Yes, this is true!

I had this done when I picked up my glasses and needed another set for closer reading. I thought I needed ANOTHER set! I gave up and went to Bucaramanga, Colombia and LASIK surgery in 1998. Now, thirty years later, I can say that Dr Virgilio Galvis
did a great job!


On Thursday, December 24, 1998 at 10:00:00 PM UTC-10, pat_fo...@my-dejanews.com wrote:

Amazing junkets led by Dr. Steve Friedman

An Eye-Opening Colombian Trip

April 22, 1998 by Sheree Lipton a well
known freelance journalist who is also a
member of the prominent Lipton Tea family.

In a remote area, a world renowned eye
surgeon helps folks see more clearly in just
minutes. Dr. Galvis is hands-on with his
patients

One February day, in the Colombian town of
Bucaramanga, sliced out of cloud and
mountain, I had LASIK surgery on my very
farsighted eyes. A day later, I traded South
American mountains for the Koolau, and
pool snorkeling three days later. My new
vision is full of delightful surprises. leaves
on trees two blocks away. Legs and
antennae on potato bugs sunk to the bottom
the pool in untimely demise before I get in!
Best of all, I got the crispest view I ever
had of our mountains-with or without
glasses.

Lasik surgery on the cornea is rather like
peeling the skin off a grape. The technique
applies a highly advanced, narrow beam
German manufactured excimer laser which
creates a very precise result. Using laser
tracking technology Columbiašs
world-renowned eye surgeon Dr. Virgilio
Galvis is able to follow the eyes insuring
accurate treatment despite movement. PRK
and now even LASIK is offered by a few
American doctors, but most have only taken
a course for a couple of days, and use older
lasers that many consider obsolete. PRK is
no longer done in Colombia. It is expected
that the newer laser will be approved for
use in the United States within two years. I
prefer to go to the source, the teacher, as
do other Hawaii and mainland residents.

Interestingly, a number of local patients are
physicians, including one prominent
Honolulu eye surgeon. I learned about the
procedure from my former obstetrician, Dr.
Francis Terada, who went a few months
back-- a gift to himself for his 70th
birthday. Dr. Terada used to were such thick
glasses I wonder how he could see at all.
Now his vision is 20/20. Bucaramanga,
Colombia, is definitely off the beaten track,
but the surgery center is top notch, very
high tech. Galvis has done in excess of six
thousand procedures. Using the ten minute
LASIK eye surgery, the 51 year-old Galvis
can treat nearsightedness, astigmatism,
and farsightedness. Most of the time is
spent in preparation and positioning. The
actual laser component lasts only about
30-90 seconds per eye. Galvis was trained
by the late Dr. Jose Barraquer, "The Father
of Modern Refractive Surgery", who started
forty years ago, by surgically removing
corneas, freezing them and reshaping them
on a micro cryolathe he built himself, and
early procedure, called Keratomileusis.
Now, with more than two decades of
refractive surgery under his belt, his
expertise and friendly manner have brought
Galvis many admirers; in Colombia, he is
practically and icon. On a typical day, Galvis
might operate on 30-40 patients, who come
from as far away as Singapore and Denmark.
Side effects for me were minimal, an itchy
sensation and some watering, some
distortion, mostly at night and at two
months post op, off and on fluctuations in
my near vision. I can expect to see star
bursts with night driving for awhile, and a
decrease in sharpness in low light. Dr. Steve
Friedman (808)599-4399, and easy going,
Spanish speaking emergency room
physician from St. Francis Hospital, leads
groups of Hawaii folks every month to
Galvisš mountain outpost an hour from
Bogota.

Š 1996 Dr. Steven Friedman

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