I was examined to see if I was a candidate for Lasik at LasikPlus Vision Center back in February of 2015. After my examination, I was told that not only was I candidate for Lasik, I was also a textbook candidate for mono-vision. That was great news because mono-vision is literally half the price because you're only correcting one eye, in my case, the dominant right eye. Mono-vision is a procedure where the dominant eye is corrected for distance and the other eye is left alone. The corrected eye is then able to see far away and the brain is supposed to "ignore" the blurry vision of the uncorrected eye. When reading, the uncorrected eye reads and the eye that was corrected for vision is "ignored" by the brain (that is, if the corrected eye can't see clearly up-close). If you are a candidate for mono-vision, the real benefit from this option is that you might be able to significantly delay wearing reading glasses because one of your eyes is already "set" to read as it always has.
Initially, my mono-vision surgery seemed to be a roaring success. I could see as I hadn't since before the 5th grade. I didn't wear glasses normally because I was -1.5 in the left eye and -1.0 in my right. So I can easily tell the difference between a car and say a water buffalo. I'd be able to drive, but reading a road sign at night, or watching a movie on a large screen tv, or seeing my alarm clock from across the room where it is strategically placed were always problematic. After the surgery, waking up and looking at an alarm clock without squinting was utter joy. However, within about a week, I realized that night driving was very difficult for me.
I returned to Dr. Goel's office for a follow-up visit within a week's time and thought they would immediately suggest correcting the other eye when I told them of the night driving problem. I was wrong. According to the doctor, although many patients adjust to mono-vision within a couple of weeks some did take longer. The doctor lobbied to leave the uncorrected eye alone because he said people could take six months to a year before their brains finally adjusted to the difference in vision between the two eyes. He asked me to wait for my next follow up appointment to decide. At my next follow up appointment, I told the doctor that night-driving was still very difficult and thought for sure he would schedule my next surgery. However, instead of rolling over, the doctor again recommended that I wait. He said that he'd seen patients whose mono-vision finally clicked after one year. I was told about a website where I could get cheap glasses to correct my left eye when I was driving at night. The doctor suggested that I use those glasses while night driving until my 6 month follow up and if I still was having problems they would correct my left eye.
After 6 months, I was still not seeing any progress. I didn't insist on the surgery, but I think I waited a sufficient amount of time to realize that my brain is much more stubborn than the average person. I went back, the doctors agreed that enough time had passed that I could honestly say I tried mono-vision, it didn't work, and I could elect to have the second surgery with little doubt.
I'm elated to say, I now have 20/15 vision. I can drive at night and, for now, I can even read close-up with zero difficulty. I'm the guy that people ask, "What is that over there, or what does that sign say?" I know I will probably need reading glasses at some point (I'm not a spring chicken), however, I do appreciate that Dr. Goel and his entire staff looked out for my well-being over easy profit - even when I was pushing for it. This is a medical practice that cares about doing the right thing. They get a 5-star for service, care, and professionalism. I would give them another star, if I could, for doing their best to do the right thing for an impatient patient. read more