Am I a good candidate for LASIK? (November 13, 2010)

My appointment was at 7:30 AM. I wake up early in the morning (since I live in Abu Dhabi) and depart to Dubai. The sun has barely come up but I was just too excited. Before I know it I have arrived in Dubai at 7:00 AM. I was half an hour early and impatient to get in. As I wait in the parking lot staring at the clock in the car, impatient for it to reach 7:30. The second I saw “7:30”, I turn off the car and head straight for the hospital. I think I was in the hospital before most of the staff even arrived!

After checking in, they take me to the waiting area where they serve complimentary tea/coffee/water and mamoul (small pastry filled with soft sweet dates). Before seeing the doctor they had to run some diagnostic tests to check the health of my eyes. However, to do so they had to dilate my pupils which meant putting special eye drops in my eyes to help my pupils dilate. After my pupils have dilated enough the checkups could start
.
The first checkup they did was a general retina check I assume, where they shine some light into your eye as you stare into a machine with the assistant looking into your eyes jotting down some notes. After that there was another test which tests the pressure of your eyes where you feel a puff of air into your eyes. After that they take me to see the optometrist where you do the regular eye check you usually do at optical stores (reading letters, etc…) where they come up with the new prescription you may need. This was all not interesting to me at all. After that they did another checkup where you see a horizontal bright line that turns 360 degrees. I assume this was mapping the surface of my cornea. After all of these tests it was finally time to see my doctor.

The doctor who I was assigned to was named Edmondo Borasio. I already looked him up in Google Scholars and he already had some research papers he wrote. Not only that I also found some newspaper articles that mention him so he was not only experienced, but also coming up with new surgical procedures on his own. That added to my comfort. He was also very courteous, friendly and happy to discuss anything I needed to talk about.

However, to my dismay, he informed me that I was NOT a good candidate for LASIK. Apparently I suffered from a condition called keratoconus, which meant that I had irregular astigmatism in my eyes where my cornea was conical shaped. He said that this condition could progress at any time in my life or just remain dormant, but there was no way of knowing. If he performed LASIK, that would weaken my cornea which meant if It ever did progress it would do so easily and severely and that LASIK was a terrible choice that I should not undergo.

I had mixed feeling now. I was happy that I had the opportunity of meeting a good doctor who really cared about people’s health instead of money (which was one of my fears). On the other hand, I was sad and discouraged that I would have to remain stuck with wearing glasses for the rest of my life. On the upside he informed me that he could perform LASEK (not LASIK) followed by a procedure called Collagen Cross-Linking (or Corneal Cross-Linking) if and only if my keratoconus was not progressing at this stage. This meant coming back after 5 months to see if there has been any change in the corneal surface. First of all since LASEK does not involve creating a flap, this meant it would not weaken my cornea. Second, Corneal Cross-Linking strengthens the structure of the cornea in order to stop further progression of keratoconus. However, at that time all I heard was “I am stuck with glasses for the rest of my life”.
Discouraged and full of mixed feelings, I left the hospital with my still dilated eyes. I knew they would dilate my eyes but still decided to drive myself since it was a Saturday morning, and I left way too early before any of my family members woke up. The sun was up in the sky now and things were a little brighter than I expected. I knew my brother and his friend were in Dubai and it was just about breakfast time. I give them a call and find out they are in The Palm having breakfast (actually they just arrived). I drive with my dilated eyes, squinting to avoid the bright sun, and hoping I wouldn’t crash into anything.