[hincapie]

Wow that does sound pretty hefty - but worth it of course if the alternative is going blind. Aint gonna tell this story to the girly upstairs - shes got a serious eyeball phobia

Originally Posted by ecchi

Thanks. It was the weirdest operation I've ever had. Basically it involves cutting out some of the veins in my eyes. Sounds major, but they use a laser rather than a scalpel, so it is done without anaesthetic, and without even being admitted to hospital. You just turn up, they anaesthetise your eyes, do the operation, then send you home. Can't drive for a few hours because the eyes are still anaesthetised, and it is also not possible to sit in bright lights for a while too, but other than that, you are back to normal immediately afterwards.

The only big worry is that the operation lasts about half an hour, and while you are being cut with the laser you have to keep your eyes still or the doctor may cut the wrong area and blind you!

I am going to have to keep going back once a week because they cannot do it all in one operation (half an hour is about all you can stand in one sitting, so it takes several sittings). There is also the worrying probability that I'll loose some peripheral vision, and a very slight risk that I may end up colour blind. But if I don't have the operation I would probably be blind in one eye within a year, and blind in both eyes within a few years. So I endure.