Two years ago, whilst staying with us, my mother (then aged 79) was in need of a cataract operation. She was very apprehensive, being in a foreign country where she could not understand a word of what was said: she only speaks her native language which is Italian. My GP here in Prague directed us to a nearby eye clinic in the seventh district.With much encouragement, she agreed to go ahead with the operation. Because of the problem with the language, the doctor asked if I could sit next to mother in the operating theatre and help with the translation. So I put on my white cape and in I was: the whole process was very fast, professional, stressless even for my old mum, and carried out by a truly remarkable team of people. I was so favourably impressed by this experience (and its results) that I decided to see if such expert people could also do something for me: I have been wearing glasses and contact lenses since the age of 17 and learned to live with less than half of the designated dioptries for a very long time. Recently I was beginning to feel the need to wear reading glasses : but this caused various problems because I needed to carry with me 2 different strengths of lenses depending whether I was with glasses or with contact lenses. Headaches were bothering me more and more and I could only wear contact lenses for a few hours per week since I am now on hormone tablets which are drying my eyes a lot . So one morning last January I entered the Refrakcni Centrum in Olivova with my heart beating as fast as at the races. Because of my age, I think I was borderline as to the feasibility of the operation and the tests lasted about 2 hours. Finally Dr Klecka was satisfied and said that the laser treatment could be done with successful results. The day of the first operation was set and soon I was back at the centre. To my surprise, there were lots of other patients there, and it felt like being at the dentist waiting for your turn to go in, but with a difference, people were a lot more cheerful and were even cracking jokes! I was given a sedative and at regular intervals eye drops were administered by the nurse. After 20 minutes my turn came. The operation was fast, painless (only some discomfort for a few seconds) and the surgeon was wonderful, explaining everything every step of the way: Definitely less bothersome than going to see your hygienist! I only took 1 pain-killer and slept well that night and the following morning, when I woke up and went to look at myself in the mirror I felt good, the eye was fine and above all I COULD SEE! I put on the contact lens on the second eye and walked to the hairdresser. I could not wait for the week to pass quickly so that the second eye could receive the same treatment. The first 3 days after the operation were great as I was allowed to wear the contact lens on the other eye. The last 3 days prior to the second laser treatment were more difficult as the lens is not allowed to give the eye a rest and wearing glasses with only one lens did not really work. But they passed quickly enough. I shall be forever grateful to the wonderful team of doctors who have given me my full sight back. It is a wonderful feeling to wake up in the morning and reach for the glasses and then realizing you don't need them! My only regret is not to having done it sooner.
