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IN THE NEWSAn eye for philanthropyBy Peter Buckley Dr. Paul Imperia knows first hand what it is like to have poor vision. Once designated as legally blind himself, he has dedicated his life following the successful LASIK surgery that returned sight to his eyes to offering the same kind of care to patients of all ages in Southern Oregon. Read more...
‘I’d recommend it in a heartbeat’10-minute surgery that ends need for glasses a hit with Grants Pass man By Susan Goracke Grants Pass, OR -- Sitting in the Grants Pass Medical Eye Center's examining room just before LASIK eye surgery, Dane Halbertfiddled with his glasses nervously. In half an hour, a surgeon would use a high-tech machine to slice the top layer off both of his corneas, then zap them with a laser to correct his nearsighted vision. While more than a million people each year gladly undergo this elective surgery to rid themselves of glasses and contact lenses, Halbert put a name to his main fear: "going blind." Yet, Halbert had thoroughly researched the procedure, and a small dose of Valium had taken the edge off possible panic. An active, 33-year-old bartender who rides motorcycles, Halbert had been diagnosed with 20/2200 eyesight. Considered legally blind without his thick specs, Halbert still cherished what eyesight he had.
But wearing glasses was both inconvenient and frustrating. Underneath goggles, his glasses often fogged up with perspiration when he rode motorcycles. Not to mention the fact he was always misplacing them. "I've wanted to have corrective surgery for a long time, ever since I heard about it," he explained. "But I wanted some time behind (the technology) first. I looked constantly on the Internet to find a surgeon, and I did background checks. I wanted the best surgeon I could find." Halbert found Dr. Paul Imperia, a Medford ophthalmologist who has performed around 10,000 LASIK surgeries since 1989, when he studied at UCLA's Jules Stein Eye Institute. Up until two weeks ago, Imperia conducted pre-op exams in Grants Pass, but performed surgeries at his Medford center. But with an increasing number of Josephine County patients, Imperia has decided to offer LASIK surgeries in Grants Pass every four to six weeks. "We just felt that doing surgeries here would better serve the population," he said. "We thought that coming here would better educate people about LASIK." Imperia isn't the only ophthalmologist performing LASIK locally. Once a month for more than a year, Dr. Jon-Marc Weston has been coming from Roseburg to the Eye Care Group in Grants Pass. He performs about 10 surgeries a month locally. LASIK actually is an acronym for laser in situ keratomileusis. In an operation that takes less than 10 minutes, a surgeon uses a laser to reshape the cornea, which is the clear dome of tissue covering the iris of the eye. Abnormalities in the shape of the cornea cause focus problems that require corrective lenses. Reshaping the cornea allows light to focus correctly on the retina, and enables a person to see without glasses or contacts. During his brief pre-op exam, Halbert joked that in three weeks he intended to "go shoot" his glasses. Imperia sympathized." When I had my surgery done, I had a drawer full of contact lens stuff. I took great pleasure in getting rid of all that," he said. Imperia checked Halbert's eyes, pronounced them ready, then asked for any last minute questions. "No, just do a good job, please," Halbert answered. Because Imperia's state-of-the-art Visx Star 3 laser machine, purchased last April, cost him about $500,000, he owns just one.
To perform surgeries in Grants Pass, he has it transported from Medford in a truck. A trained technician, who carefully moves and then calibrates the huge laser, as well as several members of Imperia's staff, come along, too. While in some cases, LASIK surgery prices have dropped - one Vancouver, B.C., surgeon charges as little as $1,000 for both eyes - keeping up with latest technology and training keeps Imperia's regular prices at $4,500. However, his current promotion offers the surgery at $3,600, and payment plans are available. In comparison, Weston charges LASIK patients $2,500 plus an extra $89 for an initial exam. Nowadays, almost everyone is a good candidate for LASIK, unless they have severe cataracts, severe glaucoma or diabetes that's out of control, said Kristi Seney, one of Imperia's opthalmic technicians. Candidates must be 18 years or older, have healthy corneas, be nearsighted, farsighted or have astigmatism. They also must accept that laser vision correction has limits and have realistic expectations about the procedure. LASIK eye surgery patient Dane Halbert holds tightly to a teddy bear during the procedure. After LASIK surgery, distant vision of eyes corrected for nearsightedness, farsightedness or astigmatism will not deteriorate, said Imperia. But between the ages of about 40 and 45, a normal condition called presbyopia sets in, and people lose the ability to read up close without correction. Older patients with presbyopia have a choice when preparing for LASIK. They can either have both eyes corrected for distant vision and wear reading glasses, or they can have one eye corrected for distance and the other for close-up vision. "This is called monovision," explained Seney. "We take the dominant eye and aim for 20/20 vision, and leave the nondominant eye a little nearsighted, about 20/ 40." "It sounds crazy," acknowledged Imperia. "But the brain has a way of putting it together so you can see both." Minutes before Halbert's surgery, a nurse placed numbing eye drops into his eyes and a soft teddy bear into his hands. "It gives you something to do with your hands, and it's a little comforting," explained Patty Young, Imperia's operations manager. Following the brief surgery, Halbert sat up on the end of the operating table, looked across the room at a clock, and said with amazement, "I can already start to see." Later, he said there had been no pain, just a little pressure. His only disconcerting moment came when "everything went black for a few seconds" as the blade crossed over his eye to slice a thin layer off the cornea. As he walked out of the center with his wife and young son, Halbert said, "I wish I would have done it sooner. I would recommend it in a heartbeat." More than a week after the surgery, Halbert is still amazed at his newfound sight. "Just waking up in the morning and being able to see the alarm clock without reachingfor my glasses is great," he said. "I find myself staring out the window, just because I can." Reach Susan Goracke at 474-3725 or |
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