I Got Laser Eye Surgery

⚠️Trigger Warning: graphic details about my eye surgery.

Hey friends,

I’ve had to wear glasses since I was 6 – anything more than 1m away was one big blur. Two years ago though, an ophthamologist messaged me on Instagram to ask if I was interested in having LASIK laser eye surgery. In theory, it’d fully correct my eyesight, and I’d never need to wear glasses again.

The Decision 😰

Initially I though ‘OK, sounds pretty useful’, although having lasers in my eyes sounded a bit freaky. So I had a consultation, and the guy seemed to know what he was talking about.

LASIK surgery uses two lasers. One cuts a tiny flap in the surface of your cornea (the clear bit at the front of the eye). The other laser reshapes the cornea underneath, bending the light in a different direction so that your eye can focus properly.

I went ahead and booked the surgery for £2000 (it’s normally £4k but I got a cheeky influencer discount lol because we’re working on a YouTube video about it). A few days before the surgery though, I started feeling a bit scared, after reading about people for whom the operation didn’t really work, and a bunch of other horror stories. I even messaged my exec assistant Dan to ask if we could cancel:

Eventually Jamie (one of our team members, who’s had eye surgery himself) convinced me to go ahead. He said that if I have an accident or something where my glasses fall off or break, then I’m completely screwed, because I won’t be able to see anything. So even for that 0.1% edge case, it’s worth getting my eyesight fixed. That was what convinced me in the end tbh.

The Surgery 🏥

On Wednesday I went to the clinic (with my new videographer Gordon there to film all the gory details).

First, they put anaesthetic drops in my eye so I didn’t feel anything, then pulled back my eyelids with a retractor. Nothing stops your eyes from actually moving during the surgery – the laser tracks and compensates for your eye movement, and if there’s too much it shuts off automatically.

It was only when I was lying there with a laser about to go into my eye that I thought ‘what have I got myself into’. But by that point it was too late…

There was only about 30 seconds of discomfort for each eye. I could hear this sizzling from the laser, and there was a weird carbon smell like diathermy in surgery (where flesh is being fried). But apparently nothing thermal happens, and the smell is just carbon being released as the laser splits some molecules (or something like that).

My eyes were all puffed up afterwards, but apparently everything went well. They surgeon sent me off with some funky sunglasses and a bunch of eyedrops.

The Aftermath 😎

It’s now day two, and there’s no pain, just some grittiness. It’s weird waking up (or being in the shower) – and just being able to see. The main question now is ‘do I look weird without glasses’? I feel like I do a bit – I’ll probably wear fake glasses for a while, until I acclimatise to the new look.

In a few weeks, as my vision fully clears up and the retina recovers, I’ll probably be able to wholeheartedly recommend laser eye surgery. Right now though, I still feel a little bit edgy.

For pics, check out my Instagram story.

Have a great week!

Ali xx

🪣 Paint in Pakistan

This is a bit random, but I’m looking for market share data on paint brands in Pakistan – like, which brands make up what % of the market. It’s for the amazing public health project Lead Exposure Elimination Project that my housemate Lucia runs. If you know anyone who could shed some light on this, please reply to this email, or DM her on Instagram directly.

🎁 Contrarian Mind, Body, Bank Giveaway

I’ve got a cheeky newsletter recommendation for you all. You may know that wealth is one of the pillars of my content. I think that we can all grow together if we speak about this topic openly. And that’s what Codie Sanchez is doing at her amazing newsletter, Contrarian Thinking where they bring 100k+ subscribers a weekly way to achieve financial, personal & philosophical freedom.

And right now they’re running the Contrarian Mind, Body, Bank Giveaway. Your chance to win $10k in cash and other prizes like an Oculus, just for signing up to the newsletter and referring a bud or two.

To grab your chance at winning, check out her Contrarian Thinking newsletter.

❤️ My Favourite Things

📝 Blog Post – Money Is the Megaphone of Identity by More To That. Interesting way of looking at money that I’d never have thought about before. I’ve actually set up a consultation with the guy who wrote it about helping me figure out what’s going on in my life. I’ll report back and let you know how it goes.

📚 Book – Atmamun by Kapil Gupta. After being absolutely destroyed by the author on Twitter, I went back and read his first book. It’s all about how to achieve bliss, like the Himalayan swamis. I’m doing lots of highlighting for my Readwise collection.

🎵 Song – Merry Christmas by Elton John and Ed Sheeran. I’ve basically had this on repeat the last few days. My brother and I want to cover it at some point and post to Instagram / YouTube.

🎥 Tech – Meeting Owl Pro 360-Degree. A wacky 360° camera I bought (for almost £1000) for our team meetings. We put it in the middle of the studio table, and anyone Zooming in can see everyone sitting around the table (like a live panorama photo). It’s honestly such a game-changer, and we’re always amazed by how well it works.

✍️ Quote of the Week

“Climb the greatest mountain. Achieve all the accolades in the world. Become the greatest in your field. Achieve fame. Earn millions. And you will enjoy every bit of the journey, if and only if you understand that none of it means anything. When something has meaning, it becomes work. When something is meaningless, it becomes play. The joy that you experience in honing your craft is the greatest reward. Spending your life exactly the way you wish to spend it is a wonderful liberation. This is what sinks into the heart. This is the true experience.”

From Atmamun: The path to achieving the bliss of the Himalayan Swamis. And the freedom of a living God, by Kapil Gupta. Resurfaced using Readwise.