Well before Lasik my glasses were a part of me. I mean I wore them so much they were kind of part personality and part for sight. But I’m active in the outdoors, so I’m a runner, triathlete, so they got in the way a lot in terms of having to go swim and put goggles on or running. And then for the evenings I’d never found contacts that worked great. I mean I would put them in and my eyes would be instantly red or I’d have big bags, and I’d kind of walk out the house looking tired before I’d even stepped out, so it was a little bit frustrating for me. So I was in glasses more than I wasn’t.
Well I’ve had a lot of friends that had done it and everybody kept telling me I should do it, and I had my brother and my sister were both getting married within 3 months, and I knew the weddings were coming up. And again because I always looked really bad in pictures when I put contacts in it was a huge impetus to get it done, and I was also starting to train again. If I have any regrets it’s that I didn’t do this four years ago. It’s by far probably one of the best decisions I’ve ever made in my life. I ran 14 miles this morning actually. I didn’t have to worry that my eyes were gonna be itchy or my contacts were gonna fall out, I could concentrate on the run.
I definitely would recommend Eye Doctors of Washington. I’m a very analytical person so when I decided to have it done I did a lot of research, and everything that was on paper proved true in reality. They are very helpful. If you have any concerns they take the time with you, and again just during the actual surgery which is, you know you’re nervous, it’s very comforting. I mean Dr. Clinch is really comforting and really talks you through it and then the kind of care that they give you afterwards. Dr. Clinch called me to check in that afternoon, you know see how I was doing. So it’s that kind of personal service that you don’t often get in doctors these days that I think makes this by far the best place to get Lasik done in the city if not anywhere else.
With custom LASIK treatments we can correct nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism. But more importantly everyone has minor imperfections in their eye which are called higher order aberrations. The custom treatments map all of those higher order aberrations and can smooth those and make the surface much more uniform. It’s what allows many people to see better than they every could before the treatment. It actually makes the vision in many people superior to what it was with their glasses or contacts.
The analogy that I like to use is that standard LASIK or old fashioned LASIK is kind of like watching TV with standard cable. But when you’re using custom LASIK, where the images are taken at a much higher resolution, it’s like seeing everything in high definition, and patients can really tell the difference.
They’re actually several different surgical strategies that are available to try to help patients get rid of their glasses. There’s Lasik, there’s PRK, there are implantable contact lenses. Our goal as a refractive surgeon is to match the appropriate procedure to the patient. So the way we do that is by doing a very thorough preoperative operation, and when we’re evaluating patients we’re looking at the contour of their cornea, how thick it is, as well as a lot of other physical examination findings. And we’re correlating that also with their lifestyle.
A 26 year old is obviously different in terms of their visual needs than somebody that’s 50. Somebody that’s an accountant is different than somebody that sky dives, and these are all things that we take into consideration when we are making the recommendation as far as what’s the best procedure for each patient.
So pretty much after the surgery I just went home, fell asleep, and I guess was a bum pretty much all day, slept slept slept. But then the most amazing thing was when I woke up the next morning and I immediately woke up, was squinting my eyes, and I realized I couldn’t see what the alarm clock was saying. And so I opened up my eyes and I could see everything perfectly, it was amazing. Granted it was 3:30 in the morning, I didn’t want to wake up, but the fact that I could see the alarm clock was definitely one of the most amazing things ever. I didn’t think they were actually telling me the truth, I didn’t actually believe it was gonna happen by the next day, I honestly did not. But it did, and it’s pretty awesome.
Hey Sammy. Hey Dr. Kang how you doing? Oh man fantastic, I woke up this morning I could see the alarm clock, first time in probably 18 years. Alright perfect well let’s see what you got. Sammy is rechecked on the first postoperative day. At this time we check his vision and make sure his flap is positioned well. Alright. Dr. Kang actually just came in, told me I have better than perfect vision, 20-15, so that means that what you see at 15 feet is what I see at 20 feet. So technically, genetics I don’t even care about you anymore, because thanks to Dr. Kang and Dr. Clinch, I can see now.
Perfect. Alright well congratulations that couldn’t look any better. Awesome, thank you Dr. Kang. Now what do I do with these? Well obviously those are no use to you anymore. Hmm.
Alright now I want to the thank the Eye Doctors of Washington of course, Dr. Clinch, Dr. Kang for everything. But before I head out I’ve got some unfinished business to take care of with these glasses of mine.
Hey. How are you? You excited to get rid of your glasses? Of course, I’m ready. I’ve been practicing my look, how great I’m gonna look without the glasses so…Alright, welcome we’re gonna get you started here. I’m gonna have you just meet with Elise and she’s gonna go over a couple of things and we’ll go from there.
Hey Sammy nice to see you. Come around this way. Alright. And lay back so your head’s on the pillow. And you want to say goodbye to those glasses? Alright I’m gonna give you something to hold on to. And we’ve got a blanket here for you too. Alright and I’ll get Dr. Kang. Do I get a bedtime story too? Hehe.
Right now Sammy’s laying down and we’re putting some drops in to numb or anesthetize the eye so he’ll feel less discomfort. Some patients are very anxious that they might move during the procedure making it less precise. The Excimer laser uses a special eye tracking software which will move with the patient’s eye, allowing a very precise treatment despite eye movement. Alright close your eyes and I’m gonna get the doctor.
Hey Sam you ready? Dr. Kang up here. Alright we’re gonna get you started here. During the first part of the procedure we create the Lasik flap using the intralase. The intralase creates tiny bubbles in the cornea to create the flap. We place a docking station on interface onto the surface of the eye. During this process you will feel some pressure and your vision will actually go dark.
Alright Sammy I’m just gonna turn your head just a little bit this way, good just relax. Okay you’re gonna feel a little bit of pressure here. You know what they were honest, there was literally, they said a little bit of pressure. I think the way I could see it is like, you know, the difference between hit in the face or if somebody just sits there and just constantly pushes your face, that was it. It was just like a little push. It didn’t hurt at all, I didn’t actually feel any pain. I never said ow. I mean yeah I might have looked like a wuss with a little stuffed animal squeezing onto him like I was, but you know what, yeah it didn’t hurt at all. I promise you it didn’t hurt, I just really like stuffed animals.
During the next part of the procedure Sammy’s flap is lifted and then we use the Excimer to reshape his cornea. Now that the custom Excimer laser treatment has been completed, Sammy’s flap has been repositioned. It was too easy, it was like 35 minutes, no joke. It takes me longer to get Chinese food than it did to get my Lasik surgery.
In astigmatism, the light rays are not bent uniformly, therefore people see a blur. Many people are surprised to find out that we’ve been able to correct astigmatism with the Lasik procedure for over 10 years. What the laser does is it takes the nonuniform shape of the cornea and makes it much more symmetric or round.
In farsightedness, the light rays are not bent enough. Therefore in the Lasik procedure we steepen the cornea, allowing the light rays to focus onto the retina.
Since was about 18 I guess first started wearing contacts, and I actually had a unique situation where I only had one bad eye, so for me I wore one contact lens. And I think for most people it’s usually pretty hard to detect and just kind of flows into their day well, but because I only had it in one eye I could always kind of tell it was in. So I was eager to jump at the chance and have laser surgery. It wasn’t necessarily a huge pain beforehand but it’s just become so much easier afterwards. My job, especially those days I forgot my contact lens, I’d come home with a headache just from reading. Having one eye be really bad and one eye be good really gave me a headache, reading all day long at a computer.
I don’t own a car in D.C. so I ride my bike around a lot, and being able to see the gradations in the sidewalk and not be thrown by them if I’m not wearing contacts is very nice. I think I just had a pretty flawless and ideal experience here. Both Dr. Clinch and the other associates here did a really great job in answering my questions. I had a couple unique concerns about what’s the potential of having dry eye for example, I think that’s what a lot of people worry about. And I ended up opting to have PRK even though I was a candidate for both surgeries, and for me it was a great choice because I haven’t had any of the side effects I was concerned about. And they helped me make a really good decision about which kind of surgery was appropriate for me given the conditions of my eye, and I felt very reassured that it was the right choice.
Hey what’s going on guys I’m Sammy K. and, I’m standing at the Eye Doctors of Washington office, and I’m here to get some Lasik, so follow me guys.
Well okay so I’ve pretty much worn glasses like my entire life. I actually don’t remember not wearing glasses although I do remember my mom telling me a story about how when I was younger teachers came up to her in my preschool and were like, “Excuse me, Mrs. K, your son Sammy, he’s just not learn the alphabet, he can’t do his numbers, we think he has a learning disability.” And my mom of course being any parent, she was very hurt by that. Well lo and behold a year and a half later when they make you do your mandatory eye check before kindergarten doctors come up and go, “Well we’re sorry your son actually doesn’t have a learning disability, he just can’t see, that’s why he can’t read. Hahaha, sorry Ma’am.”
So that’s pretty much how the story went, and I don’t know. I guess ever since then I’ve always wanted to get Lasik done.
Okay you can take your glasses off and you want to just rest your chin there and press your forehead to the bar.
While Lasik is a brief, relatively painless procedure, there’s comprehensive preoperative testing done prior to the day of surgery. During that testing we measure and map all of the imperfections within the eye. Look for changes in the cornea, we look for any signs of cataracts or any breaks or tears in the retina. That examination process takes about two hours.
Hey man, you immediately walk in, it’s a young, fun atmosphere. I didn’t even, I forgot I was at the doctor’s office. Like I could still smell that doctor’s smell but I was having fun. We got a 479er. And I was confused because it’s not how you normally feel, and that’s it man. I mean honestly they made me feel very comfortable.
Okay here’s your glasses Sammy and now we need to go talk to the doctor and he’ll take a look at your pictures.
Oh hey doctor how are you? Nice to meet you. You got good news for me? I got great news. Congratulations, you’re a wonderful candidate. Now I don’t go today right, when do I get it done?
We’re gonna do it another day. We’re gonna bring you in and give you some medicine to make you calm and relaxed before the surgery. Procedure won’t be very long, it’ll take between 5 and 10 minutes for you to do, and afterwards we’re gonna have you go home and kind of chill out, take it easy, take a nap, and wake up, and when you wake up you should be seeing pretty clearly. So I can go to work the next day? Next day.
Am I nervous? I’m pretty sure I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t. to be honest with you I mean hey they’re gonna shoot a laser into your eyes. I mean I’ve seen Star Trek before, I know what they do with the laser. They’ve assured me that these aren’t the same kind of lasers but I’m still worried, I’m not gonna lie. And like the doctors tell you, “There is no guarantee.” And yeah but I’m not really worried. When it comes down to it I’m not even fretting about this. This is the last thing on my list of things that I’m worried about today and I’m really excited about it.
Sammy I’d like to thank you for coming here today and allowing us to film you going through this whole process. it gives our patients kind of a firsthand experience with Lasik, because as you and I’ve discussed there’s always a lot of concern about the procedure and this’ll give them some familiarity.
Now what’s gonna happen next is I’m gonna introduce you to Dr. Kang. He’s gonna be performing your procedure and during that phase of this video I’m gonna be explaining to the audience what’s happening during the process. Okay awesome I’m excited let’s do this.
This is Dr. Kang. Alright well I wanted to just take an opportunity to kind of get to know you, I know you’ve already met with Dr. Clinch and he’s told you you’re a great candidate for Lasik and I think that’s great. What is it, what’s the motivation here, why do you want to have Lasik? Oh man I’ve had my glasses since forever and it’s just been my demise. I want to just wake up one morning and see what the alarm clock says without having to put it two inches from my phase.
No for sure I’m pretty sure if you asked me what the demise of my entire life has been, the only bad thing I could actually say is my glasses. That’s the only thing I’ve hated so much. And for every year that I probably had my glasses I could think of at least ten ways to destroy them. So that’s like 180 ways I would love to just gaa, these things right here, just to break them apart would be fantastic.
