I came to Eye Center of Texas because I want lasik surgery. I got the evaluation which was great having learned so much about eyes. I met with Dr. Wade who gave me options, talked to me and made me feel comfortable about the surgery. There was another doctor, during the evaluation, who told me that I had retina stretching and Dr. Wade and her both agreed that they had to be lasered before lasik, and it could be covered under insurance. Ok, I thought let's get it scheduled.
I showed up on the day of lasering my retina and I got tested, this time, I wore warm clothes and I met the doctor who showed me on the image of my retina that he would fill in the cavities with scar tissue. All seemed reasonable. Then I was dilated so my vision was blurry, but I was asked to pay for a procedure that I understood, but cost almost $200 more than I was initially billed for. Meanwhile, I can't see well enough to read anything so I just signed that and my consent for surgery. Later, I was upset that I had signed, paid more money and did not understand the charges.
Then it was time to get lasered. I'm in a dark room, there are machines all over and I told the doctor, I'm nervous, I told the others that I was nervous. I asked the doctor if this is painful, he said everyone has a different pain threshold. I asked how long it would take and he said 10-15 minutes. Then he tried to put this thing in my eye without warning or explaining what was happening so I asked. At this point I lost it. I was full on tearing up and crying. I couldn't breathe well because I had a mask on and it's getting all wet from tears. I keep talking to the doctor and asking him more questions, I asked for a timeline, I asked for breaks and he was not explaining anything. I was finally head in the machine and I flinched when he started because I DID NOT KNOW WHAT WAS HAPPENING. NO ONE EXPLAINED ANYTHING!
Then he pushed my head in the machine and told me not to move. That was the first time he asked me to do anything. I was put into a worse state, but at least I was finally getting some direction.
I kept talking and he said when I moved my mouth I was moving too much. There's a green laser shooting my eye which DID hurt and now I'm deep into this awful situation and the doctor says that he doesn't like to see patients so distressed and we can put me under anesthesia to do both eyes. I said oh no, we've come this far, finish it. I was not going to go through this again! I tried to breathe, and I did my best to ask for what I needed, but it was hard and I felt like my requests were not heard.
I scheduled the other doctor for the other eye. All I wanted was a little compassion for what I was going through. No, overall it's not that painful, but I did not know what was going to happen. In conclusion, I feel all of this could have been avoided if:
1. I had gotten an itemized bill so I would know what I would be paying for when my eyes were NOT dilated. I was also unclear that each eye would cost that much, I thought the total for both eyes would be a certain amount. A clear explanation would have been helpful.
2. I had gotten play by play instructions about what was expected from me as a patient either written ahead of time or if one of the assistants had explained to me what was going to happen during the procedure.
3. I had been given an option and or recommendation to bring an advocate with me.
4. I had been given post op information about what to expect (like it's ok to see spots at first) and how to aid in the healing.
If you go to this office be sure to ask for all the things I didn't and then your experience will be much better!
I came to Eye Center of Texas because I want lasik surgery. I got the evaluation which was great having learned so much about eyes. I met with Dr. Wade who gave me options, talked to me and made me feel comfortable about the surgery. There was another doctor, during the evaluation, who told me that I had retina stretching and Dr. Wade and her both agreed that they had to be lasered before lasik, and it could be covered under insurance. Ok, I thought let's get it scheduled.
I showed up on the day of lasering my retina and I got tested, this time, I wore warm clothes and I met the doctor who showed me on the image of my retina that he would fill in the cavities with scar tissue. All seemed reasonable. Then I was dilated so my vision was blurry, but I was asked to pay for a procedure that I understood, but cost almost $200 more than I was initially billed for. Meanwhile, I can't see well enough to read anything so I just signed that and my consent for surgery. Later, I was upset that I had signed, paid more money and did not understand the charges.
Then it was time to get lasered. I'm in a dark room, there are machines all over and I told the doctor, I'm nervous, I told the others that I was nervous. I asked the doctor if this is painful, he said everyone has a different pain threshold. I asked how long it would take and he said 10-15 minutes. Then he tried to put this thing in my eye without warning or explaining what was happening so I asked. At this point I lost it. I was full on tearing up and crying. I couldn't breathe well because I had a mask on and it's getting all wet from tears. I keep talking to the doctor and asking him more questions, I asked for a timeline, I asked for breaks and he was not explaining anything. I was finally head in the machine and I flinched when he started because I DID NOT KNOW WHAT WAS HAPPENING. NO ONE EXPLAINED ANYTHING!
Then he pushed my head in the machine and told me not to move. That was the first time he asked me to do anything. I was put into a worse state, but at least I was finally getting some direction.
I kept talking and he said when I moved my mouth I was moving too much. There's a green laser shooting my eye which DID hurt and now I'm deep into this awful situation and the doctor says that he doesn't like to see patients so distressed and we can put me under anesthesia to do both eyes. I said oh no, we've come this far, finish it. I was not going to go through this again! I tried to breathe, and I did my best to ask for what I needed, but it was hard and I felt like my requests were not heard.
I scheduled the other doctor for the other eye. All I wanted was a little compassion for what I was going through. No, overall it's not that painful, but I did not know what was going to happen. In conclusion, I feel all of this could have been avoided if:
1. I had gotten an itemized bill so I would know what I would be paying for when my eyes were NOT dilated. I was also unclear that each eye would cost that much, I thought the total for both eyes would be a certain amount. A clear explanation would have been helpful.
2. I had gotten play by play instructions about what was expected from me as a patient either written ahead of time or if one of the assistants had explained to me what was going to happen during the procedure.
3. I had been given an option and or recommendation to bring an advocate with me.
4. I had been given post op information about what to expect (like it's ok to see spots at first) and how to aid in the healing.
If you go to this office be sure to ask for all the things I didn't and then your experience will be much better!
Cyndi Melton.
