Dilemma

[riley]

I am new to this forum and have been researching laser eye surgery for the last 4 months. I now have decided to go PRK but cannot decide between 2 doctors. One is a cornea specialist who performs various surgeries (cataract, etc) but only about 20 laser eye corrections a month. The other doctor is at a laser center and does nothing but laser eye correction surgery at about 100 a month. Both recommend the Visx custom wavefront (that is all the cornea specialist has at his disposal) however, the doctor at a laser center has various lasers to choose from .

My gut feeling is that the doctor who is doing nothing but laser eye correction would be better than the doctor who only does about 20 per month. However, I'm thinking post-op might be better handled with the cornea specialist as the laser center uses Doctors other than the surgeon for follow-up visits.

Any thoughts on a laser center doctor versus a cornea specialist would be appreciated as its decision making time!

[LasikExpert]

Since you are seeking laser vision correction, the surgeon with the most experience and best results would be the better selection. Have you used our 50 Tough Questions For Your Lasik Doctor?

[riley]

Thanks for the reply Glenn. Yes, I did look over the 50 questions and that has helped a lot in eliminating 3 other doctors I saw.

The doctor at the laser center that does nothing but laser correction has 11,000 corrections to date since he started doing the procedure and has appeared in Medical Journals. I personally know 4 friends who have had successful outcomes with him. His experience and numerous lasers to choose from I see as a positive.

Whereas....

The cornea specialist at a well-known hospital in Philadelphia doesn't specialize in just laser correction and at just 20 laser corrections per month make him less experienced in the procedure however, post-op or post-op problems, I would feel a comfort level in him.

It would be nice if I could combine the two - one for the surgery and the other for post-op but unfortunately it doesn't work that way.

Thus, the quandry.....

[LasikExpert]

A corneal specialist is commonly needed after Lasik only if something goes wrong. Hopefully you won't require the corneal specialist. It is a dilemma, but ultimately you will need to select the surgeon with whom you have the most comfort and trust.

[riley]

Thats interesting you say that Glenn. The cornea specialist did say in my consultation that he gets quite a lot of the "Lasik-gone-bad" patients. In the course of our conversation, he did mention that 90% of these patients that were referred to him should never have even had the surgery because they were never good candidates for laser correction.

After hearing him say that I was a good candidate (along with the other 4 doctor consultations), I feel good that I am not going down a path of destruction!

I've decided that I will go with the laser center doctor that does nothing but laser eye surgery. I'll let you know how it goes. I'm scheduled for PRK in January.

[LasikExpert]

...he did mention that 90% of these patients that were referred to him should never have even had the surgery because they were never good candidates for laser correction.

That is the the concern in a nutshell and why a competent surgeon is so important. It is the surgeon who decides who is or is not a candidate, not the technology. The technology is just a tool used by a surgeon.

After hearing him say that I was a good candidate (along with the other 4 doctor consultations), I feel good that I am not going down a path of destruction!

That does say a lot.

I've decided that I will go with the laser center doctor that does nothing but laser eye surgery. I'll let you know how it goes. I'm scheduled for PRK in January.

Very best of luck and I hope we will see you in the "Just Had It" section.