I can’t believe it’s been 2 years since I had my Lasik surgery performed (see the beginning of this blog to read my full experience). I went to an ophthalmologist in the middle of last year just to be sure everything looked good and he said it did. I can honestly say that I have no complaints or issues resulting from my surgery whatsoever. No dry eyes, my vision is still 20/20+, no halos, etc. My vision is completely organic and feels incredibly natural. So much so that I don’t even think about it.  There are a lot of horror stories on the internets intending to scare and dissuade you. Take these accounts for what they’re worth but also take mine into consideration. My experience has resulted in a text book perfect outcome and I couldn’t be happier. =-)

Well...Her experience was interesting. to say the least. Let me preface this by saying that she is doing fine and I think her vision is improving faster than mine did. She'll find out tomorrow what her new eyes are capable of. Most of her time behind the door was similar to mine. The same tests, the same pre-work, the same valium. As soon as she got into the OR is when it got interesting. Apparently Boothe had some contractors he was using for technicians. Well something happened and they didn't show today as he was expecting. Boothe was furious and made no attempt to hide his rage, even in front of an ACTIVE OR!! My wife said he was dropping profanities left and right. "F__king bulls__t", "I want them all fired", etc. She and a few other people hear this maniac's tirade as they're waiting their turn to go on the Intralase machine. Can you imagine? Once on the Intralase machine, there is a lot of bumbling around as part of the "tupperware" doesn't attach correctly and falls off the machine. She said it hurt incredibly bad on both eyes once they got it clamped. There was not even the slightest attempt at care. She even told them they were hurting her. I don't remember if Boothe manned this machine for my procedure but apparently he did for her's. This is just what you'd want, a furious out-of-touch, primadonna MD throwing a tantrum right before he cuts your EYES open. Like I told her, luckily the machines weren't angry! He couldn't get her eye lined up right and got frustrated with her, telling her to move her eye down. He wasn't satisfied with any move she made and someone eventually positioned her chin to meet the requirement. She said his assistants did seem very nice.

Once she made it to the Lasik machine, she could still hear this fool carrying on about his soon to be ex-subordinates. Luckily Boothe actually does very little in the entire procedure, which might also point to why he's so out of touch. He's basically a machine operator behind the conveyor belt of an assembly line. All the coordinates are pumped into his various machines and they do all the work. All he really does (by my estimation anyway) is pull the pre-cut corneal flap back so the laser can correct the eye. He then lays the flap back down, irrigates, and installs a contact bandaid. 3 thousand please! I witnessed questionable behavior by him during my visit but nothing like this. She must have been terrified! I was, just listening to the story. She will go to the followup sessions, afterall we've already paid for them, but I can no longer in good faith recommend Dr. William Boothe MD of Plano, TX. This disgraceful display of unprofessionalism in front of waiting patients in an OR of all places is beyond unacceptable. His machinery is top notch and he's done a bunch of surgeries but go somewhere else, seriously. You as a patient would never experience anything remotely close to this in any normal doctor's office. If this had happened in a hospital he would be on his way to losing his privleges to the facility!

Dr Boothe, I hope 2009 is a very difficult year for you and I will never again recommend anyone to visit your clinic.

Almost a year has gone by since my procedure and I'm still 100%. Time flies... My vision feels completely organic and like "it should be". No blurries, no halos, doubles, no problems with dryness. Everything is as it should be. I plan to go to another independent ophthalmologist to get the clean bill of health, but I can honestly say that I've got no problems to report. :) I'll be curious to see if I'm still at 20/15 or if my vision has settled to 20/20. My distance clarity and near-sight are fantastic. Lasik, for me, was worth every penny.
My wife is undergoing the same procedure later this month and she's ecstatic. She got even a higher guarantee from Boothe who told her that she is >the< ideal candidate. Exactly what you'd want to hear! I'll report back the results from her experience as well.

Several weeks ago I went to get my 3 months check and was given the perfect stamp again. I am completely off drops now and have been for weeks with zero problems. I sleep with a ceiling and a floor fan in my bedroom and don't have any issues with dryness. My last chart result was 20/15 with both eyes, 20/20 in each individually. So far this experience has been great and I have absolutely no regrets. The Boothe office experience turns a lot of people off but he did a good job when all was said and done.

It's hard to fully appreciate what being glasses-less means so here are a few things that get taken for granted that have changed for me since I had the procedure.

• ability to see shower floor clearly
• ability to see myself in the mirror from the shower
  
• my field of vision has increased immensely (I didn't wear contacts)
• I get to wear cool Oakley shades now ;)
• When doing incline dumbbell bench presses I can watch my form now (glasses limited vision field prevented this before)
• I look younger (good thing) but less "scholarly" (bad thing? - meh)
• I can actually see my surroundings in the pool!
• I don't have sweat dripping into my glasses when working outside or on the car
• And of course the obligatory, "I can see the alarm clock from across the room now"
  

Another visit to the Boothe clinic to see how my eyes are coming along. The healing is "perfect" but doc says my eye pressure is a little high which could be because of the Lotemax. I'm due back in another 2 weeks for another check. Tomorrow I switch to 1 x/ day Lotemax finishing up next Wednesday. So almost a full week afterwards I'll go for my follow up. I read the chart again but this time at 20/15!!!! Fantastic. Doc said I could try a night without the Genteal goop to see how it goes. I did it and it went fine! No dryness issues whatsoever. Really nice to be able to wake up without any residual blurriness so this is a treat. I find that I don't really need the tears at all anymore so I'll use them when I think of it just so I'm not going complete cold turkey. I feel "normal" again and the vision is excellent. Now I can say that I am really happy I did this! Although it will take 2 years for the flap to heal, I don't do contact sports so I'll be ok. WOOT!

Some say that the blades used to cut the corneal flap (mechanical microkeratomes) are as good or safer than the Intralase laser. Here is a study that proves that not to be the case:

From NCBI: http://tinyurl.com/yp7nkv

PURPOSE: To compare laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) results obtained with the femtosecond laser (IntraLase Corp.) to those obtained using 2 popular mechanical microkeratomes. SETTING: Private practice, Greensboro, North Carolina, USA.

METHODS: This retrospective analysis compared LASIK outcomes with the femtosecond laser to those with the Carriazo-Barraquer (CB) microkeratome (Moria, Inc.) and the Hansatome microkeratome (Bausch & Lomb, Inc.). The 3 groups were matched for enrollment criteria and were operated on under similar conditions by the same surgeon. RESULTS: There were 106 eyes in the IntraLase group, 126 eyes in the CB group, and 143 eyes in the Hansatome group. One day postoperatively, the uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA) results in the 3 groups were similar; at 3 months, the UCVA and the best spectacle-corrected visual acuity results were not significantly different. A manifest spheroequivalent of +/-0.50 diopter (D) was achieved in 91% of eyes in the IntraLase group, 73% of eyes in the CB group, and 74% of eyes in the Hansatome group (P<.01). IntraLase flaps were significantly thinner (P<.01) and varied less in thickness (P<.01) than flaps created with the other devices. The mean flap thickness was 114 microm +/- 14 (SD) with the IntraLase programmed for a 130 microm depth, 153 +/- 26 microm with the CB using a 130 microm plate, and 156 +/- 29 microm with the Hansatome using a 180 microm plate. Loose epithelium was encountered in 9.6% of eyes in the CB group and 7.7% of eyes in the Hansatome group but in no eye in the IntraLase group (P =.001). Surgically induced astigmatism in sphere corrections was significantly less with the IntraLase than with the other devices (P<.01).

CONCLUSIONS: The IntraLase demonstrated more predictable flap thickness, better astigmatic neutrality, and decreased epithelial injury than 2 popular mechanical microkeratomes.

If you've done any research on this subject on the internet you've no doubt come across some very scary information. "The flap never heals", "your vision will regress", "lasik suicides", etc. I decided to research each of these claims prior to my surgery and will post my findings. I determined that the majority of this information is meant simply to scare people. Period. I joked with my wife that it was a conspiracy by a group of ophthalmologists who want to scare people so they can keep selling glasses and contacts. ;)

Myth #1: "The flap never heals"

Quite simply, yes it does! It happens in stages and continues over a long time but yes it does eventually heal completely.

Quoted from http://www.usaeyes.org/lasik/faq/lasik-flap-heal.htm:

Many potential and post-conventional or wavefront custom Lasik and All-Laser Lasik patients are concerned about the degree to which the flap ultimately heals and re-bonds to the underlying stromal bed. Here is a synopsis of current thinking on the subject. Of course, due to individual healing differences, the time-line below will vary from person to person.

Hopefully this information reassures some of you that the flap eventually does heal quite securely, and does not just lie there flapping in the breeze, indefinitely. If you still have doubt, remember that corneal transplants, despite being much more invasive than Lasik flaps and consisting of imperfectly cross-matched cadaver tissue, ultimately heal so completely that they provide strength and structural integrity for the eye. This is additional evidence that Lasik flaps do heal very securely and eventually contribute at least to some degree to the bio-mechanical strength of the cornea.

The process of flap healing is similar if the flap is created with a mechanical microkeratome or a laser microkeratome (All-Laser Lasik).

Phase I

Days 1 to 3 post-op Immediately post-op as the flap is re-positioned and the doctor "squeegees" out excess moisture under the flap, a negative osmotic pressure is created that "sucks" the flap onto the stromal bed and holds it there. The flap is held in place fairly well at this time, barring physical trauma such as rubbing the eye or a poke in the eye. Of course, this is a very vulnerable period because any trauma to the flap could easily dislodge it, hence the importance of wearing eye shields at night and similar protections.

Phase II

Days 4 to 14 post-op During this period the epithelium re-generates along the perimeter of the flap, sealing and bonding the flap more securely in place. This is still a vulnerable time, but less so than in Phase I, where only osmotic pressure secured the flap.

Phase III

Days 15 to 60 post-op During this period the re-generated perimeter epithelium lays down a basement membrane that firmly adheres the newly regenerated epithelium to the underlying stromal bed.

Phase IV

Days 61 to 180 post-op During this period the keratocyte cells of the stromal bed and the flap produce an adhesive protein (glycos-aminoglycan) that bonds or "glues" the flap to the stromal bed. By the 180th day, these processes have generally rather strongly secured the flap to the stromal bed. Trauma or surgical instruments can still dislodge or lift the flap, but a good deal of healing and re-bonding of the flap to the stromal bed has occurred.

Phase V

Day 181 to 24+ months post-op During this period collagen slowly begins to form at the interface between the flap and the underlying stromal bed. This collagen includes fibril infiltrates that extend from the flap into the stromal bed, in effect suturing the flap to the underlying stromal bed. At the conclusion of this process the flap is both "glued" and "stitched" into place, as well as "sealed" and secured by the surface perimeter epithelium and basement membrane. Although still not as strong as an untouched cornea of the same thickness, the flap and stromal bed are nevertheless now very securely bonded together. At this time, any trauma strong enough to dislodge the flap would also do damage to an eye without Lasik. It is also believed by many researchers that by the 24th month post-op the flap has begun to contribute to some degree to the bio-mechanical strength of the cornea thus reducing the risk of late-onset ectasia.

The following list was prescribed and recommended by Dr. Boothe. Your doctor's orders may be different.

Zylet - I received a prescription and a sample of this every time I visited the clinic. Not knowing how much of this I'd actually use I filled the prescription which cost $25. In hindsight this was a complete waste as the samples were more than enough. I have 1 unopened sample and a 3/4's full vial from the pharmacy.

Vigamox - same as above with the same out of pocket cost. The samples are the same size that the pharmacy will give you. Again, a complete waste to fill this prescription.

Sustane Tears - The key here was to obtain high quality tears that are preservative free and in individual vials to avoid contamination as you use these more than any other drop. I paid ~$10 per box of 28 vials and bought 4 boxes. On day 7 following doctor's orders to the letter up to this point I have 1 unopened box and 8 vials remaining. I don't yet know if I'll need the 4th box but I probably would have been ok with only 3.
*edit*
No I used every bit of all 4 boxes, got another sample from doc, and still may need more. :-/

Genteal ointment - $10 over the counter at Walgreens. No way around this one for night time dryness protection.

Lotemax - This routine goes for 4 weeks following the Zylet, each week decreasing in number of drops per instillation. I have 1 sample and am tempted to see if I can make it stretch. If I can make it through the next 10 days then I'll ask for another sample when I go to my follow up.

Today was officially day 7 after surgery. The most critical healing period has come to a successful end. Today is the last day I'm required to wear my safety goggles outside and the last night I have to wear my shields. I started the Lotemax drops and had a single dose of Vigamox this morning. Today was was the first day I actually felt normal, aside from the hemorrhage still visible in my eyes. I never felt like I needed the tears but I used them hourly so the frequency is decreasing. The blurriness is completely gone and I didn't feel like one eye was stronger than the other. My vision is incredible. I'm almost ready to dance that jig! ;)

1/31
No itchy eyes today, just goopy and a little blurry. I noticed a drastic reduction in starbursts and halos on the way to work this morning. Tail lights now just look like glowing red shapes. Even with my glasses I had some star-bursting on these. Way cool!! Today is the last day for the Zylet and I'm really regretting filling the prescription for both the Zylet and Vigamox. I still have an unopened Zylet sample and the Vigamox sample is the same size as what the pharmacy will fill. These were $25 each for me so word to the wise, just use the samples! If I had a 2nd Lotemax sample I bet I could make it last to the end. :-/

1/30
Eyes are back to being slightly itchy and irritated this morning. I gooped them up pretty heavy last night before bed. The red "bruising" from the intralase is starting to clear up with portions of white beginning to break through. Went to 5-day follow-up today and waited an hour before getting called back. The waiting room was packed. They did a couple of tests and the ophthalmologist (not Boothe) looked at my eyes through the light scope to make sure healing was on track. He said it looked "perfect." woohoo! I was able to read the 20/20 line a little better with my left eye but still wasn't crystal clear. Glad that picking my lashes didn't cause any problems. ;) My new drop schedule is to slowly phase out of the Zylet and Vigamox then into the Lotemax for several weeks. Genteal will continue and I'll be done with the goggles/ shields tomorrow.

1/29
My eyes feel a lot better overall today. I've broken the rules and carefully removed gunk from my eyelashes. It was caked, cylindrical, and rigid, and I think was irritating my eyes. Halos driving in the morning were much reduced even better than when I wore glasses. The vision in my right eye still looks sharper than my left. I think it's slowly catching up but isn't quite there yet.

1/28
My daughter was up all night so me and my eyes are tired today. My eyes are pretty itchy today and feel like they need a good rub. ;) Can't do that though. What a true luxury the ability to rub ones eyes is! I don't know if it's the ointment or healing that is causing the itching. My eyes are still pretty red but vision is good. It was dark when I drove to work this morning and managed ok with the brake/head lights. The halo's and starbursts have dramatically diminished. Still a little blurry but this could be ointment remnants. I called Boothe today to make sure the itchiness wasn't a problem. They said to put tears in the fridge and WOW how refreshing. Still itchy but bearable.

1/27/08
I woke up around 3am with my left shield not on my face. Uh oh! Found it stuck to the sheet in the bed. Too much ointment made the tape less sticky. Ripped it all off and started over fresh. Back to bed.
The Genteal ointment doesn't seem to want to go away in my right eye today. VERY annoying as this eye is very blurry today. Tears aren't helping. It's also a little itchy which is hopefully due to healing as this eye looks the most beat up from the intralase step. Everytime I blink more ointment gets spread across my eye which is good for moisture but really sucks for vision and this is making me very irritable today. My bottom lashes are goopy and shiny and there's absolutely nothing I can do about it. I hope this wears off soon. I went to Lowes today to pick up a few things and my eyes were HIGHLY irritated even with my goggles. I made the mistake of not bringing any drops with me so I grab my items and ran out of there as fast as I could.

1/26/08
I drove myself to AM follow up to get contacts removed. These contacts are seriously bugging me and remind me an awful lot of what wearing corrective contacts used to feel like. Also reminds me of why I stopped wearing contacts! The wait to get these out is agonizing!!! I finally get put in an opthalmology room and wait another 20 min for Boothe to come in. He takes each contact out with a pair of surgical tweezers, no pain. Rubs some yellow schmutz on both eyes then looks at them with the light scope. I read the chart and am confirmed to be 20/20 with both eyes, 20/20 in my right alone, and not quite there yet with my left. Tells me to switch to 3 hr intervals for the zylet/ vigamox and use tears every 15-30 mins. Also wants me to pick up some Genteal ointment for overnight. I collect a t-shirt, set my next follow up for this coming Wednesday and I'm on my way. Vision is still a bit fuzzy today but overall very good. No issues with dryness or pain. My eyelashes are seriously getting gunky so I've resorted to using a q-tip to VERY carefully wipe underneath my eyes to collect the most heinous of build-ups. I had a hard time getting the Genteal in my left eye before bed, kept hitting my eyelashes. Major buildup is occurring. Finally got enough in and tape my shields to my face.

1/25/08
Wow, can't believe this day is finally here. Pretty nervous on the drive over and getting checked in once arrived. Post op people from the AM's surgery sessions are in and out of the waiting room. I talk to a couple of people that just had it done. I get called back, take off my glasses for last time, hand them to my wife and disappear through the door. I'm asked how much I weigh to which I reply "450" and that is met with "liar". hehe. I get 1.5mg of Valium, a hair net and go sit in the closet waiting room. 3 others are in there already letting their doses soak in. Eventually I am called into the hall and get numbing drops instilled. 3 rounds and I am up to get the surgical marking for the corneal flap. A doc makes 2 dots on either side of each iris. I don't feel this but it's kind of a weird experience having someone draw on your eye with a marker. As the numbing wears off the ink begins to irritate the inside of my eyelids. Every time I blink it stings and is even worse when I close my eyes. Me and 5 other people go to the main waiting room and wait to be called into the OR. We all talk about our experiences up to that point and muse about the sports memorabilia in the main waiting room. Eventually we are all called into the OR, take seats along the wall, get covered with a blanket and are asked to keep our eyes shut. 5-10 minutes later the room slowly comes to life with technicians and Dr. Boothe. I peak every once and a while to see what's going on.

I go last out of our little group but first stop is the intralase machine. Once the chair is swung under the machine their is a bright ring of lights that focus over one eye. A ring is placed over my right eye first followed by a second which seemed like putting a lid on a tupperware container. It gets pressed down and I am warned that I will see black. And that's what I saw, literally. This process was pretty quick and I didn't feel the laser cutting at all. The left eye hurt a bit when they clamped the "tupperware lid" down before everything went black. That one I felt! Interestingly my right eye looks more "beat up" now than my left. They tape each eye shut once finished and I am guided back to my seat. Next step is the Lasik itself and I wait my turn.

I am told to stand and am guided to the Lasik chair. I eventually hear Boothe behind me talking casually in his calm monotone voice. "I think McCain will take it...". My eye is doused with a solution, a light in the machine comes on and Boothe begins to pull back the corneal flap. This looked almost like removing a contact with a few gentle tugs then all I saw was the blurry orange light above. I wasn't told to stare at the light like most patients so I just relaxed and waited for instruction. The lights in the room go dark and the laser comes to life. It sounds a lot like a loud sparking tattoo gun if you can imagine. And yes you get to smell your precious eye tissue burning away which smells a lot like burning hair. Pop pop pop, about 20 seconds and the flap is rinsed, replaced, medicated contact "band-aid" installed, and eye taped shut. I ask Boothe "How does it look doc?" "Pardon me?" he drones. "How does it look, doc?" "Looks great". Repeat procedure on left eye. Once finished he gently taps my head and says "you did good".
I'm guided up and placed in a wheel chair. This was like a blind roller coaster weaving and turning through the halls of the clinic. I'm guided into a seat in what seemed like a dark room and told to wait for an instructor. I listen to the schpeal given to the group before me wait for my group to start. Finally my group's turn. The instructor removes each of our bandages and goes over the dos and donts. Vision is much improved I can tell immediately but a bit fuzzy. We get our goggles, more drop samples, and learn the rules of the road for the next 24 hours. The goal above all is to not dislodge the contact "bandaid". My follow up is 9:30am the next day.

I wear my goggles and hit the road home with my wife. I'm cautiously optimistic at this point. I can see and read things at a distance but my vision is blurry. I'm not quite ready yet to jump up and down screaming with glee. I just take it easy the rest of the day following my drop routine and the do's and don'ts.

1/23/08
I started my eyedrops today as specified by Boothe, 2 days prior to surgery, every 4 hours, 5 minutes apart. Zylet, "steroid-responsive inflammatory", and Vigamox an anti-bacterial suspension. Both of these sting pretty good but I'm getting used to it. Bob called me today to make sure I had started the drop routine.

If you've found this blog that means that you're considering lasik, know someone considering it, or just had it and are doing research. These entries chronicle my experiences pre and post lasik surgery. There is a great deal of both misinformation and fear-mongering on the internet. I've done a lot of research and will post my findings to save you the trouble. :-)

12/07-
FSA re-enrollment is coming and I've been considering Lasik for literally 10 years now so I need to know if I should plan for flex monies. I'm -375 + astigmatic so I figured now is the time if I'm going to do this so let's check it out. The technology is supposed to be at it's height with all laser procedures and complications vastly reduced. Wavefront custom Lasik with Intralase is the latest and the best you can get. I've heard all the stories from a LOT of people on where they went, what they've heard, who loves Lasik, who's been ruined by it, etc, etc. 3 of the 7 guys I work with all went to Dr. Boothe in Plano, TX at varying times over a 7 year span, all with rave reviews of their experiences. So I make an appt for a free consult.

My first impression of the Boothe eyecare clinic is that they are BUSY! There are 5 people in the waiting room, the reception desk have at least that many behind the glass buzzing around, and people are shuffling between 2 doors on opposite ends of the waiting room. On the wall between these doors is an LCD TV playing Boothe's various TV spots, interviews, and customer testimonials. From the commercials where Boothe is actually speaking he seems sub-human. A droning monotone and complete lack of vocal inflection pretty much sums his delivery. I was warned about this.

After a few minutes I am called back to meet with a scrub-ladened "eye tech" who performs a few basic tests to determine initial candidacy. This is the "free" part. They look at my eyes through a scope, check my prescription, and perform a tear test by hanging a straw-like strip from the bottom of each of my eyelids. This is to test the tearing response from the eye. A person that normally suffers from "dry eye" might be disqualified at this step. I was told I was a good candidate and moved into a room across the hall to meet with "Bob" who is a sales consultant. I'm sure these guys make commission so haggling is expected and happens here. He had a general knowledge of the procedure, the options, the possible side affects, and showed me some documentation showing that Dr. Boothe was recognized by the manufacturer (VisX) as the highest volume doctor on the planet. This just backs up his claims of the highest number of procedures performed over the competition. Fine.

I tried to play Dr Tylock against Boothe having just called them prior to my visit. The Tylock clinic uses the same equipment as the Boothe clinic but Tylock bases his prices on prescription alone. So the worse your eyes are the more you pay, period. I was told their range was from 3100-4k+, depending. After quoting me $5000, Bob tells me that Tylock still uses the blade and that's why he costs less. Boothe later disputes this but not knowing for sure at the time I accept his response. They offer financing options and are very fond of cash payments so my intent to use FSA dropped my price to $3200. $1600/ eye is considered high by some but I only want to best procedure possible and your eyes are not the thing to be cutting corners on. Further research reveals that this price is fairly average for a well-known facility with state-of-the-art equipment. Choosing to move forward to the next step of the consultation will cost me $150, non-refundable and applied to my principal balance as down payment.

Back to the main waiting room. I am eventually called back into an adjoining room with a handful of optical equipment set up into stations. I move through 3 of the stations where various eye measurements and tests are performed then back to the waiting room again. After several minutes I am called through another door and escorted to another, much smaller, waiting room where 8 people facing each other are seated almost knee to knee. The one free chair remaining is mine. These people are in various states of their consultations and most have been through one round of dilation already. We are all strangers but we speak openly and freely. We joke about the assembly line we are on and why we are there. I am by far the youngest at 30 and each of them knows someone else who has already undergone the procedure by Boothe.

After a few minutes a tech comes in to administer my drops. It BURNS, it BURNS!! For real, dilation sucks! Once the burning has finally subsided and the people in front of me begin to look a bit hazy, here comes the drops girl for round 2. After more burning and a few more minutes I am called to go through another round of tests which include eye pressure, cornea density, and a meeting with the on-staff optometrist (not Boothe) to verify my correction. Some people boast that other surgeons do this part but honestly we've all been through this more than a couple of times and it's pretty straight-forward. "Which looks clearer, 1 or 2, 1 or 2..." No surprises here. The pressure test tech administers numbing drops before sticking his device in my eye. Having worn contacts when I was younger for years has eroded my reflexive response when things are [intentionally] entering my eye. Not having worn contacts for almost a decade now I can still put my finger straight into my eye without flinching. Good or bad it made some of these tests a little easier (on them for sure). Back to my chair in the 9 seat closet. People around me are randomly called up to do various tests.

Fully dilated I am called to return to the original waiting room. Oookaaaay... A lot of back and forth going on but they seem to be organized about it at least. Eventually I am called through door #1, back to the adjoining room to sit at a new station run by the initial eye-tech that first greeted me. This machine did the 3-D mapping of my eyes and took many attempts to get right. I had to stare at, above, below this dot and had to close my eyes between tries. For some reason the tech wasn't satisfied with what he was seeing so we did it a dozen times probably. Better safe than sorry. "Close...Now open, open, open...open wide...open wide...close..." x 12. We eventually got it. I go to one more machine in this room and then am escorted back to the closet.

More people are randomly called up and disappear then I am called into a room at the far end with an eye exam chair. They make me sign the release form and print the disclaimer statement saying that I understand the risks etc etc etc. There was a video that they're supposed to show but I didn't see it. I had done a ton of research at this point and was pretty well familiar with the risks and complications. A nurse-like person comes in with my folder followed by Boothe a little later. While a nice guy Boothe has zero personality. What you see in his TV ads is how he is! No tonal changes, no gesturing, just very calm, slow, monotony speech. He looks me in the eye and patiently answers all my questions. I never felt rushed or that he had better things to do. I ask him how many people have been blinded by him to which he replies none. Ok, he's done ~100,000 procedures and hasn't blinded anyone so that's reassuring. I ask about the technology and his competition. He says that everyone in DFW has gone blade-less except for possibly carter who still uses it. D'OH! Wonder if I could have gotten the price lower? Oh well, 3200 still doesn't seem too bad.

He calmly answers my questions and looks at my eyes via the light scope. You know, "look at my left ear, now look at my right..." Looks at all the paperwork and confidently gives me his 20/20 or better guarantee. He says I'm a good candidate with a thick cornea and nothing that stands out as a red flag or unusual. I then ask if "I can meet the machine"? "You didn't get a tour of OR?" he drones. He then asks who my consultant was and tells the nurse-like person to go get him. Uh oh I think. A few moments later Bob is escorted in looking very docile and puppy-like. "Yes sir?" he says nervously. "Did you show him the operating room?" "Uh, no sir, I didn't know we were supposed to..." Bob sheepishly replies. "If you ever don't show another patient the operating room than that will be your last day working here. Do you understand me?" My eyes fly wide open at this point in disbelief at what I'm witnessing. "Uh ye...yes sir Doctor Boothe." I think he almost bowed then walked out of the room backwards. Not really but how humiliating!! Poor schmuck. I'm in total shock at this point and almost feel like addressing the doc as "sir" myself.


He calmly and politely answers my remaining questions and shows himself out. I am escorted back to the main lobby to wait for Bob to give me the tour. I apologize for throwing him under the bus and he blows it off saying that they're threatened often. We walk into the room on the other side of his little room at the end of the hall. Boothe has 2 intralase machines and 2 Lasik machines outfitted with different excimer lasers depending on patient requirements. I'm then shown back to the closet. I've been in the office for about 2.5 hours at this point and am wondering what's left to complete my visit. They said it could take up to 3 hours so I must be close. 4 of my newly light-sensitized comrades are called out to follow yet another new face, to where no one knows. They disappear and the rest of us wait. 5 minutes later the rest of us are collected. We walk back out though the main lobby as a led group into the OR. We walk passed Bob's room through the door at the end of the hall and are seated in chairs at either end of the room along the wall. 2 techs are setup with our paperwork at one of the intralase machines and call us one by one. It is very cold in the OR and I went next to last. With the paper work the techs press a sort of probe instrument to each of my eyes. This one felt very similar to the pressure test performed earlier. I assume they were confirming and entering my eye coordinates into the machine. This is the one that will cut the flap.

Once finished here they take us two at a time to a sprawling U shaped desk across from the closet where each of us speak with a customer service person. They take my money, schedule the appointment for surgery, give me a prescription with sample drops, explain what to do prior to surgery and hand over a pair of those cool wrap-around plastic grandma visors because of the dilation. Once the receipt is signed I'm on my way feeling pretty good about what I just signed up for. I set the surgery date for over a month away.