Laser Eye Surgery Decision
In October 2012, I officially became a permanent full time employee at my job. This was a good sign for me as it meant a stable income to support such a big procedure and I would have paid days off for recovery. Which is great! Since the holidays were approaching, I made this a To-Do item for 2013!
After going through 3 consultations, I sat down and did a process of elimination and decided that I did not need to go to anymore consultations. Three seemed like a good number already and I think I have information to make my decision.
I did one last bit of research at the end of 2012 on all the clinics as well as other possible clinics. There seems to be quite a number of bad reviews for Lasik MD. Although I had two friends who did LASIK there, one in Toronto and one in Calgary, the reviews did not make me happy. I am the kind of person that cares a lot about post-operatve care and treatment, especially given this kind of procedure only takes several minutes to perform. There were quite a number of reviews where they made it sound like they don't care about you after they have taken your money... dislike!
I eliminated Herzig because they would only perform ICL for me and the cost is way over my budget. Plus, the other two consultations told me this procedure is a bit more risky for me. So, I had to decide between Bochner and TLC. I decided to go forth with Bochner because there seemed to be quite a bit of positive reviews for them of recent surgeries. Oddly, I had no friends that did a procedure there before but I felt confident in them. They were the most informative, least pressuring, and most recommended.
When 2013 came along in the first week of January, I made a note on my agenda to call Bochner and book my surgery. I called them on the second week of January and had my surgery booked for March 1, 2013. Having been told that all surgeries were performed in the downtown location, I called them where I was told that I must book my surgery with the location I did my consultation with. Although I booked the surgery 2 months away but I wanted to have enough time to prepare for it, plus, I had too many activities going on in those 2 months. However, after booking the surgery, I requested to have another consultation prior to the surgery given I have forgotten quite a bit of what I was told to me the first time. They were very nice and schedule me in to see Lynn again on January 21.
Dry Eye Situation
When I went back to see her, she remembered me and redid the measurements she did the first time. Everything looks good except, she noticed I had really dry eyes! (UH OH!!!) She gave me several boxes of eye drops (Systane and a gel one for night). She advised me to stop wearing contacts and to apply these drops as much as possible. My eyes need to be in good shape prior to surgery, I was concerned...
She booked another appointment for me to go back a week before the surgery, especially on a Tuesday because Dr. Raymond Stein would be at the location. In case the dry eyes were still prevalent, he can take a look at it and offer other methods to resolve it prior to surgery.
We discussed the payments, risks, recovery period and consent form. Since my schedule was booked already, she asked whether I wanted to do my post-op examinations with them or go to my optometrist. I picked my optometrist because its closer to my home and she is aware of my procedure. Immediately, she called my optometrist's office and schedule post-op day 1 appointment for me. She then faxed a paper outlining my dry eye situation along with my procedure date to her. (so efficient!)
The following day, I got a call from my optometrist requesting to see me prior to the procedure as she too is concerned with my dry eye situation. I ended up seeing her the saturday prior to the surgery on February 23 due to my busy schedule (>.<). She said my eyes look promising and it was not as bad as how the fax outlined anymore. (PHEW!) However, there are still dry spots and I should continue doing what I was doing. Prior to this, on the phone, she gave me the following tips to relieve dry eyes:
- Drink more water!! (this is very important whether you have dry eyes or not..I tend to forget to drink water in the past due to workload but I started drinking at least one cup before work and before bed)
- Do eye compresses by wetting a small towel with hot water, dry it, and press it on your eyes closed. This helps the tear duct to formulate tears when its dry
- Get a humidifier!!
- Take fish oil supplements
- Consistently apply preservative free eye drops - BION TEARS! (now my bff!)
- Tape your eyes to sleep (sounds scary...but it really helps! Use surgical tape!)
By following the instructions above, I was able to drastically recover from my super dry eyes situation!! SO happy!
When I went back to see Lynn at Bochner prior to surgery, she also told me the same. She also gave me 2 more boxes of Bion Tears and the gel one. AWESOME!! She told me to apply them more frequent since my surgery was coming close!!
EEKkkkkkks!!
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Procedure explanations: Click here
First Consultation with Herzig: Click here
Third Consultation with Bochner: Click here
Third Consultation with TLC: Click here
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