I made a special journey from France to have the laser eye surgery. I had been thinking about having the treatment before I left the uk, 6 years ago, but I just didn't get round to it. I am glad I left it until I did as I believe the technology has improved. As I was making a special journey, I tried to make specific appointments and booked at London Shaftsbury Avenue and bought train tickets in advance to make sure everything was planned. For my initial consultation I had booked at Cambridge. (Sarah and Paula were really helpful and nothing was too much trouble and answered all my questions.) When I arrived in the uk I found out that Shaftsbury Avenue had been cancelled for my planned surgery day. They did not let me know - I had given them my telephone number and e-mail address and asked them to contact me if necessary. This is my only complaint. I was staying with a friend and luckily she didn't mind altering her plans and driving me to Thurrock Way where I had the surgery. It was brilliant and the team were great. I asked for extra drops in case of dryness, as the person who recommended Optical Express to me told me that she needed lots of drops and to make sure I had plenty. I wasn't waiting for too long before I had the surgery, where I didn't feel any pain or discomfort. There was a bit of discomfort for the first hour, though it was an extremely bright, sunny day and although I wore sunglasses, as advised, the brightness of the sun did trouble my eyes, but I kept them closed and this soon passed. My super improved vision was definitely worth it. The day after the treatment I continued to wear the sunglasses and rested for most of the day and had a few small red spots on my eyes. These soon disappeared. I normally wear sunglasses anyway and continued to as advised. I have had no problems whatsoever, although I did ask for some more "blink" drops, which Cambridge kindly sent to France for me as occaisionally my eyes felt slightly dry. I had a later follow-up appointment at York and the staff there were great too. Now, a year later, all is well and it is great to be able to get out of bed in the morning and just go - no messing around putting lenses in and soaking and cleaning them and I have worked out that the surgery will pay for itself after 5 years, compared to the price I was paying for contact lenses. I enjoy watersports and competitive horse riding and I used to loose my lenses when I jumped fences into water (which proved difficult to negotiate the rest of the cross country course!) and had to wear goggles when swimming and diving. No worries now. I take it for granted now when I look into the distance and can see things perfectly clearly - I have better than 20/20 vision. I would definitely recommend this procedure to anyone having doubts. I am still waiting to recieve the vouchers to give to people so that they can save on their treatment, but the surgery itself is superb. To conclude, regarding my experiences of Optical Express Laser Eye Surgery, the administration can be a bit annoying, but the surgery and medical team are superb. Many thanks Helen Rhys