Walk Your Talk Vol 6

Our bright-eyed consultant Merike makes sure that every one of our clients gets a thorough answer to anything they need to know before their laser eye surgery. Hers is the friendly voice you’ll hear when you call us. Some clients might even be lucky enough to see her smiling face in reception when visiting!

Merike said that even though the clients she speaks to on the phone and meets at the clinic have generally similar questions and problems, the two ways of communicating require very different skills from her. “When I see a client face-to-face, I can read out a lot from their body language. On the phone I sometimes have to guess how they’re feeling and what they’re not telling me because I only have their voice to go from.”

hat helps her to connect with our clients is her own laser procedure experience. “Because I’ve had laser eye surgery myself, I can tell our clients all about what goes on in the operating room, so they’d know what to expect. And I always tell them how the procedure completely changed my life! I think that really helps to calm them down.” What Merike remembers most from her pre-surgery life is catching the bus on a rainy day and having the feeling of “ending up in a fish bowl” because of misty glasses. And how her bad vision caused a lot of trouble when swimming – which she does a lot, because that’s been her favourite hobby since she was little.

"19. jaanuar 2011 – kuupäev jääb mulle alatiseks meelde! See oli enne, kui KSA-sse tööle asusin. Kuigi olin protseduuri nii kaua oodanud, olin sel päeval päris närvis. Pärast operatsiooni sain aru, et olin liiga palju muretsenud. See kõik käis nii kiiresti – tundsin, et kirurg ei tee midagi minu silmadega, vaid millegagi klaasseina taga mu silmade lähedal. Kui dr Haavel ütles, et kõik on tehtud, pidin teda rahustuseks paluma, sest ma ei suutnud uskuda, kui kiire ja mugav kogu protseduur oli!"

«Võin ausalt, liialdamata öelda, et mu elu muutus sel päeval. Minu nägemine oli kehv juba põhikoolis ja mõtlesin, et pean sellega lihtsalt leppima ja sellega elama. Seega oli protseduur minu jaoks unistuse täitumine! Ma ei suuda siiani vahel uskuda, et ma oma silmaga nii hästi näen!"