I had laser surgery in Adelaide nearly 10 years ago (I think that's the time frame).

I was one of the very earliest patients for this particular eye surgeon. To the best of my knowledge I was one in a group of 5 people that were his first patients.

In fact, he had a surgeon from Queensland (where he purchased the equipment) to assist in the procedures as he was new to the technique.

I have had some serious issues, but the REAL issue I had is that this very well known surgeon does not consult after the procedure/s. There is one follow up visit and that is the last I could see of him. I phoned several times over the ensuing months and even years but as soon as they find out that I've already had the procedure I'm told 'sorry we don't consult' you will need to see your optician. It's a viscious circle, because when I go to see the optician or GP they refer me back to the surgeon who won't see me and they refer me back to the optician.

At one stage a GP actually phoned the surgery whilst I was sitting in her office and the surgery made out like it wasn't a problem and I could definitely make an appointment to see the surgeon. When I got there I was given a check up by a junior optician and didn't get to see the surgeon even though he was at the clinic.

So when I see advertisements that talk about how many procedures the clnic has done or how many years they've been going for – I get really cross.

Certainly in this instance, this surgeon has absolutely no idea of the long term results from his earliest patients.

What anyone should be aware of when considering this procedure is that for surgeons such as my Adelaide guy, he's not a health care specialist. He's not someone who got in the industry because he wants to help people regain their sight. He is never going to volunteer overseas in third world countries or do pro-bono cases, these guys are in it for the money. It's big, big business for them – you are going to be in and out that door like a piece of furniture and then you could very well be on your own in the long run.

For me, I am now color blind – I can’t tell the difference between hues, eg navy blue or black, purple or grey, moss green or lilac etc. I also have such a severe case of ‘dry eye’ that even using specialised eye drops and gels my corneas still get ulcerated. One optician I consulted said to me that he wasn’t surprised, “after all you have had a considerable amount of your cornea shaved off”.