Second Consultation: Bochner Eye Institute

My Second Consultation: Bochner Eye Institute (March 16 2012) 

A week after my consultation with Herzig, I wanted a second opinion.  So, I made a visit to my optometrist while I got my vision checked.  My optometrist, Dr. Bonnie Wan is a super nice, helpful, informative and caring optometrist.  I told her I was thinking of getting laser eye surgery and what she thought.  She said good things about it and also the risks and after-effects of it.  She recommended 2 places to me that she has had good reviews back from other patients, Bochner and TLC.  With this tip, I went ahead to book my second and third consultation.

There were three locations, my first choice was Unionville, booked out for the week I wanted. The same for my second choice, downtown.  So, I ended up just going to the Scarborough location.  It is the furthest away from me but I am glad I went there.  Because it was a less busy location, I didn't feel rushed when I was there.  After booking my appointment online, I received a letter in the mail a few days later with a sign for parking and a reminder letter.  (Like this already!).

When I went into the office, I filled out the usual paper form for new patients.  The wait wasn't long before I was guided into a room by a consultant named Lynn. (I love her!! Such a sweet and kind lady)  Similar to the first consultant, my eyes were checked for eye pressure, dryness, current vision, cornea thickness, and pupil size.  They didn't have as many super fancy technology and crazy machines as Herzig.  Lynn asked when I last wore my contacts, please note, it is very important to not wear your contacts for at least a week prior to consultation, 14 days would be ideal!  I learned from going to these consultations that contacts swollen your cornea and thus increase the cornea thickness, which gives an incorrect cornea thickness measurement for determining what procedure is best for you.  I told her a week and she seemed satisfied.

After taking all measurements and having all maps printed, she guided me into another room with a laptop and some models on display.  She told me he following:

• You are not a candidate for LASIK (expected!)
• But you ARE a candidate for PRK (TOTALLY PUZZLED!)

So I told her my experience with Herzig, and she said the reason is not because PRK cannot be performed on my eyes, but because they may not have the machine for my large pupil size and higher prescription.  She handed me a folder with a lot of papers and showed me what machine they would be using if I were to go through with this,  its the Allegretto Wave eye-Q laser, which is the newest in Germany and replaced just last year.  (this is good news to me).  She went on to show me two animated videos on the laptop of LASIK and PRK.  She explained why I was not able to do LASIK (very thoroughly compared to Herzig) and why PRK was a better option for me.  She also used an eye model to explain the different parts of an eye and how it would work and recover.  She then went through the PRK Post Operative Instructions, what I will be expecting and receiving from them as a part of the one fee cost.  She continued by going through the consent form with me outlining all the risk with specific details and examples.  Finally, she ended it off with the cost of $2700 per eye, includes:

• Initial consultation and testing prior to procedure
• The procedure
• Pre-operative and post-operative examinations
• A set of eye drops and medications needed for recovery
• Retreatment (if necessary and can be performed)

She gave me all paperwork in a Bochner folder and gave me zero pressure for the surgery.  She told me to think thoroughly about it and if I feel that I need a third opinion, I am free to go to another clinic to see since I have received two very opposing treatments so far.

Note: Since I mentioned ICL to her, she was concerned about my corneal thickness if I choose to do ICL. So she made another appointment for me the following week to see Dr. Raymond Stein.  When I went in to get it checked, he advised me that PRK would be my best option as there seems to not be enough room to fit the ICL in there. (this made me feel a bit better but I still needed one more opinion).

My feedback on my consultation here is all positive. Although it made me a bit more confused whether I can do PRK or not, it was much more informative than the first and I had a better understanding of all the procedures and risks involved.  I liked that there were no pressure for me to book a surgery and gave me a bit of hope that maybe I can get my vision corrected...

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Procedure explanations: Click here

Next Consultation with TLC: Click here

First Consultation with Herzig: Click here