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- Walnut Creek/Contra Costa
8 years ago
To Dr Ellis and his entire staff , Thank you so much for this Life Changing gift of restored vision. I have to admit at first , I was a little apprehensive about undergoing the surgery which only lasted for roughly 2 1/2 mins, but you guys were extremely patience , caring, concern all the way through. You were not abrasive or pushy in any way, and that does not go unacknowledged. I have not seen this well since I was 18 years old, and now with incredible sight at age 32. Who would have thought the very next day after my surgery that I would have my sight back. And I'm actually on track to possibly seeing 20/15 vision. <br>To Dr James , thank you for the one on one encouragement talk, I really appreciate that. Very genuine person. And to the rest of staff , thank you again for every thing. <br><br>Desmonne Hagler,
Shengpei C.
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- San Jose/Silicon Valley
8 years ago
I took an Epi-LASIK on Dec 14, 2015, about 3 weeks ago. <br>I have a wonderful experience with Dr. Ellis and his fellows. I hope my experience would help you. <br><br>The free consultation was on Dec 5 at the San Jose centre; it was Saturday, so the office was a little bit crowded. There was about 5 patients waiting for the first check after surgery. I talked to them about how they feel and why they chosed this centre. I highly recommend you to do this too, so you can get more information than what you can read from websites or commercials - and it can't be fake. (I know I am cunning.) After 45 minutes of waiting, I received a 25 minute eye check and about 15 minute consolation. <br><br>Because the corneas shape of my right eye is kind of irregular, Epi-LASIK would be my first choice. FYI, both LASIK and Epi-LASIK are proven to be effective methods for vision correction. Based on the number released by Laser Eye Center of Silicon Valley, ~70% of their patients received LASIK, ~30% received Epi-LASIK. However, the initial recovery of Epi-LASIK would be slower, and it would be more expensive. The good news is Epi-LASIK does not require corneas flap, and US Marines/US Army are more preferred to Epi-LASIK. Please do some research before your consolation; so you can make the right choice. <br><br>In the consolation, Marleny explained how the operation works and what you should expect. She is so full of energy, and she is the happiest medical worker I have ever met. They helped me to deal with the financing. In my case, I don't even required for a down payment, and my first pay is supposed to be Jan 14 (still waiting for my bill).<br><br>My operation was scheduled on Dec 14 at the El Cerrito center. I wanted to have it at the San Jose center, but my time schedule is just too tight and too crazy. The fellow there are also very sweet. They will check you once again, explain everything once again, tell you how to use the medicine/eye-drops once again (This whole process would take about 2 hours). Then, they will let you take some pain killers and sleeping pills, and wait for about half an hour. The operation time was quite short (FYI, 10 years ago, the laser would take about 3-5 minutes for one eye, and now 10-20 seconds). The biggest challenge is to 'keep calm, don't move and open both of your eyes'. They will put a zero contact lens on your eyes after surgery, like a bandage, to protect the wound, but still you will feel hurt. <br><br>After I got home, I ate and directly sleep for over 14 hours. After I got up and showered, I went to the San Jose center for the first check. Things goes well, my eye does not hurt. I ate and sleep a lot for 5 more days. Since the corneas started to heal, I saw the world differently every day, with blur and halo. In this 5 days, I did quite a lot of things, visiting friends, having dinner parties, tried something I never try like bake and decorate a cake. I did not drive, stayed away from lap tops or TV, did not text, avoid high temperature cooking. <br><br>On that Friday, I went back to the San Jose center for a second check. Based on my situation, they took away the contact lens of my left eye, and replace a 20-day zero contact lens on my right eye. FYI, if your wound heals well (like my left eye at that time), the initial feeling goes away in 10 minute; if it does (like my right eye), it could be really teary and painful. So my advice is after the check stay at the clinic for a while. If the pain does not go away or become worse, just feel free to ask for help.<br><br>The third check was on Jan 6, 2016. I have to say my eye recovered quite well, even I party hard during the X'mas and new year period out of California. My left eye was estimated about 85% healed with a tiny little bit inflammation, and the right one was about 20/40 (I could only see the first line at the second check, and now I jumped 8 lines to 20/40). I am required to use another bottle of #4 drops for 10 more day just in case. <br><br>Generally, I could drive and code and back to office now. Sometime, I would easily feel tired when I kept working in front of a screen (I used to continuously work over 10 hour per day at young 20; I knew I am crazy). I was advised to use the artificial tears and take a coffee break :-) <br><br>For me, this surgery not only made a physical, but also spiritual and philosophical changes on me. During the healing process, you will feel yourself living in a wonderland. Traffic lights with halo are so beautiful, the Christmas lights and dews on leaves blink in a way you never see; and you will always be the first one realize snowing, because the snowflakes glow under any lights. Also the distance feel differently, you will 'learn' how to drive once again. More important, it tells that your body is under your control, you are able to fix any flaw of your body.<br><br>If you are thinking about eye surgery, I encourage you to take it, and I highly recommend Dr. Ellis. I will try to keep update after the fourth check on Feb 3. Good luck!
Henry B.
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- Corte Madera/ Marin/Mill Valley
8 years ago
I recommend Dr. Ellis because i see the difference in my vision. Nelly, my counselor, explained everything to me, she is really patient and all the staff is great.
Alexis F.
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- Corte Madera/ Marin/Mill Valley
8 years ago
First of all, you with the ONE STAR...<br><br>Did you have someone write this review for you? Did you use the voice command function on your phone to communicate your thoughts? What's that? You typed this review up with your new, perfectly seeing eyeballs? Oh...well, then your negative comments are invalid. <br><br>To those seriously considering laser eye surgery, than Ellis Eye & Laser medical center is the place to go. I had my first consultation in February 2015, and by the next week, I was scheduled to have corrective surgery. Everyone I encountered during this process was not only incredibly helpful, but genuinely nice. They were all very patient with me each step of the way, even when I was having complications with my payment plan. Once I was ready for the procedure, I briefly chopped it up with Dr. Ellis, whose lighthearted yet professional nature immediately put me at ease. And the procedure itself only lasted several minutes! Now...it is still surgery so OBVIOUSLY there is going to be a little discomfort. However, if you are one of those people who has seriously worried about being stranded on an island because you know you would die from being blind once your contacts dried out (probably just me), than you know that it is SO WORTH IT. <br><br>After the surgery, you are able to see right away, though there is a hazy fog that sticks around for about a week after. With that said, I was able to drive and go back to work where I basically stare at a screen for 8 hours, the very next day! Fast forward 6th months later, and my vision is absolutely perfect. Even with contacts, I was never able to achieve the 20/20 vision that I have now. Lasik surgery has completely changed my life, and if you choose Ellis Eye & Laser to correct your vision, I know it will change yours as well.
Winnie L.
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Yelp
- San Jose/Silicon Valley
8 years ago
Dr. Ellis and his team did an amazing job, and I couldn't be happier with my treatment and the results. I had to get PRK due to my thin corneas and the severity of my nearsightedness, and I was pretty anxious about how it would turn out. I felt like they took really good care of me and put some extra thought into how best to preserve my cornea while still giving me 20/20 vision.