TRAVELED FROM SAN FRANCISCO, WORTH IT

Laser eye correction surgery is no trivial matter when you’re a professional photographer (nor is it for anybody for that matter). I’ve been a professional photographer for too long to tell and for the last 10 years at the San Francisco Chronicle. My eyes are my living so there is no second chance. One doesn’t have the option of having a miscalculation jeopardizing ones career.

I researched the lasers, the procedures, and many of the doctors. Before my surgery, I had lots of questions and I found an open and forthright source of information starting with the LA Sight website and more importantly with my surgeon for eye surgery, Dr. David Wallace. Dr. Wallace is very open and candid with his answers. He also doesn’t pretend to be completely unbiased. He believes his practice is one of the best there is to offer in “”state of the art”” laser eye surgery. He won’t shy away from telling you about other doctors, procedures, and options.

I had astigmatism in my dominant eye; my shooting eye for photography. I wasn’t seeing everything I wanted to see through the SLR viewfinder. This can be a problem at times, when you want to get the best out of your work as a professional photographer.

There are many laser eye surgeons in California. I started close to home in San Francisco. I called many doctors and began setting up consultations. They all said their laser was what they considered the “”best laser”” there was for treatment. They all have their preferred methods of treatment. In addition to seeing the doctors, I researched many websites such as CRSQA (the COuncil for Refractive Surgery Quality Assurance, and others, and discovered something many of the doctors don’t want to tell you: All the lasers out there have their own special benefits as well as shortcomings. Laser eye surgery has progressed technologically leaps and bounds in the last ten years-from what I can see. But the fact is, the best laser is the laser that is best for you and your particular correction needs.

After careful consideration I decided on traveling to LA Sight from San Francisco to receive my eye surgery. I made the choice not only for the Allegretto laser but because I believe Dr. Wallace to be one of the best and most experienced surgeons with whom I had contact with. I can’t say enough about the LA Sight staff’s friendly professionalism as well as the ability to help me understand the whole process.

Like any great photographer, a great surgeon chooses his tools wisely. Putting the right camera in the hands of the right photographer can produce a work of art. For me the Allegretto laser and Dr. Wallace produced great results.

My vision was improved in one treatment by Dr. Wallace on my left eye from 20/50 to 20/20. I hope my comments are helpful to others seeking vision corrective care.

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Darryl B.

Doctor Wallace says:
Like many people to whom I consult, Darryl has high expectations and high (though not unreasonable) standards one must meet, before he will trust enough to select a surgeon for vision correction. I understand completely. If anything, I would be at least a inquisitive, particular, and demanding as Darryl admits he was in his selection process.

Regrettably, most surgeons decline to spend the personal time with folks like this, preferring to delegate the process to staff or counselors. This is whee my particular approach to vision correction differs from others, and how my ‘brand’ of care is distinct from that offered elsewhere. At LA Sight, we (and I personally) will address all your questions, and endeavor to give you straight, candid answers. There is a lot of hype and marketing in this particular medical specialty, so there is ample opportunity for even the intelligent consumer of this care to be confused. We try to give clear, honest answers in preference to sales hype.

Like he distinguishes himself in his photography, Darryl also distinguished himself by amassing a veritable wealth of background knowledge before he emailed me with some preliminary questions. We engaged in a constructive back-and-forth, the net result being that he is very happy with the result of his care. He did have a rather rare form of astigmatism called “”mixed astigmatism”” but I assured him that this can be nicely treated on several modern laser systems including the Allegretto, which I prefer and use currently. Darryl was so thorough in his research that he uncovered an article comparing all modern “”wavefront-capable”” laser platforms written in an ophthalmic journal, an I thought it such a good explanation that we put it up on the Allegretto part of our site (See “”Wavefront Lasers Compared””).

So, in a way, we are both thankful we found each other, and are both the better for it!.

David A. Wallace, M.D.