I stepped inside the hospital at 8a.m. as instructed. It was empty and cold. Not a soul.. nobody behind the counter or in the waiting area. And I always thought hospitals are one of those crowded-never-sleeps places...
Why was I told to come so early then? oh yeah.. something about people who come first do the surgery first and get to leave sooner and get on with their life.

At 10a.m. when a nurse finally appeared yawning, she takes me to a small room with a single bed and broken TV (you'd think as a specialist eye hospital, they'd have radio's instead of TV's for their patients !) She hands me a gown to wear and starts looking for a vein to insert a canula in. The whole time I was shaking and couldn't sit down from nervousness. 3 hours later, am biting my nails and almost in tears and still... no surgery. I had a canula in one hand and some kinda "dye" injected in the other so "the doctor can see the blood vessels in ur eye during surgery" as the nurse put it.

At 3.30pm, I was fuming and snapping at everything and everyone, even my own family members. I strided out to the nurses station in my gown and bare feet and demanded that I have the surgery.... this was the response:
"Ohhh.. u're still here? we forgot all about u!! The doctor is not coming in today. He called and postponed his surgeries for next week...."

Angry was an understatement to describe what I felt that moment. Yet I couldn't help being relieved for a moment. On my way home, I laughed at those words that rang through my ears for a whole week, "Surgery... ASAP... risk blindness.."

The following week, The same scenario is repeated, except that no nurse came in to look for any veins in my arms coz the doctor doesn't need any dye to be injected etc.
I was seated on a round leather chair (wearing my own warm clothes, no gown!) in a dark room, facing a machine that looked like a camera from where I was sitting. After applying 3 eyedrops in my eyes, which all stung, a gel was squirted onto a lens which the doctor stuck on my eye. I saw a white light with a red dot in the middle. "zeeoooooooo" A fire was lit on my skull and an excruciating pain shot through my eyes to my teeth, zoomed past my forehead and settled somewhere at the back of my brain. And I heard a loud scream and a swear word. It turned out to be me. The doctor kept saying silly things like, "Hey, that was only one shot, am aiming for at least 1500, and stop being such a cry baby the laser is painless..."
"HOWA EH DAH ELY PAINLESS?? Don't SPEAK to me about pain!! How would U know? U come sit in this seat and I'll point that laser at ur eyes and shoot and then u can speak to me about pain !! 2al painless... "

Forgive me I will not publish here the exact conversation and my remarks to the doctor because it will be... just too rude. I wasn't myself. The pain was unbearable and that's all I can say.

I had to return the following week to "finish" what was started, because I couldn't take any more "laser shots" that day. The 2nd time I was more prepared and dug my nails deep into the nurses hand that held mine.

I hope no one goes through this pain or goes through any Egyptian healthcare facility. EVER