Hi, I am new to this board and from Wisconsin. I am scheduled to have lasik in Brookfield at the lasik vision institute on Feb. 16 and feeling nervous. I visited there yesterday and never once saw the dr. that would be doing the surgery. They had 3 people waiting to be seen that had the procedure done already, and several waiting to go back. Any comments if you have heard of this place would be greatly appreciated!

Hi JKM,
If you are feeling nervous about your procedure or the place you are having it done, perhaps you should seek a second opinion before rushing into anything. I did not go to LVI, but went to another large lasik chain. I also did not meet my surgeon until the morning of my procedure. I am 7 months post-op and still having lots of problems with dry eyes. My two complaints about the large lasik chain are as follows: first of all, they rush people there so quickly that I do not think they properly evaluate people in order to determine if they are good candidates or not. Everywhere I look online says that dry eye tests are supposed to be a part of your initial consultation to determine if you already have a pre-existing dry eye condition. These test were NOT done on me before my surgery, and I think I may have had a pre-existing condition that is causing so many of my post-op problems. My second complain is the post-op care. For post-op visits, you DO NOT see the surgeon. You see another doctor (probably the one you saw for your consultation). He is not as knowledgable about things as the actual surgeon is. I have finally been able to get post-op visits with my surgeon, but even those are very quick and I am often rushed out of there because he has a line of surgery patients waiting.

If I could go back, personally, I would have stayed the heck away from lasik. However, that is easy for me to say now that I have had a bad outcome. I would advise anyone getting the surgery though to get atleast a second opinon, maybe even a third as to whether or not you are a good candidate. Also, based on the care I have received, I would say to stay away from the large lasik chains. I know they are probably a little cheaper, but when it comes to your eyes, remember that you only get one pair, and spend the extra. Please be careful in your decision making process. Best of luck to you.

Michelle