The LASIK Blog

LASIK for the Gold's Katherine Reutter Loves Colbert Nation

Since announcing his sponsorship of the US Olympic Speedskating Team, Stephan Colbert has had many Olympians as guests on his show.  Katherine Reutter, Olympic hopeful and member of LASIK for the Gold, made it to the Colbert Show last night.  She even had her thigh signed to help her towards her quest for Gold in Vancouver this February.  Between this and her recent LASIK, she's a lock!

Stephan Colbert even asked Katherine for help in his challenge to defeat Olympic Speedskater Shani Davis in a race.  May I suggest Katherine refer Colbert to LASIK for the Gold?  This may be his only hope!

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Stephen Challenges Shani Davis - Katherine Reutter
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor U.S. Speedskating

All Eyes on Samson Dubina in This Week's Nationals Following His LASIK

 

 Samson presents me with a signed paddle following his LASIK last week.

Table Tennis star Samson Dubina had his LASIK surgery last week at EyeCare 20/20 without a hitch.  In fact he is already back in competition, and doing quite well.  According to Samson:

To Doctor Silverman and all the staff at Eyecare 20/20,

Thank you so much for your kindness in correcting my vision.  I just won my first tournament last week and look forward to excellent results next week in Las Vegas at the US Nationals.  My eyes are no longer dry or tired at the end of a long competition.  If you are interested in watching my matches, they should be online at www.usatt.org or at www.tabletennis.teamusa.org/live

We look forward to watching Samson's progress as a member of LASIK for the Gold in his quest for Olympic glory!

In the following video, Samson discusses his LASIK experience:

Olympic Hopeful, Samson Dubina Joins LASIK for the Gold

Table Tennis sensation, Samson Dubina, made the trip to EyeCare 20/20 from Canton, Ohio last week in hopes of improving his chances to make the 2012 US Olympic team.  Samson is an awesome Table Tennis Player, he came in 5th place in last year's Nationals and won the Mixed Doubles Competition. 

In this video, Samson discusses his expectations of how LASIK will improve his performance.

Personally, I am a poor ping pong player at best.  Watching Samson in action has given me a new appreciation of the sport.  Hopefully, LASIK will take Samson to the next level, and olympic glory!

Melinda Owen Thrilled With Her New Eyes!

Melinda Owen presents me with a signed pair of track cleats she used in

last year's pole vault competition.  Check out our new LASIK for the Gold hats!

Melinda Owen did wonderfully following her LASIK surgery this week at EyeCare 20/20.  She was kind enough to drop us an e-mail:

So I want you to know that how happy I am with my eye sight!!! I pole vaulted today and wore my goggles so I had zero problems at all and saw as crisp as can be! I have been bragging about how exciting getting lasik has been to my family and told my mom and brother that I would want them to see Dr. Silverman if they were going to get it done. 

So when i was going through my bag Dr. Silverman gave me I found some cards for a free lasik evaluation and so I have convinced my brother to try to get in and see him.  He was an athlete as well, he wrestled for University of Michigan and now coaches wrestling at Harvard. I think after hearing how happy I am about my results it has really made him realize how much he wants to do it too. I hope you know how much I appreciated everything you did for me while I was there this past weekend.  I had a great time getting to know you all. I wrote a little thing up on my blog about it even :)

She also posted on her blog:

While in the training room, here at the Olympic Center, I was complaining about my contacts when a friend Ariel Martin explained to me a program she was apart of.  Lasik for the Gold, is a program Dr. Silverman started to help aspiring olympians get the care they need but may not be able to afford. Ariel is a BMX Biker who had just recently got Lasik done. She said she would email the program director about me, but I didn’t think to much of it until I got a call from them only days later.
. . .YAY!!! I couldn’t believe it.  Only two short weeks after receiving the call I was flown to East Hanover, New Jersey where I met with Dr. Silverman and his team to get Lasik Eye Surgery done It was a huge success!!! Not only am I able to see 20/15 now, but I was also given the opportunity to meet some amazing people.

As most anyone would be, I was very nervous to get the surgery done not to mention the fact that I was to fly across the country and do it all by my self. That is right, every girl wants her mom near by to take care of her :-)  But from the moment I landed, Dr. Silverman’s assistant Keri made sure I was completely taken care of and extremely comfortable.  I hope that they realize how appreciative I am for everything.  I suggest you take a Lasik for the Gold to see the amazing things Dr. Silverman has done.

http://www.lasikforthegold.com/

We are so looking forward to the upcoming pole vault season and rooting for Melinda in her bid to make it to the 2012 Olympics in London.  In the following video, Melinda talks about her experience with the LASIK procedure at EyeCare 20/20.

Pole Vaulter Melinda Owen Joins LASIK for the Gold

Olympic hopeful pole vaulter, Melinda Owen, traveled to New Jersey this week from the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, California to get LASIK.  Hailing from Montana, one wouldn't expect Melinda to be such a proficient pole vaulter.  She was a 2007 NCAA All- American while attending Idaho.  Melinda placed 10th at the Olympic Trials and took a Bronze Metal at the 2009 National Indoor Championships. 

"From the mountains of Flathead Valley to the always sunny San Diego I am continuing my passion and dream of competing at the 2012 Olympic Games in London England!"

In this video, Melinda discusses the problems she has competing with contact lenses.  Our goal, eliminate that problem and help Melinda achieve her dream of competing in London in 2012!

Ochocinco Fined: Save the Dollar, Save the Fine, Support LASIK the Refs!

Chad Ochocinco was fined by the NFL AGAIN today for $20,000!  The infraction?  According to the Huffington Post:

During the third quarter of Cincinnati's 17-7 win over the Baltimore Ravens, officials initially ruled that Ochocinco got both feet down at the sideline for a 15-yard catch. The Ravens challenged, and the call was overturned when replays showed the receiver's toe landed on the white sideline.

While the play was under review, Ochocinco walked toward the officials with the dollar bill.

Ochocinco said he was just having fun, but the league didn't like it.

Ray Anderson, the league's executive vice president of football operations, sent Ochocinco a letter that said: "The very appearance of impropriety is not acceptable. Your conduct was unprofessional and unbecoming an NFL player."

The letter cited league rules that prohibit abusive, threatening or insulting language or gestures toward officials. The letter also noted that players are prohibited from taking items onto the field that are not part of their uniform. The league has cracked down on players using props for celebrations.

In response to the fine, the company that made Ochocinco's iPhone application said it will donate an additional $20,000 in the receiver's name to the Hillview Acres home for abused children in Chino, Calif. John Shahidi, the president and CEO of Rock Software, Inc., has assisted the home.

Chad, we have a better solution, after the next controversy, donate free airfare to the ref who blew the call.  Fly them to New Jersey where they can get their free LASIK surgery as part of EyeCare 20/20's LASIK the Refs Program!

Umpires Again in Rare Form in World Series: Forget Instant Replay, "It's LASIK time!!"

Check out our LASIK the Refs caps

Well, I made it to Yankee Stadium last night to watch game 2 with my daughter.  It was a great game, won by the Yankees 3-1.  Once again the umpires reconfirmed their need for LASIK!  Lucikily the 2 bad, offsetting calls by 1st base umpire, Brian Gorman, did not affect the outcome of the game.

Reported in the New York Times:

The first disputed play occurred with the Yankees batting in the seventh. Ahead, 3-1, the Yankees had Melky Cabrera at second and Jorge Posada at first with one out. Johnny Damon pulled a low line drive to first. Howard scooped the ball with his glove on the ground and Gorman ruled an out. The Yankees thought the ball hit the ground.

Howard immediately threw to second base, where shortstop Jimmy Rollins applied the tag while Posada was standing on the base, and Posada was ruled out.

When asked about the play, Howard was evasive. “Did I catch it?” he asked. “Well, they called him out.”

Yankees Manager Joe Girardi argued vehemently and told his players not to take the field while the umpires conferred between innings, but none of the umpires saw the play differently, so the ruling stood.

I must have received 10 phone calls and texts from friends at home, watching on TV fuming over this call.  Unfortunately, they must have a policy in Yankee Stadium of not showing the instant replay of close calls.  This is probably wise, as there might have been a riot.

With all the bad calls this post season there has been a renewed interest in instant replay.  According to ESPN.com:

MLB commissioner Bud Selig said he has been soliciting outside opinion from managers and general managers the past few weeks and said no one offered a good explanation why the umpiring was so bad in the first rounds of the postseason.

"The more baseball people I talk to, there is a lot of trepidation about it and I think their trepidation is fair," Selig told reporters before Game 2 of the World Series on Thursday. "I've spent a lot of time [on this] over the past month and will spend a lot of time in the ensuing months as well. I don't want to overreact. You can make light of that but when you start to think you're going to have more intrusions -- and even if their good intrusions -- it's something that you have to be very careful about. Affecting the game on the field is not something I really want to do."

Personally, I don't think instant replay is the answer, sometimes the umps still get it wrong after a review:

“We looked at the replay and it looks like a catch,” said the crew chief Gerry Davis, who was the right-field umpire for Game 2.

Obviously the entire umpire crew got it wrong, both during the game and after the game as well!  I again make my offer to MLB:  Send your umps to me at the conclusion of the season, I will be happy to provide LASIK to them, free of charge..  anything to improve the officiating.  CALL ME!

Its off to Philly tomorrow nite, I will hopefully score some tickets, watch a better officiated game, and a Yankees win!

Who Should Implant Your Cataract Premium IOL?

There was an interesting presentation Sunday at the Annual AAO meeting in San Francisco given by Dr. Vinjay Shah.  EyeWorld Magazine summarized his findings:

Residents lacking in premium IOL, pediatric cataract procedure experience

Third year residents are not getting enough hands-on experience leading pediatric cataracts and implanting premium intraocular lenses (IOLs) according to Vinay A. Shah, M.D., University of Missouri, Kansas City, and his colleagues. Dr. Shah sent a survey to every third year resident accredited with the Accredited Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) in the United States; 154 (35.5%) of the 434 residents completed the survey. Through this self-reported survey, residents responded that they were getting ample chances at extra-capsular cataract extraction (ECCE) with 40 residents having done more than 50 surgeries. But in terms of pediatric cataract surgery and premium IOL implantation, their experiences were lacking. For example, 102 residents never implanted a premium IOL, and all but seven residents had implanted premium IOLs in 10 patients or fewer. Similarly, 118 residents never performed a pediatric cataract surgery, and only three residents had done more than 10 procedures.

This interesting study leads me to ask two important questions:

1. Should residents even implant any premium IOLs?
2. Who should one go to if they want a premium IOL at the time of their cataract surgery?

Let me answer these two questions by first defining my goals of different surgical procedures:

1. Cataract surgery is preformed on a patient when their cataracts are causing a decrease in vision that is interfering with their daily lifestyle.  The goal of cataract surgery is to improve the patient's best corrected vision.  If a patient has pre existing astigmatism, they will most likely still need distance glasses after cataract surgery.  All patients will also still need to wear reading glasses after cataract surgery, as the IOL does not focus for near objects.
2. Many patients would like to decrease their dependence on glasses.  This is the goal of premium IOLs.  A toric IOL will decrease pre existing astigmatism and improve distance vision without glasses.  A multifocal IOL will allow one to read without glasses.  Uncorrected vision after cataract surgery may be further improved with LASIK surgery.

In my opinion any surgeon who is offering premium IOLs MUST have the following attributes:

• Must be performing perfect, pristine cataract surgery, on a very consistent basis.  This only comes with experience and volume.  I would suggest going to a surgeon who does over 30 cataracts a month.
• Must fully understand refractive surgery.  One of the biggest complaints I get from patients who see me for second opinions after premium IOL implantation is that they are unhappy with some aspect of their vision.  Most of these patients have a residual refraction in their eyes.  A simple LASIK procedure will usually correct this problem.  Many times, their operating surgeon does not offer this as an option, as they do not provide LASIK services.
• Must have vast experience in premium IOL implantation.  There are many nuances that must be overcome to achieve success in the refractive cataract patient.  I would suggest going to a surgeon who does at least 20% premium IOL implantations of his cataract volume.

So, to answer the two questions I posed earlier:

1. I do not believe residents should be implanting premium IOLs.
2. If one is interested in reducing their dependence on glasses following cataract surgery, I would suggest going to a high volume surgeon with vast experience in both premium IOL implantation and refractive LASIK services.

Newest Trends in Eye Care From Annual AAO Meeting I

This week is the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO).  Over the next few days I will report on a few of the latest trends being presented at the meeting in San Francisco.  Many of these short synopsises will be taken from "Academy Live" an e-mail; alert from the AAO.  Each synopsis will be followed by some of my personal commentary.

LASIK safe for Form Fruste Keratoconus?  Damien Gatinel, MD, went back and looked at outcomes after LASIK and PRK when they were performed inadvertently in patients with suspected keratoconus.  “Three years later, the results are so far satisfactory,” Dr. Gatinel said, “There was no topographical sign of ectasia in these patients.  Even if it’s not recommended, he concludes that refractive surgery seems safe in topographically diagnosed keratoconus suspect eyes with a good biomechanical profile. When the audience was polled as to whether they would perform surgery on patients with forme fruste keratoconus, 77 percent said they would not.  Even after hearing this evidence, I personally feel that it would be foolish to do LASIK on a suspected keratoconus patient, the risks are just too high!

New Phakic IOL from Alcon holds promise.  Ronald R. Krueger, MD, medical director of Refractive Surgery at Cole Eye Institute, evaluated safety outcomes from clinical trials of the AcrySof Phakic Angle-Supported IOL.  Vision increased by two or more lines for 20 percent of subjects, one line for 44.6 percent and unchanged for 33.8 percent.  Phakic IOLs are an excellent method of providing superb vision in high myopes.  I currently use the Visian IOL, a posterior chamber IOL manufactured by Starr.  The Alcon lens will allow more ophthalmologists to provide this technology to their patients once it is approved, as it will be a much simpler IOL to implant.

Avastin vs Lucentis Trials underway:  Avastin and Lucentis are competing in a hefty schedule of six head-to-head randomized clinical trials directly comparing their use in AMD patients, said Daniel F. Martin, MD.   Initial study results are expected to be available in early 2011.

Here’s the status of each of the studies:

• The NEI-sponsored CATT (Comparison of AMD Treatments Trial) study began enrolling an estimated 1,200 wet AMD patients at 44 sites in the United States in February 2008. The four-arm study comparing bevacizumab and ranibizumab on fixed and variable schedules is proceeding well, according to Dr. Martin, with one-year results targeted for 2011.

• In April 2008, researchers in the United Kingdom began enrolling an anticipated 600 patients at 17 sites in the IVAN (Inhibit VEGF in Age-related choroidal Neovascularization) study. This four-armed study compares monthly bevacizumab 1.25 mg and ranibizumab 0.5 mg injections given over two years with three monthly injections followed by PRN dosing.
• The four-site German VIBERA study started enrolling 360 AMD patients in 2008 to receive three monthly bevacizumab 2.0 mg or ranibizumab 0.5 mg injections and additional injections as needed.
• The Austrian MANTA study began assigning an anticipated 320 AMD patients in June 2008 to three monthly bevacizumab or ranibizumab injections, with additional treatment as needed.
• Researchers in Norway began enrolling an anticipated 450 patients in the 12-site LUCAS study in March. Subjects receive bevacizumab 1.25 mg or ranibizumab 0.5 mg monthly as needed until dry, with intervals between doses decreasing over time.
• French investigators opened enrollment this fall in the 600-patient, 20-site GEFAL study. Subjects are randomized to receive three initial monthly injections of one of the two drugs.

I am anxiously awaiting the results of these studies, as I am a strong advocate for the use of Avastin as a primary therapy in the treatment of SMD.

Free LASIK Again Offered to Major League Umpires

Three bad calls in Game 3 and several in Game 4 of the ALCS between the Yankees and Angels have again brought attention to the inconsistent officiating in baseball.  Hats off to third base umpire, Tim McClelland, who admitted to his bad calls  in a post game interview.  "After looking at replays..  obviously there were two missed calls, not obviously, there were two missed calls...  I'm out there trying to do my job the best that I can.."  Once again EyeCare 20/20 is offering to aid the umpires in doing their job better.  Forget instant replay.  Tim McClelland, or any major league umpire, give us a call.  We would be happy to improve your vision free of charge with LASIK! 

This is what our LASIK the Refs program is all about.  Here is a copy of a recent press release:

LASIK THE REFS!

EAST HANOVER, NJ - Due to the spate of recent blown calls in professional sporting events, including last night’s American League Championship Series, local ophthalmologist Dr. Cary Silverman is offering free LASIK surgery to any major league umpire or referee.  As Medical Director of EyeCare 20/20, Cary M. Silverman, M.D., oversees one of the premier vision care facilities in the tri-state area, and the first practice in New Jersey to offer treatment using custom wavefront LASIK with the ALLEGRETTO WAVE® laser.

 “This is maddening,” Silverman said, “These are the greatest athletes on the biggest stage in the world and they deserve to have the games officiated correctly.  Frankly, so many of the errors from this baseball post-season and the NFL regular season could have been avoided if the officials had better eyesight.  LASIK is the best way to achieve that and I make an open offer to any official from the major league sports to utilize our service, for the good of the game.”

There have been several calls in the Twins/Yankees and Angels/Yankees playoff series that officials admitted were incorrect after viewing replays post-game.

LASIK uses a computer-controlled laser to reshape the cornea and correct refractive errors such as nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism. Dr. Silverman employs the latest advances in LASIK surgery to provide patients with the highest level of vision correction possible. With the ALLEGRETTO WAVE® laser technology, he is able to customize the LASIK procedure to the vision needs of each individual patient.

Silverman was recently in the news for providing free LASIK to eight current members of several United States Olympic teams, including medal contending speedskaters Chad Hedrick and Katherine Reutter.  For more information on Dr. Silverman’s Olympic initiative, go to: www.lasikforthegold.com.  For more about EyeCare 20/20, go to: www.eyecare2020.com. For more information on recent blown calls and the LASIK THE REFS program, go to: http://facebook.com/lasiktherefs.

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