– English Lyrics

Lyrics & Translation

[English]

- Hello, everyone, welcome back to the channel.

I have something really, really personal

to share with you today.

Something that has completely changed my life,

something that I was very, very scared of.

Before Lockdown, so back in February,

I shared with you that I had undergone some surgery,

and quite a lot of you have messaged me

asking for an update on that.

And other reason I didn't want to talk

to you about it before was because I wanted to wait

to really see the results.

I have been struggling with my vision for years,

and I know that this is something

that many of you will relate to.

I would say that the majority of my friends and family

wear glasses or contact lenses, and just don't see clearly.

I can now reveal to you that I underwent laser eye surgery,

but before I recommended anything to you,

I wanted to make sure that it was actually going to work,

and I can confirm it has completely changed my life.

I knew my vision was bad.

I just didn't realise how much I was missing out on

before I had my vision sorted.

In this video I'm going to go through everything

that I think you need to know,

what my vision was like before, spoiler alert,

stigmatisms in both eyes.

For that I just want to make a couple of things clear.

Firstly, I am not giving you medical advice.

I am not a health professional.

I am an English teacher and YouTuber. (laughs)

Another thing I want to make absolutely clear,

I am filming this video in collaboration

with the London Vision Clinic who are the clinic

that I was going to go to before there was any mention

of a collaboration.

I had my money set aside,

ready to pay them for this treatment.

The marketing department found out what I do for a living

and then the opportunity arose to make a video together.

And I thought it was a fantastic opportunity to document

the process and show you what laser eye surgery

is really like. (laughs)

So let's talk about my vision before.

So most of you won't know this,

but before my laser eye surgery,

I was meant to wear glasses pretty much full time.

I noticed my vision starting to deteriorate in one eye

when I was 16, and I was really scared.

I thought, if I'm 16 and I've already lost it to this level,

is it just gonna keep on going till I'm blind?

I went to the opticians, and they found

that I had an astigmatism in both eyes.

One eye was worse than the other,

but both were deteriorating.

So an astigmatism is when your eye is shaped

more like a rugby ball, instead of a football.

This means that when light enters your eye,

it isn't focused at one single point.

So images appear blurred or distorted,

which was exactly what was happening to me.

Here is a short clip of my surgeon,

Professor Reinstein, explaining what was wrong with my eye.

- Yeah, so I'm gonna go through an explanation

of a astigmatism, and how it was corrected on your eyes.

This map is the shape of the front surface

of your cornea before surgery, and this is after surgery.

So before surgery, you had a lot of astigmatism.

And astigmatism means that the curvature in one axis

is different from the curvature in the other axis.

So for example, your cornea was much steeper,

if you like, like more curved in that axis,

and it was flatter in this axis.

So that's how you get your rugby ball.

- So I was 16, bad vision,

the opticians prescribed me glasses,

and I didn't wear them because I could survive without them.

I wasn't seeing everything, but I could survive.

I didn't like the way they looked.

I didn't like the way they felt.

Now, there is a common myth about laser eye surgery,

and that is that you can't have it,

if you have an astigmatism.

I am the proof that that is just not true.

I had -2.7 D in one eye,

that's pretty strong. (chuckles)

And that's one of the myths

that the London Vision Clinic are trying to fight.

They have never come across an astigmatism

that they haven't been able to treat,

and they have treated much higher than mine.

Over time my vision got much worse,

worse, and worse and worse,

and it really started to scare me.

I stopped enjoying going to the cinema.

I couldn't see all of the slides

when I was at university lectures.

I eventually got new glasses, which were better,

but still incredibly uncomfortable to wear.

And I also tested out contact lenses,

which were a nightmare.

My issue is that I have dry eyes,

and it just felt like the contact lenses

were scratching my eyeballs, all the time.

Every time I blinked they had to readjust

'cause they were weighted with the astigmatisms.

Speaking honestly, it made me feel

like I was drunk. (laughs)

Because every time I blinked,

I had to readjust my eyes, and it just felt like I had

sore, scratchy eyes the entire time,

and I went through so many different trial packs

of different types of contact lenses.

I really, really tried with them,

but they just weren't a solution for me.

I didn't wanna be in discomfort for the rest of my life.

And actually that's another laser eye surgery myth.

A lot of people say that you can't have laser eye surgery

if you've got dry eyes.

Again, I'm the proof.

I have dry eyes, and this was taken into consideration

by my doctor when he chose the type of eye surgery

that I'd have, dry eyes was in the forefront of his mind.

So I don't want to go on too much about how much

my life was ruined by my eyesight, but it really was.

I mean, I remember going on my first holiday with Will,

and I had to have prescription sunglasses

in order to be able to see (chuckles) obviously.

And there was a delay at the opticians,

and they didn't arrive in time for our holiday together.

And I spent the whole holiday unable

to properly enjoy the sights and the views.

Another situation I can think of was when I filmed

an English course, and the autocue was so much smaller

than I expected it to be.

And I've spent the whole course with my eyes squinting,

trying to make out the words.

And one last thing that was really important to me

was that I wanted to walk down the aisle at our wedding

without the discomfort of contact lenses in my eyes,

without having to wear glasses,

because I do not like the way I look in glasses,

and I wanted to be able to actually see Will (chuckles)

as I approached him,

that was really, really important to me.

That was what pushed me to start doing the research.

Enough was enough, so I inquired

at the London Vision Clinic in Harley Street.

I had done so much research,

I had read so many reviews from previous patients.

When it came to my eyes and my vision,

I knew I wanted the best of the best, no unnecessary risks.

Now Professor Dan Reinstein, who you met before,

he was explaining my astigmatism,

he is the founder of the clinic and he was my surgeon.

He's quite a big name in the industry.

He is absolutely world-renowned

with over 30 years of experience.

His achievements are pretty remarkable.

They certainly impressed me.

He's dedicated his entire professional life

to the field of refractive surgery,

and has made significant contributions,

such as pioneering the Artemis Insight Scanner,

which came about through his discovery,

that ultrasound technology can be used

to scan the surface of the cornea

to provide the most accurate corneal measurements

in the world.

He founded the clinic in 2002 on Harley Street,

and they have been treating patients there ever since.

I'll touch on this in a second,

but the procedure that I had

was not the commonly known LASIK.

I actually had the keyhole procedure, ReLEx SMILE.

Alongside the running of his clinic,

he also has an in house research team,

and together they have published over 170 articles

in peer reviewed scientific journals.

Another reason why I chose this clinic specifically

is because of the many extensive tests and scans

that they do.

I wanted to be absolutely certain

that I was an ideal candidate, because I had dry eyes,

and an astigmatism in both eyes.

The suitability consultation was three-hours long,

and it was the most thorough and extensive screening,

and scanning, and testing of my eyes

that I've ever experienced in my life,

and I'm likely to experience.

I went in for an afternoon at their Harley Street clinic.

A nurse carried out all of my tests.

And then I met with my optometrist who told me

that I was a suitable candidate,

and answered all of my questions.

At my next appointment

I met with Professor Reinstein,

and he explained that I was a suitable candidate,

and the time most suitable for ReLEx SMILE keyhole surgery.

As its keyhole, it's minimally invasive.

So you don't have the flap lifted as you do

in LASIK surgery.

This is suitable for people who have mild dry eyes,

as there is less disruption of the outer layers

with a smaller incision, and it's suitable

for those with a higher prescription who previously thought

that they couldn't have laser surgery.

My surgery date was set for early February,

and your advice to stay the night in London.

You returned to the clinic for a checkup

the following morning, so we booked a nice hotel nearby.

On the first day I had the procedure, and on the second day

I had the checkup.

I am also going to insert some footage of the live surgery.

So I arrived in the morning, no makeup,

no wool or clothing that can release fibres, no perfume.

I brought Will with me for support.

And I met with my patient care coordinator

who walked me through the entire day again.

I then met with a nurse

who gave me this, my medication bag,

which contained everything I needed for my recovery.

It contained everything from eyedrops,

to a timer to remind me when to take the eyedrops,

painkillers, if I needed them, which I didn't,

and eye shields for sleeping,

and tape to keep them attached.

I needed to wear those for the first seven nights,

after the surgery.

I was then taken to a relaxation room

where I was given a head, neck, and shoulder massage,

which was so lovely, it really relaxed me.

I was feeling very nervous at this point,

which was completely normal,

I was about to have surgery on my eyes. (chuckles)

Then the nurse gave me anaesthetic drops in my eyes,

which felt so weird, such a strange sensation.

I was taken into the operating room.

I reclined on an operating chair.

They put a blanket over me, a cushion under my knees,

and I held a little teddy as well. (laughs)

And then the procedure began,

and I was awake throughout the entire thing.

It took around 15 minutes for both eyes.

(fingers snapping) It was so quick.

So Professor Reinstein had me look into a machine,

and my eye was then secure there with a vacuum.

Remember, I couldn't feel any of this,

'cause I had the anaesthetic eyedrops.

I had to stare directly into a light,

and the laser did its job, which was incredible.

It blurry, and whilst I couldn't feel what was going on,

I could sort of make out what was going on.

It's worth mentioning that a common worry

is that you sneeze, or you suddenly look away

from the laser, and it messes it all up.

Professor Rhinestone told me

that everyone asks this question, I did too.

If you sneeze, or you laugh, or cough, or anything

the laser immediately stops, and then it recalibrates.

It's tracking your eye the entire time.

It was really helpful that Professor Reinstein

was talking me through every step of the procedure.

So I knew what I was seeing, and hearing, and feeling

to a certain extent.

The laser places a series of pulses within the cornea,

this outlines the tissue that needs removing,

and then that is taken out

through that small keyhole incision.

Will filmed the procedure, he was there with me.

He filmed it so you can see exactly what I mean.

I find this part fascinating.

This is Professor Reinstein clearing away the lenticule

that the laser has removed.

He then repeated this on the other eye.

So the surgery, it was really simple,

but let's talk about the immediate recovery

before moving on to the longterm recovery.

I had to keep my eyes shut as much as possible

for the following three hours.

I also had to apply eye drops every 30 minutes,

so Will was in charge of the alarm.

We just took a taxi back to the hotel,

and I relaxed in the room for those three hours.

Professor Reinstein gives all of his patients

his personal mobile number.

And whilst I didn't need to use it,

he actually texted me to see if I was okay,

which I really appreciated.

When I was finally allowed to open my eyes again

everything was blurry, as expected,

especially my phone screen,

it was really, really hard to see my phone screen.

Over the next few days my vision

became clearer, and clearer, and clearer.

The morning after the surgery,

I went in to see Professor Reinstein,

and it was clear that everything was going exactly to plan.

This was taken the following day,

and you can clearly see the incision

where that piece of my cornea was removed.

- And so this was just the next, this is the next morning.

And you can see on this photograph, this is your left eye.

Your nose is over on this side and you can see

there's that little incision.

So this is overnight, it's almost knitted up,

and almost sealed up.

We're now gonna look at the cross section of your cornea.

And if you can see here on the cross section,

you have the pocket from which the tissue was removed.

That's this down here.

Subtly, you can see the incision going to the surface

from the pocket.

This right here.

I'm just gonna draw next to it.

Whereas for example, if we go to the other side,

which is basically this end of the cut, there's no pocket,

there's no incision to the surface.

So this is why there's only one little incision

to the surface from which we removed the lenticule

in that way.

- For the next few days I could pretty much

go about my daily life, but I had to avoid contact sports.

I had to wear sunglasses with UV protection.

I also had to avoid dust, and I had to keep my eyes

well lubricated with artificial tears,

which were all in my pack.

It was also during this appointment

that I was signed off to drive,

although I didn't have any need to.

One other thing was that I wasn't allowed

to wear eye makeup for seven days,

but that was absolutely fine,

as I had already filmed all of my videos in advance.

Now let's talk about the longterm recovery,

the exciting bit.

It's so amazing what has been done.

After the surgery and my checkup, the following day,

I was booked in for a series of aftercare appointments.

This is completely unique to what your eyes need,

but for me personally, it was at four weeks, three months,

six months, and 12 months.

Within four weeks, my vision was crystal clear. (laughs)

It was amazing.

A global pandemic was in full swing

by the time I was meant to go in

for my three-month appointment.

So we did it over Zoom and it worked really well,

and I have that full checkup coming shortly,

now that we're allowed to interact again. (chuckles)

My recovery has actually been really emotional.

I've just realised how much I missed out on

when I wasn't able to see clearly.

Even looking at my own face in the mirror

when I'm doing my makeup I see so much more detail. (laughs)

I can now use my computer really comfortably

without getting really close.

Before I was texting on my phone

with my phone really close to my face, which is so bad,

and now I can just use it like a normal person.

I have also experienced no dryness,

and dryness was something that I experienced before surgery,

it was the reason why I couldn't wear contact lenses.

When I drive at night, I can see halos and starbursts

around other car lights, but this was something

that I already had before the surgery.

So it's not like it's made it worse.

I am so excited to go on holiday

and just see everything. (chuckles)

When I'm swimming in the sea, when I've got my goggles on,

I just can't wait.

I'm very excited to eventually walk down the aisle,

and see everyone's faces, and all the detail

on their fascinators,

if that many people are allowed to come. (laughs)

But most importantly, I can't wait to see Will's face.

I would do this again in a heartbeat.

In fact, I really want my parents to do this,

I think it would really enrich their lives.

I've never had such a fantastic medical experience.

If you are struggling with your vision,

then I really recommend that you look into it,

take it slow, start to do some research.

You can download the London Vision Clinic's

full information pack.

It's got all of the information you need,

and every answer to every question you have.

The link for that is in the description box.

Patients travel from all over the world

to visit Professor Reinstein and his team.

And I can totally understand why.

They are the best of the best,

and I have had a fantastic experience.

I am so, so glad that I've done it,

and I wish I did it sooner.

I will see you soon for another video.

Mwah! (lips smacking)

(uplifting instrumental music) (dog panting)

(snapping)

(snapping)

(snapping)

(snapping)

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
surgery /ˈsɜːrdʒəri/ B2	noun - the treatment of injuries or diseases by means of operations
vision /ˈvɪʒən/ B1	noun - the ability to see noun - the act of seeing; something seen
laser /ˈleɪzər/ B2	noun - a device that emits a highly focused beam of light
eye /aɪ/ A1	noun - the organ of sight
clinic /ˈklɪnɪk/ B1	noun - a healthcare facility
treatment /ˈtriːtmənt/ B1	noun - medical care given to a patient
research /rɪˈsɜːrtʃ/ B2	noun - systematic investigation into a subject
professional /prəˈfeʃənəl/ B2	adjective - relating to a job that requires special skills or training
opportunity /ˌɒpərˈtjuːnəti/ B1	noun - a chance to do something
detail /dɪˈteɪl/ B1	noun - a particular fact or item
cornea /ˈkɔːrniə/ C1	noun - the transparent outer layer of the eye
astigmatism /æsˈtɪɡmətɪzəm/ C1	noun - a defect in vision caused by an irregular curvature of the cornea
blurred /blɜːrd/ B1	adjective - not clear
dry /draɪ/ A2	adjective - not containing moisture
comfortable /ˈkʌmfərtəbl/ B1	adjective - feeling relaxed and without pain
procedure /prəˈsiːdʒər/ B2	noun - a series of actions taken to achieve a result
incision /ɪnˈsɪʒən/ C1	noun - a cut made in the skin or flesh

Key Grammar Structures

• I have something really, really personal to share with you today.

  ➔ Present Perfect Tense

  ➔ The phrase "have... to share" uses the Present Perfect Tense to indicate an action that occurred in the past and has relevance to the present.

• Something that has completely changed my life, something that I was very, very scared of.

  ➔ Present Perfect Tense with 'has'

  ➔ The phrase "has completely changed" uses the Present Perfect Tense with 'has' to emphasize the ongoing impact of the past action on the present.

• Before Lockdown, so back in February, I shared with you that I had undergone some surgery.

  ➔ Past Perfect Tense

  ➔ The phrase "had undergone" uses the Past Perfect Tense to indicate an action that occurred before another past action.

• I can now reveal to you that I underwent laser eye surgery.

  ➔ Present Tense with 'can'

  ➔ The phrase "can now reveal" uses the Present Tense with 'can' to express ability or permission in the present.

• I knew my vision was bad. I just didn't realise how much I was missing out on before I had my vision sorted.

  ➔ Past Continuous Tense

  ➔ The phrase "was missing out on" uses the Past Continuous Tense to describe an ongoing action in the past.

• I am not giving you medical advice. I am not a health professional.

  ➔ Present Continuous Tense with 'am'

  ➔ The phrases "am not giving" and "am not a" use the Present Continuous Tense with 'am' to emphasize a current state or ongoing action.

• The marketing department found out what I do for a living and then the opportunity arose to make a video together.

  ➔ Past Simple Tense with 'found out' and 'arose'

  ➔ The verbs "found out" and "arose" use the Past Simple Tense to describe completed actions in the past.

• I had my money set aside, ready to pay them for this treatment.

  ➔ Past Perfect Tense with 'had'

  ➔ The phrase "had my money set aside" uses the Past Perfect Tense with 'had' to indicate an action that was completed before another past action.

• I was feeling very nervous at this point, which was completely normal.

  ➔ Past Continuous Tense with 'was feeling'

  ➔ The phrase "was feeling" uses the Past Continuous Tense to describe an ongoing emotion in the past.

• I would do this again in a heartbeat. In fact, I really want my parents to do this.

  ➔ Conditional Mood with 'would'

  ➔ The phrase "would do" uses the Conditional Mood with 'would' to express a hypothetical or future action dependent on a condition.