Name: Matthew Rowe 203-453-4441                 Age: 41

Occupation: Director of Sales and Marketing, RTI Cardiovascular

Surgeon: Dr. Gold

Deciding whether epi-LASIK is appropriate for you requires consideration of a number of factors; wondering whether you’ve chosen the right surgeon needn’t be one of them.

In my mind, the essential qualities of any surgeon include: demonstrated technical proficiency, a commitment to continuing professional education and aggressive post-operative care. In each of these areas, Dr. Gold and his staff received very high marks.

With over 7000 procedures to his name, Dr. Gold’s level of experience speaks for itself. What is less obvious, however, is his commitment to remaining current with a procedure that is still evolving and technologies that are always improving. Dr. Gold is well read with the relevant peer reviewed literature and is proactive in his continuing medical education. This second point played an important role in my treatment plan. Armed with new clinical data released at the AAO’s recent annual meeting which he attended in Chicago, Dr. Gold recommended a technical refinement to a critical portion of my epi-LASIK procedure. I felt comfortable knowing that I was being treated by a surgeon who was exposed to the latest developments and trends in his specialty.

Dr. Gold also maintains a strong national network of other refractive surgeons. By consulting with one of these contacts, Dr. Gold now employs a novel treatment regimen aimed at controlling post-op pain. I had been warned that epi-LASIK patients can experience more discomfort than those who undergo LASIK. I had absolutely no discomfort at anytime following my procedure. I’m confident that this is a direct result of his decision to adopt this new treatment regimen.

Dr. Gold’s follow up care was outstanding. I underestimated the importance of this prior to the procedure, but was grateful for his commitment to it afterwards. That first night, I received a personal phone call from Dr. Gold who simply wanted to know how I was doing. He saw me the next day (Saturday) and indicated that I was healing very quickly and that he wanted to see me again Monday. (It was plainly obvious to me that if my progress had been anything less than anticipated, he would not have hesitated in seeing me in the office Sunday morning.) He went on to see me Monday, Tuesday and again on Thursday. One month later, I am now 20-20 in both eyes.

I sought the help of a surgeon who could correct my vision so that wearing glasses would no longer be necessary. I am extremely active in tennis and, in winter, paddle tennis which is played outdoors, often times in freezing weather. In both instances, glasses were really becoming a nuisance, especially on the paddle tennis court. During his initial interview, Dr. Gold recognized that I would probably not be compliant in wearing protective eye-wear on the tennis court following my LASIK procedure. He correctly recommended epi-LASIK, explaining why he felt it was a better option for someone like me. With this procedure, I feel much more confident on (and off) the court, knowing that I cannot fall prey to a flap injury somewhere down the road.