I went for a consultation appointment today with a practice that does Lasik eye surgery here in South Cackalacki. Before I went to the appointment, I was certain that I would have the procedure if I was a candidate and if we could afford it. Strange enough, I'm not as certain now.

Maybe it's a problem with actually pulling the trigger. I don't know. Maybe when it was a dream to be able to see a foot in front of my face without the help of glasses or contacts, the fear factor didn't deter me as much. Maybe the control freak in me can't handle the idea of someone zapping around on a very precious part of my body. Sure, my eyes don't work for shit now, but at least I can see with a little bit of help. The very thought of something going wrong and not being able to look at my little man's bright eyes is terrifying.

Here's what bugged me about the place: it felt more like a car dealership than a medical practice. From the moment I walked in the door, I felt like I was being sold. In reality, I am being sold since this is an elective procedure. This is not medically necessary for my survival. This is something I want, not something I need.

I never actually met with a doctor. A tech tested my eyes and then I met with a man in a small corner office. The questions I had about the procedure were medical in nature, and it felt odd asking those questions to Jack Average. JA has no initials before or after his name, and his title is Director of Operations, whatever the hell that means. This may sound terrible, but Jack's appearance bugged me. His shoes were a wreck. His pants looked cheap. His tie was not tied properly. He seemed like a halfway intelligent man, but everything he said to me sounded like a memorized sales pitch. When I asked questions, he always had an answer, but he used words the average person wouldn't know, and not in a good way. Fortunately, I have a decent vocabulary, so I knew what JA was saying. However, it seemed like those words were in his pitch to purposefully talk over the average person's head. They don't want you to understand what they're saying, in other words. Again, since he was a sales person and not a medical doctor, I felt offended by his throwing-around of terms that he didn't seem qualified to use.

A couple of times, JA was trying to push me around. One of my friends had her Lasik done so that one eye could see things closeup and one could see far away. That sounds like something that I would have a hard time adjusting to, but I wanted to know more about that option anyway. JA said very sternly, "We're just not going to do that for you." When someone tells me I can't do something, I want a good explanation, especially when this is something that is entirely my call in the first place. He read my reaction correctly. He could tell that I didn't like what he said, so he back-tracked a bit and told me it was possible, but not recommended for a person like me. Again, it bothered me that he has no medical title, and he was telling me that he didn't recommend a certain kind of medical procedure something. I frankly don't give a shit what he recommends. He just wants to sell me something. I felt like his recommendations were all based on what kind of commission he could get and not what was best for me and my vision. That bugged me.

After you listen to their little sales pitch, they immediately want to sign you up for pre-op appointment and your surgery. This an even higher-pressure deal. They want you in their books as soon as possible. It was annoying to them that I needed to discuss scheduling with my husband. That also sent up the red flags. I want some time to think about them, research them, and decide if I really want to have this procedure done with these people. I also have all kinds of scheduling issues. I need to do this at a time that works for my husband, since he will have to take over childcare duties for a couple of days. I agreed to allow them to "pencil me in" with the caveat that I might have to reschedule.

So, I'm going to start my research now. I've already researched Lasik. I'm pretty certain I want it, just not sure I want it from this practice. The non-doctor guy recommended Intralase Wavefront Lasik for me. It sounds good, but I'm not completely sold. I'm looking for advice. Has anyone out there had it? What was your experience like? Any concerns or regrets? Any horror stories?

Labels: Lasik