 18 and, although he struggled at first to wear contact lenses as they irritated his eyes and made images ‘swirly’, he eventually found some that suited. “I started to wear the lenses more often, because I found it uncomfortable to wear headphones or lie down on the sofa with glasses digging into my head.”
Starting a new job also made him think about options for vision correction. “I work as a coder, building IT systems, so I spend many hours looking at a computer screen. The colours would often look faded, my vision would blur if I moved my seat too far back, and my eyes would feel tired by the end of the day.
“Outside of work I like to keep busy with amateur photography and taking my daughter to the local pool. Neither of these activities are great when wearing glasses!”
A colleague mentioned that she’d had laser eye surgery and her vision was perfect, which made Drew wonder if he should do the same.
Over the next few months he heard stories from other friends and work colleagues who had also improved their vision with laser eye surgery, which led him to Optegra.
Drew had LASIK laser eye surgery at Optegra Eye Hospital Birmingham and is delighted with the results. “It’s the best money I have spent on anything, ever. I can’t believe how well I can see, from surgery that took seconds to complete. I remember waking up on the morning after surgery and being able to see the clock on the other side of the room. Not having to put my glasses on was a revelation.
“Everything is just easier now – work, photography, swimming, spending time with my family. No switching around of glasses, no goggles over lenses. My friend said to me that it’s the best real-life upgrade you can have, and I totally agree!
