Meet Joyce Sison who contacted us to help share her story of how the Visian ICL changed her life.
Read her testimony below:
Squinting is a normal routine. I work with multiple computer monitors daily and sometimes with a small laptop. I’m a medical coder by trade, an event planner and a DIY-er on weekends. In my line of work and hobby, accuracy is really really (did I say really?!) important. I can’t miss any details. With a prescription of -7.0 and -5.5, an astigmatism and near-sightedness, squinting or gluing my face to the computer screen is very normal. I’ve worn glasses since I was 12, and delayed wearing contacts until I was 18. I never liked “poking” my eyeballs to put those contacts in, and I’ve always had a love-hate relationship with my glasses. There’s just too many limitations with both of them, and yet I definitely can’t function without them. I grew tired of dealing with those limitations and lots of people were encouraging me to consider LASIK. I waited a few years and I finally gave in. Lo and behold, I was not a good candidate for LASIK!
Since my prescriptions are high and my cornea are too flat to proceed with LASIK, Dr. Jason Brinton recommended an alternative called ICL. This was the first time I was hearing about Visian ICL. They had to make sure I’m a suitable candidate for Visian, so they had to perform additional examinations. The medical coder inside of me did an in-depth research and even watched videos of actual surgeries. (Yes, I enjoy watching surgical operations! Very Grey’s Anatomy but less dramatic). Dr. Brinton satisfactorily answered all the questions I had on my yellow pad, but when he said it’s definitely removable, I am sold!
Each eye were treated as separate surgeries and were scheduled 2 weeks apart (I believe it’s done this way to avoid infection). I had a pre-op few days prior which consisted of accurate measurement of both eyes for prescription, pressure and thorough evaluation to avoid over-correction, according to Dr. Brinton. I decided to take off work for both surgery days and 1-day post-op to allow my eyes rest given that I work with computers a lot.
The day of the surgery was a breeze. I was treated with eye-numbing drops, antibiotics, betadine and lidocaine gel. Call me paranoid, but it’s really important that I know what they put in my eyes. Both surgeries were done in 15 minutes. Both times, Dr. Brinton walked me through the procedure and tells me the one time that I should expect a slight pressure while listening to some nice background music. There were about a minute of pressure felt during the surgery, which was not bothersome at all to me.
After the procedure, I went home and nap most of the day. I’m not exaggerating, but it was really instant results! I was reading street signs on my way home from surgery. And no, you can’t drive after surgery, but it sure is nice to be able to read those signs! I would not recommend driving at night few days after surgery. I experienced minor sensitivity to light during night-time, but it went away after about a week. The only maintenance after surgery was a week of antibiotic and steroid eye drops 4x a day for each eye. Dr. Brinton and his team were thorough and saw me after each surgeries for 3 post-op: same-day, 1-day and 1-week. I was told to keep my head above my heart (i.e., no bending), no eye makeup for a week and definitely no swimming (beach or pool) for a month. Other than those restrictions, I was definitely free!
I was seeing 20/15 the very next day! I joked around my friends and coworkers who were amazed that I now have “bionic eyes,” thanks to Visian ICL!
I wish I’ve done it sooner, but it’s the best investment and gift I gave to myself as I turn 30 this year.
The Visian ICL is not for everyone, please consult your doctor to see if it’s right for you.
If you would like to share your Visian ICL story please contact Erin at:
