Visian ICL Results Boston - New England Eye Center

Heather Parkhurst discusses her Visian ICL results following treatment at our Boston office.

DR. ROBERT P. RIVERA: One of the neatest things that we get to see in our day and age is the way in which vision correction procedures change a person’s life. And we have the privilege, really the honor, of interviewing and talking with Heather Parkhurst who recently had the ICL surgery. Heather, I understand that you are one of those patients who could have chosen any of a number of different procedures involving lasers. You, on the other hand, chose ICL surgery. So tell me a little bit about what went into your decision. MS. HEATHER PARKHURST: My decision for ICL was based upon the fact that I did a lot of research about LASIK and discovered that it does cause some dryness in your eyes, and I had already experienced a lot of dryness with my contact lenses. So that made me very nervous to go through with that. I did some research on PRK also. The whole stripping of the cornea kind of scared me, really scared me off of that procedure, and when I did research on ICL, I learned that a lot of the patients were so excited about having this high definition vision. So it was more than just seeing as good as they could with their contacts. It was seeing better than they could have ever imagined. And so that was my decision. DR. ROBERT P. RIVERA: Okay, now you had actually looked at LASIK and thought you might even have it at one point. Is that correct? MS. HEATHER PARKHURST: Yes, actually I was signed up. I went to the appointment. I took off my glasses for two weeks. I was ready to rock and roll, last minute, I chickened out. The dryness really scared me. DR. ROBERT P. RIVERA: So you decided now let’s go for something better. Where did you first learn about the ICL? MS. HEATHER PARKHURST: I learned about the ICL in Texas with my husband who is an ophthalmologist. He has placed many, many ICLs and knew my fear of the dry eyes with LASIK. And so he suggested it to me and helped me out with my research. DR. ROBERT P. RIVERA: No I take it that the fact that you chose ICLs has not been a topic of dinnertime arguments then. Is that correct? MS. HEATHER PARKHURST: No, not at all. I was so excited that he had this procedure that I could have, give me the best vision I’ve ever had, and not have any sacrifices with wearing, using eye drops all the time. DR. ROBERT P. RIVERA: Now Heather, how old were you when you had to start wearing glasses? MS. HEATHER PARKHURST: I started wearing glasses when I was 10 years old, and I remember that very clearly. They were purple, and they had these little, I had these little straps on the back because I was a gymnast. So I had to wear my little glasses with my strap on the back, and it was cumbersome. So when I was 11, they decided I was mature enough to get contact lenses. And then began my whole different trip with contact lenses. I kept having dry eyes. So they switched me to every different kind every year. And so it was very frustrating. DR. ROBERT P. RIVERA: Now when you had ICL surgery, what was your experience like? MS. HEATHER PARKHURST: It was wonderful, the whole procedure, everything, the preoperative visit with my physician, and then the day of the surgery they brought me in. They put me on this really comfortable bed, gave me an oral sedative, and I was just relaxed. And they put drops in my eyes like every 10 minutes or so, wheeled me back, I looked into a light, kind of drifted in and out of sleep, woke up, and then I could see. It was instantaneous. I could see, and it was the best vision I’ve ever had. DR. ROBERT P. RIVERA: So you could see the minute your eyes opened, after taking a little snooze during your procedure. Is that what you’re telling me? MS. HEATHER PARKHURST: Yes, yes, and they actually brought me out to the office and checked my vision, and it was better than I had ever had with contact lenses, right after the surgery. DR. ROBERT P. RIVERA: That’s an amazing story. Now, you’re a nurse. You also have children. You lead a busy lifestyle. How do you feel that the ICL has impacted on your ability to do those things that you have to do every day? MS. HEATHER PARKHURST: Oh it’s been amazing. I can get up in the middle of the night to help a child out without like staggering and getting my glasses on. I could fix a bottle in the middle of the night also, without having glasses. And I think I can take better care of my patients. A lot of what I do in the operating room where it’s very, very dry, is I’m looking at monitors. And I found that with my contact lenses, I’d have to blink a lot, especially near the end of the day. And different aspects of the patient’s health were a little fuzzy, like their EKG, which changes can make a big impact on the patient’s health. And so, if I couldn’t see that as clearly as I can now, I think that I’m much better now at taking care of my patients that I have the ICLs in. DR. ROBERT P. RIVERA: Just a bout of interest, are you still bothered with dry eyes? MS. HEATHER PARKHURST: No. DR. ROBERT P. RIVERA: You’re not. MS. HEATHER PARKHURST: Not at all. I don’t have eye drops with me. I never had problems. I’m the same when I wake up in the morning, and if I stay up till midnight taking care of kids or family issues, no dry eyes. And before, when I wore contacts, I would wake up, I’d have about eight good hours in me with my contacts on, and then I’d feel I needed to take them out because of dryness. DR. ROBERT P. RIVERA: Now Heather, you see a lot of patients. You see a lot of people just going throughout your normal day. If someone ever came to you and said, gosh, I’m considering having refractive surgery, and they have suggested I consider ICLs. What would your advice be? MS. HEATHER PARKHURST: I would say 100 percent. Go for the ICLs. They are wonderful. They have changed my life. And I do, I tell everyone I see. DR. ROBERT P. RIVERA: Great.