November 26, 2008....

I made an appointment to see Dra. Stephany Quintero, Ophthalmologist at the Santa Cruz Clinic in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico. I thought that I needed new glasses; bright sunlight was giving me a hazy effect. The last time I had anything like that was when a special lens coating wore out.

Anyway, my appointment was for 10:30 A.M. and Dra. Stephany was ready for me at that time. She asked me several questions about my perceived problems. She checked my glasses and then went on to check my eyes, using 4 different instruments, similar to the ones that the Costco Optical had used the last time I got an exam. After making sure that I was not going to be driving, she dilated my eyes and rechecked my eyes.

The doctora’s diagnosis was that my right eye had a very bad cataract and the left one was not as severe, but would also improve if it was corrected. She also said that although a prescription for my glasses might help a little, it would be basically a waste of time and money. She showed me how little difference a change in the lens would make. The picture, right, is dra. Stephany with another patient.

The doctora recommended that I get cataract surgery, more specifically, something called Facoemulsification. Using a plastic eye model, Dra. Stephany carefully explained how the procedure or surgery worked. Simply put, as I understood it, the opaque crystalline lens is liquefied and sucked out through an extremely small needle inserted in the side of the eyeball. Once that is complete, another instrument is inserted with the new intraocular lens wrapped around it. The new lens is then positioned into place. She told me that the procedure takes about 45 minutes using local anesthesia and that I would be able leave right after the surgery with a friend. She said that the cost was approximately $1100 per eye.

I tentatively made an appointment for the next Thursday. I say tentatively because I wanted to check out the procedure to understand it better, there is a lot of info and it helped me understand what was going to happen, reassuring, for sure. I also Goggled Dra. Stephany on the internet to make sure that there were no problems with her work, there was not anything negative, (there is a lot of websites recommending her.) I also checked with a couple of Nogales Dentists that I had used before to get their opinion of the doctora, both were very positive.

I called and confirmed my appointment for the next Thursday.

December 4, 2008

The day had arrived. I got to the clinic at 3:55 P.M. and Dra. Stephany was ready and had her assistant give me the eye dilation drops and a small pain pill. By 4:45 I had a gown put on over my clothes and I was on the operating table.

Next came a shot in the skin below my eye, kind of like Novocain. The doctora then put a mask over my face, just leaving my right eye exposed and gave me a couple of eye drops of anesthesia. I would guess that she gave the anesthesia 15 minutes before she started the Facoemulsification, I could see that something was going on, but I couldn’t tell exactly what it was. The only thing I felt was a little pressure and a couple of times a headache type pain lasting a minute or two.

During the procedure I was instructed not to move (duh) and was constantly reassured that everything was alright. I believe that they told me where they were in the procedure as they proceeded. All I really remember is that I could see these 3 tiny blue rectangles of light floating. The picture, left, is me during surgery.

Finally, she said that they were finished and that she was putting a small cup and patch over my eye. I was sat up and waited a couple of minutes to get off the table. Everything was just fine and I felt fine. It was about 5:30 P.M. and I had a friend take me to the border where another friend met me to stay a motel for the night. The doctora gave me a prescription for some more pain pills, ($5.31) but I only used one a precaution. I followed Dra. Stephany’s instructions and slept sitting up.

The next morning I went back to the clinic to have the doctora remove the patch and to check out my eye. It was truly amazing; I could see the bottom line of the eye chart clear as a bell. She confirmed that the surgery was a success.

Since I forgotten to bring some sunglasses the doctora patched my eye again and also gave me a prescription for some antibiotic eye drops ($15.61.) All was good, but she does want to see me again in a week for another check-up.

I left the clinic and went to the main area of town and bought some “Armani” sunglasses for $8.00 and removed the patch.

What makes this experience so fantastic is that I had no idea how bad my eyes were. When I got home to my computer I couldn’t believe how sharp, clear and brilliant the colors on the screen are, it is like getting HDTV.

I recommend Dra. Stephany Quintero to anyone needing cataract surgery. She also does laser or lasik eye surgery and other types ophthalmology surgery. The quality and professionalism of her surgery is fantastic and her work is 20/20! To my surprise, she told me that she gets patients from all over the U.S., many of them use their frequent flyer miles to make the trip.