My Laser Vision Correction

I have been wearing glasses since I was in 10th grade to see far things more clearly. Recently I have been thinking of having laser vision correction and been to a few doctors for consultation. And guess what … I got all confused!!! In the beginning I thought laser vision correction was all the same and I just needed to carefully choose a doctor who had the most procedures done. But as I went to three different doctors, and they are using different technologies, I started to get confused.

First I went to Gotham Lasik and met Dr. Brian Bonanni; the office was the nicest and quietest (I was the only patient there), and also cleanest. Dr. Bonanni was also very nice. He uses some technology called Allegretto Wave to do LASIK surgery. The cost to do the treatment from him would be almost $5000. Seemed kind of expensive to me; plus I wanted to check with some other doctors first before making the final decision.

Then I went to Manhattan LASIK Center (MLC) for a consultation. This place seemed very busy (like to mention that they have ad on newspaper saying $399/eye). When I went there, I even saw a woman in the office who had done the surgery a day before, and she was fine and smiling. Looked promising to me 🙂 . They did the test, and the finance guy told me the cost of the surgery would be $3000. I was like wow! Sooo cheap (even though I was not getting the $399/eye advertised deal). Then when I met the doctor, he told me I was not qualified for LASIK, but he would do LASEK on my eyes because my cornea is too thin for LASIK. Confused because Doctor Bonnani never told me I was not qualified for LASIK and he was going to do the LASIK on me 😦

Then I went to another place called Park Avenue Laser Vision to clarify if I really did not qualify for LASIK; but this place only does LASEK and was very expensive (also a 5k), and they use the same laser technology as the Manhattan LASIK Center (VISX STAR S4).

Now there is more confusion: (1) why Dr. Bonanni at Gotham Lasik told me that I qualified for LASIK when the doctor at Manhattan LASIK Center said I did not because I had too thin cornea; (2) Dr. Bonanni’s office says their technology (Allegretto Wave) is newer, safer, better than VISX STAR S4 used in MLC when MLC claims that their technology is better, safer, more accurate, and so on.

With having a full time job, I can’t go to too many places for consultation. I will update my status on this when I make up my mind … Anyone giving me any suggestion would be highly appreciated!

Update (05/01/09): with all the confusions and everything, I have decided not to have the surgery at this moment; may be within a few months or a few years or so.

Update (06/02/09): I had the procedure (customvue PRK or LASEK) done at Diamond Vision on Saturday May 30th; the total procedure took only about 2 minutes per eye, and was totally painless both during and after. I took complete rest on Saturday and Sunday. I felt a very small amount of pain and a foreign body sensation in my eyes on both days. Yesterday (Monday) when I woke up, I felt no pain at all, and I came to work also. But I could not read clearly. But today I can read clearly and feeling very happy. 😀

Update (06/12/09): The contact from PRK was removed on June 5th; since then I have been feeling some pain in my eyes and having difficulty reading. Still my up close vision is very blurry. Doctor said it’s normal; but I am not sure how long it will be like that. I hope soon I will be able to read again normally!

Update (06/16/09): This is the third week since my surgery; I have been seeing much better this week, especially with reading and using a computer – last week I was not able to read at all; this week it has got much better; still my reading is not perfect, but I can manage to do my work and read an article, etc. now.

Update (07/17/09): Today I had my 7-week post-op appointment with the doctor; she checked my cornea and it looked good. Then she asked me to read from the reading chart and I was able to read even the last line very easily from the chart (which is a perfect vision or 20/20); then she put one line smaller on the screen and guess what, I was even able to read that line as well, and that’s a 20/15 vision (better than perfect)!!!!!! I was sooo thrilled and happy with the result! 😀 I think this is one of the best decisions I have ever made to get laser correction of my eyes. Now not only that I don’t have to wear glasses or contacts anymore, I even have a vision that is better than perfect! 😀 😀 😀