First Appointment with the Doc.

My first appointment with my eye doctor went very well. I originally went in to ask him about Lasik surgery. I want to point out that I have been going to this eye doctor's office since I was a child, I completely trust the entire staff and doctors there. I knew if I was going to consider any type of eye alteration - they would be the only ones I would allow to do it.

We discussed my history (including the fact that he told me over a year ago to switch to one day contacts - something I wish to God I would have done), the problems I've been having, and what I was thinking. I told him my eyes were rejecting my contacts, I needed to see because of my profession, and I wanted to look into Lasik. So, he ran some tests, poked and prodded at my eyes, and then came back to discuss the results. He told me he didn't think I was a good candidate for Lasik. He said that with my prescription (-8.0 & -8.5) the risks associated with shaving down my cornea were just too big. He told me I just didn't have a cornea thick enough to warrant the surgery. At this point my heart sank as he told me Lasik is just not good for people with such a horrible prescription.

He then told me that there was another option for surgery. I specifically remember him telling me that he didn't know why more people didn't do it, besides the fact that it was a relatively new surgery. It was called ICL, Implantable Contact Lens. He told me that like all other surgeries, there are risks associated with it, but that he thought it was the best option for me. He gave me a brochure to take home with me and even mailed me (snail mail) a document and a cd to watch that described the surgery. He recommended that I go for a second opinion, but that if he were in my shoes and had the same problems I did, he would do the surgery. I asked him several questions related to the surgery and found out a lot of things. The one thing that I was adamant about was the fact that I need an option that will allow me to work outside. That is the most important part of my life and if there were possibilities of any issues with that I didn't want to do anything. I was told that again, like any surgery, there are risks. But he felt that the likeliness of any complications were more than extremely low. The other thing I was told, that really sold me on the surgery, was that the procedure was completely reversible. If I did not like the results I could have it removed. I was overjoyed when I heard this. With Lasik - you can never get your cornea back, with this surgery you can get back to your normal self if you don't like it - PERFECT! I also found out the price of the surgery. Because you have to actually go to a surgery center, it costs much more than Lasik. He told me he'd get an exact quote, but said it was around $3,000 per eye.

So, I went back to my small mountain town and considered the thought of having this surgery. I remember getting the DVD of the surgery, watching it and being fascinated by what we can do now -medically. I read the brochures and other information he sent to me, and looked on other doctor's websites. All of the material was pretty positive - I kind of felt like my Doc did - Why didn't more people do this surgery?

Here is a link to a brochure that looked similar to the one the doc gave me: http://www.visianinfo.com/Refractive_options.pdf