Newly gained quality of life – Report from Saturday, May 21, 2011

When I was about ten years old, my visual acuity began to deteriorate, and from then on I had to wear glasses. As I was already very sporty and active at that age, this “thing” bothered me even back then. I played handball in the youth squad and trained extensively in athletics. Handball is a contact sport and therefore “deadly” for glasses. For this reason, I started wearing contact lenses at an early age. However, to this day I have not found a product that I truly felt comfortable with. As a result, I began early on to consider the idea of having my eyes lasered one day.
Directly after completing my apprenticeship, I started my studies and, until the end of my education, I did not have the financial means to afford this procedure. After six months of professional work, I had paid off my debts and already had a few Swiss francs in my savings account. I then began to clarify and collect information about laser eye surgery. As I lived very close to the VEDIS eye laser centre, which has an excellent reputation throughout Switzerland, I attended an information event there, underwent a preliminary examination, and up to that point I was convinced by the price–performance offer. Unfortunately, more and more (hidden) additional costs were added afterwards, such as insurance, or the offer of a better laser (of course, as a patient, you choose this, because you do not take risks with your own eyes). This seemed very unprofessional to me and, above all, everything became far too expensive.
During my research, I repeatedly came across laser surgery offers in Istanbul via Google. However, I was always very sceptical about these (typically Swiss…), and because I did not know anyone who had already been to Istanbul and could share positive experiences, I had a great deal of “respect” for taking this step. Further and more detailed research revealed the following convincing and interesting facts:
– Everything is significantly cheaper than in Switzerland (including flights, hotel, surgery, follow-up examinations in Switzerland, eye drops, accompanying person, etc.)
– They use a better laser than in Switzerland
– One-to-one patient care
– Better hygiene standards than in Switzerland
– More experienced doctors
– You can combine your Istanbul trip with a city break
– More flexible surgery dates (almost every day)
– Lifetime guarantee
– Higher requirements regarding corneal thickness than in Switzerland
– Possibility of S-LASIK if the patient has dry eyes (not yet available in Switzerland)
– Etc.
These advantages convinced me, and so I got in touch with Swisslasik (Mr Serdar Karaagacli) and met Serdar Karaagacli for a coffee to talk about surgery in Istanbul. This conversation was very important to me, as I did not know anyone who had ever been to Istanbul to have laser eye surgery. I only knew a Dutch person who had his eyes lasered in the Netherlands. In addition, this gave me a trusted contact person whom I could approach if any problems arose. This informal and very pleasant conversation convinced me 99% to undergo surgery in Istanbul.
So, on a beautiful day, when I was once again outside without sunglasses and became annoyed because, as a glasses wearer, I never had sunglasses with me, I decided to go ahead with the operation in Istanbul. However, I remained sceptical about the offer right up to and including the day of my operation, as I always expected there to be some kind of “catch” somewhere, because this excellent all-inclusive package was so inexpensive. To this day, I still have not found that “catch”, because everything worked perfectly. I now have 100% visual acuity and can recommend this step to everyone. Anyone who does not take it is really only to blame themselves.
Ueli Kramer