My experience at the clinic in Istanbul with Swisslasik – report from Friday, February 5, 2010

For many years, I dealt with my short-sightedness (suffered from it). I could see very well up close, but poorly at a distance. This particularly affected me at night, while driving, while watching TV, and so on. Of course, I had glasses for the computer at work. And for my sports (ice hockey and football games), I still used contact lenses. But somehow, I thought to myself, “This can’t go on, this can be corrected with laser surgery.” A colleague had told me that this was possible in Istanbul, professionally and at a relatively low cost. So, I decided to have a consultation in Thun with Swisslasik in November 2009 and soon after signed up for the surgery on January 22, 2010, in Istanbul.
On January 21, 2010, I flew to Istanbul with Swiss and was picked up at the airport by a person I hadn’t known until then. This driver took me to my hotel, which was very close to the eye clinic, and told me he would pick me up at 11:00 AM the next day. As promised, he picked me up. On January 22, I had the preliminary examination, and the doctors immediately confirmed that surgery would not be a problem. In the afternoon, I had to return to the clinic at 3:30 PM. I was a little nervous, although I knew there would be no issues. Still, the laser surgery went exactly as I had imagined—without any problems—and afterward, I was given three different types of drops, which I needed to apply to both eyes for about 10 days.
I happily returned to my hotel after the procedure. As is well known, one avoids light, sunlight, etc., for a few hours after the surgery. But the next day, on Saturday, January 23, I realized that I had regained my vision as I had had it before; everything looked a little different (from yesterday to today). I could see at a distance again, and it was just so positive. In the afternoon, I took a little stroll around Istanbul, and in the evening, I went to the famous shopping street, Taksim, in the neighborhood. At the same time, I was relieved and happy that everything had worked out and looked forward to flying back to Switzerland on Sunday.
The weather in Istanbul was exceptionally cold during those days, even colder than it had been for the past two years, they told me. However, I can truly recommend the clinic in Istanbul (Turkey). My deciding factor, however, was the relatively affordable cost in Turkey compared to Switzerland. The professionalism and friendliness of the staff really convinced me.
Jürg Hermann, Flums