This review is long overdue. I got my Custom Wavefront LASIK done by Dr. Newman nearly a year and a half ago, and last I checked at my one year followup, I'm still seeing 20/20. I couldn't be happier with the results.
Prior to LASIK, I was blind as a bat without my contacts or glasses. I was -8.50 in both eyes, so unaided, anything past five inches beyond my eyes was blurry. This just made me not want to do a lot of fun things, including camping, water sports, being anywhere where my eyes could get wet, being in really hot places where my contacts might dry up, etc. Plus, I was getting pink eye or a little cut in my eye just about annually, from my contact lens wear, and that would force me to wear glasses for about a week. As cute as my rhinestone-encrusted Dior frames were, I still loathed wearing glasses.
Well, as fate would have it, I cut my eye about a year and a half ago (to non-contact lens wearers, I know this sounds pretty gross, but I was soooo used to this). My eye doctor told me to lay off the contact lens for extra longer than usual, about two-three weeks, and that was just the last straw. I went home and did a ton of research about LASIK, like the different types of procedures, the tools, the machines, keratome vs. bladeless, etc.
Later that day, a local magazine came in the mail and Dr. Newman had an ad on the back cover. I looked him on online and he seemed pretty solid, so I called in and was able to set up an appointment for the next day. And since these are my eyes and I'm absolutely paranoid about surgery and wanted several opinions, I set up appointments for not one, but three other consultations for over the next week. One at UC Berkeley (hindsight: I only recommend maybe looking into that if you have UCB's own SHIP health insurance and they're REALLY slow) and the others at two of the SF Bay Area's most popular and highest rated rated LASIK surgeons (you'd recognize their names even if you don't have vision problems and never looked into LASIK).
My very first consultation was with Dr. Newman and I was there for a solid two hours, not just waiting around, but getting tests done by his team of nurses for the first hour and then I got to actually got to meet Dr. Newman, who was so patient with me and spent nearly an hour answering all of my questions. I'm sure I would've left a lot earlier if I didn't have so many questions, but I had A LOT of questions, and he answered them all to my satisfaction. He showed me how the procedure would be done and the machines that would be used. He said that I could even come by and watch a procedure later that week (from behind a window in a different room).
By the way, Dr. Newman is AWESOME in general. He's super bubbly, energetic and nice. I remember one of my first thoughts when meeting him was, "I'll have what he's having". He's very professional, but also has a fun, boyish charm to him that just put me totally at ease.
Leaving Dr. Newman's office that day, I was pretty certain I'd being getting LASIK there, but I stopped short of setting an appointment then because I just wanted to be sure. Well, here's what happened at the other consultations: There was a lot of waiting and my actual face time with the doctors and nurses, about 20 minutes at each place, felt rushed. Instead of talking to me, these other places had me watch videos and read pamphlets. One place had me take a written quiz afterward. I only got to meet my actual surgeon at one place. And overall, these other places all felt generally cold and uninviting compared to Dr. Newman's office.
So it was settled, and I set up an appointment with Dr. Newman because I felt most comfortable with him and his team. It should also be noted that his price was also 40%-50% less than the three other places that I went to. I'm no baller, but when it comes to my eyes, money is no object and I'm willing to spend to get the best. It was most definitely an added bonus that what I felt was the best ended up costing me the least.
Honestly, I don't remember much about the day of my surgery as I was in a daze for most of it. I woke up early, got there, took a valium, and was probably in surgery for all of 2-3 minutes. Then I went home and spent the entire day sleeping. The coolest part was right before the surgery, the nurse pointed at a clock and asked if I could tell the time. I could only see the outline of the clock. Immediately after I sat up from my surgery a few minutes later, I could tell the time.
Getting LASIK at Dr. Newman's was definitely one of the best decisions I've ever made. Results differ for everyone, but for the most part, from what I've experienced, I highly recommend it. If you have any questions about the procedure or the results, please don't hesitate to message me. I know this is a major life decision and I'd be more than happy to answer your questions.
Now to go off into the world and see with my bionic eyes :) read more