Dr. Wolsey’s Role Reversal – Becoming a Patient

I had been wearing contact lenses since I was 12 years old. Although I didn’t mind contact lenses, I had become more contact lens intolerant over the past five years becoming more dependent on my glasses. Many of my own patients seeking refractive surgery would ask me why I still wore glasses which was always a good question. Why would one of my own patients get surgery, if their own surgeon would not? I unfortunately was not a candidate for LASIK or PRK because I had a higher level of nearsightedness than the average person combined with my corneas being too thin.

Over the last few years, the Eye Institute of Utah had been putting Implantable Contact Lenses (ICLs) in patients like me, who wanted to get rid of their glasses but were not good candidates for LASIK or PRK. Impressed with the outcomes and frustrated with my own contacts, I decided to have ICLs. Since having surgery, I am thrilled with my vision. The surgery took 15 minutes per eye and I was seeing great and back to work the next day. The hardest part of the surgery was remembering to put in all the post-operative eye drops (I admit, I am not the best patient). Even today I still forget and reach for my glasses in the morning, but I realize I no longer have glasses – some habits are hard to break.

Dr. Darcy H. Wolsey
Cataract and Cornea Specialist
Eye Institute of Utah