I always felt invisible when wearing my glasses and, even though my husband assured me otherwise, I knew I would look better without them.

My specs meant I never really bothered with make-up, I didn’t see the point if I had to hide my eyes behind glass. They were the perfect excuse not to make much effort with my appearance. But it wasn’t just about my looks. I was fed up with having a permanent itchy red blob on the side of my nose, digging around in my bag for prescription sunglasses only for the sun to go in, and having to wear them in the swimming pool so I could keep an eye on my kids.

The clincher came when a friend had laser eye surgery. I was amazed and jealous at the same time. She looked so much younger and, well, just zingier. So after 25 years of waking up to a blurred world, I booked myself in for laser eye surgery. Yes, I was scared of the pain or something horrible happening, like ending up blind, but when I thought of my friend, all those worries disappeared.

Taking the plunge
The surgeon told me I was moderately short-sighted with an astigmatism, which made me an ‘ideal’ candidate. He said I’d have Lasik surgery, which involved numbing my eye, cutting a flap at the front and peeling it back, then using a laser to reshape my cornea. This flap would then be pulled back into its original position. Although the procedure wasn’t very pleasant, it wasn’t painful and just 10 minutes later, it was all over. I couldn’t open my eyes and it felt like they were full of sand, but when I woke up the next morning I could see - not perfectly, but as if I was wearing dirty glasses.

The first people to meet the "new me" were my kids. While they knew something was different, it took them a while to work out what and my youngest just said, "You don’t look like Mummy."

The next day I had a post-op check, where the optometrist told me that I already had better than 20/20 vision from both eyes combined. I left on such a high that I headed straight to the shops to spend a joyous half hour trying on sunglasses. It was a real treat to choose frames because they suited me, and not because you could fit prescription lenses into them. I jumped everytime I saw myself in the mirror - it was just amazing to see my reflection without glasses on.

Have you lost weight?
Back at work, colleagues asked if I’d changed my hair or lost weight - I loved the fact people knew I’d had something done but couldn’t instantly work out what. It’s funny that glasses, which I always felt were an integral part of my appearance, were something others didn’t even really notice until I stopped wearing them. After my one week all clear, my first stop was the make-up counter, which had been banned until then. I bought eye shadows and mascaras, eye liners and highlighters suddenly it felt worthwhile making an effort to emphasise my eyes.

Then I went home and played like a little girl who’d been let loose at her mum’s dressing table! I’ve gradually un-learned most of my spectacle-wearing habits, but every now and again I still go to push my glasses up my nose, or wake up and reach for them.

The surgery prompted me to think about how the rest of me looked, and I’ve since overhauled my wardrobe and lost two stone. My husband says I look as lovely as ever, but the fact I’m happier and more confident makes him happy, too. Even though I had laser surgery to make my life easier, it’s also kick started a whole host of changes, and I feel like a different person because of it.

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