Before LASIK 20/800 Right eye, 20/800 Left eye

LASIK procedure August 1997

After LASIK 20/15 Right eye, 20/20 Left eye (9/97 and stable at last exam 12/99

I'm Ann Marie Spencer, an optometrist in New York, and I work at Vista Alliance with Dr. Barrie Soloway. I would usually see patients in the examining room next to him, and he would continually bring postoperative patients the first day after LASIK into his examination room. All these patients would walk in with clear plastic shields on their eyes, big smiles and happily telling everyone how amazed they were at their vision.  On the first day after LASIK they would be able to read the chart, and they had no pain.  Before this, being an optometrist I was completely aware of every possible complication from the earlier ways of treating nearsightedness, and I had never even considered refractive surgery for myself.  I thought it was plastic surgery and an unnecessary risk, besides, who would ever want to touch a healthy eye.  Also, my prescription wasn't that bad (-3.50 -1.25 x 180 in the right eye and -3.75 -1.00 x 180 in the left eye). 

But after I saw all these patients passing through the office for over a year, I started looking at Dr. Soloway's results.  I found that he didn't have any long term complications and that everyone was seeing well. I had been wearing glasses since I was nine, and one day at the beach I decided that I just didn't want to deal with my contact lenses anymore .  I had the workup for the procedure in July 1997 at Vista Alliance's office by Dr. Steven Ali, one of Dr. Soloway's associates.  They measured my prescription a number of times both with and without drops, as well as measuring the topography (shape) of cornea on each eye.

They determined that my eyes had stabilized from my contact lenses by August and I had the procedure at the TLC laser center. The people at the center were fantastic! The final measurements were taken at the TLC center, and I met with Dr. Soloway just before we went into the laser suite.  Like most people, I was very anxious before the procedure, but Dr. Soloway let me know every step he was doing along the way, how it would feel and what I would see. With his gentle reassurance and confidence during the procedure, as well as the professionalism of the TLC staff, it was over before I knew it.  I didn't feel any pain during or after the procedure.

 I saw better right after the procedure, but the next morning it was the most amazing. I saw 20/15 with my right eye and 20/20 with my left.  I went to work that day in the ophthalmology department at a hospital in Brooklyn, and all the doctors there wanted to examine my eyes. They were amazed, because they had trouble even seeing that anything was done!

It has been almost a year since I had the surgery, and I still see great.  I can swim, ski and mountain bike much more comfortably now. The best thing is still opening my eyes in the morning and seeing everything clearly right away. I can't thank Dr. Soloway enough for my "new eyes".

At Vista Alliance, we would be glad to answer any questions you might have. You can  e-mail us through our website here at www.nyLASIK.com or call 1 (888) 821 - EYES

Back to Our Doctors