Epi-LASEK Questions For Park Avenue Laser
A letter to a new patient from Dr. Emily Chynn of Park Avenue Laser, the finest LASEK surgeon in New York City.
Hi again Emil,I met with Dr. Shavers and another of your associates last Thursday (I apologize, but I did not catch his name). I’m just about ready to schedule my full work-up and move forward with the LASEK procedure, but wanted to ask a few more questions….1) Epi-LASEK vs “Standard” LASEK. My understanding is that the only significant difference is that with Epi-LASEK, the initial recovery is 3 days rather than 4, for an additional cost of approximate $1000. Based on this, it seems that there is no real need for the Epi-LASEK. Does this make sense?
- Yes Do Lasek And Save Yourself $1000.
- We May Do Only Epi In Patients Older Than 50 Bc Slow Healers
- But You Are Under That So No Problem Doing LASEK
2) The Dr. recommended Custom Vue in order to finely tune my Rx. This seems to make sense, but I would want you to confirm, particularly given that I plan to pursue occuplastic surgery to correct the ptosis on my left eye. Per Dr. Milite (the occuplastic surgeon), lifting the lid may impact the work you will have performed. If this is the case, would I be negating the benefits of CustomVue?
The lid surgery will not affect CustomVue as that is only the lid over the cornea, will not change the shape of the cornea itself by lifting
3) Dr. Shavers recommends Mono Vision correction, as I definitely had issues with seeing up close while wearing the contacts. Does this make sense? My understanding is that the Mono Vision correction would only be applied to my non-dominant (left eye). The left eye would be “tuned” for reading, while the right (dominant) eye would be “tuned” for distance. Am I understanding this correctly?
Yes I agree with her recommendation as you are older than me and I also did mono; your understanding of mono is also correct, with the added point that with both eyes open you will be able to see far and read without readers both
4) Your associate indicated that the LASEK procedure should largely correct my amblyopia and turning of the eye? What do you think is the likelihood? Do you expect that I may/may not need additional surgery on the eye muscle down the line? Or is this more of a wait and see situation?
He should have said that there is a 50-50 chance you will not need eye muscle surgery as this may get better after the laser, as you will be seeing better out of that eye and have slightly better fixation, many of our lazy eyed patients gained one or more lines of best corrected acuity afterwards, and if you do also improve your acuity like they did it would also help you improve keeping your eye straight
5) My wife will be accompanying me on the day of the surgery. As you’re aware, we live in NJ, and she would prefer not to drive in Manhattan if possible. On the day of the procedure, do you think it would be ok to take a cab back to Penn Station and take the train home? What about the following day? Do you think I can travel on my own, by train for the 4-day check?
Taking public transport is fine. You can take pub transportation on your own for four day check; better if she also comes with you for 1 day post-op
I’ll be reaching out to Vanessa in your office tomorrow to schedule the “Full Work-Up”. Thanks again for taking the time to respond to my many questions. I look forward to hearing from you.
Regards,
Mike D.
