http://www.newstalk1130.com/pages/common_sense_central.html?article=9963811

ESPN drawing – Dr. Hale picked Ron Ploeckelman’s name for the winner of the “upon further review” drawing on February 15th. Ron will receive a free iLASIK procedure.

I am 53 years old and I had lasik surgery from Dr. Hale in January 2011. I cannot believe what a miracle was performed!

I had very bad eyes – I believe Dr. Hale said I was in the top 5% of bad eyes. I was very nearsighted and had a major astigmatism.

I wore glasses since the second grade and glasses/contacts for the rest of my life. In my 40′s the need for ‘reading glasses’ began. I switched to monovision soft contacts and had pretty good quality of vision through my 40′s. As my near-vision progressively deteriorated through age, my contacts became harder to fit and more uncomfortable. I am on the computer about 9 hours a day and the eye strain was unbearable. I begged for a large monitor at work, but still found I needed to close my eyes several times a day to reduce the eye strain. I started wearing glasses a majority of the time, but with my vision the glasses were so heavy (and they were small) that my ears and nose were very uncomfortable. I could not wait to go to bed at night to give my eyes a rest. I read fewer books because of the eye strain.

I then researched Milwaukee for lasik specialists. I was sold on Dr. Hale because of the number of surgeries he has completed and his years dedicated to the cause. I scheduled a consultation, fully expecting to be rejected because my eyes were out of the range. I was told I was a good candidate mostly because of my thick corneas and that they thought I would have good success. They did say that my range would most likely need retreatment and that I should expect that as one possible outcome.

I scheduled my lasik surgury in January 2011. After the first surgery, my left eye was perfect and my right eye was 20/50 and would need retreatment. They were assured they could get me very close to 20/20 or 20/30. What I couldn’t believe was that I could read again! As long as I wanted!

In May, my right eye was retreated with great success! In December 2011, I had my last follow up appointment and my vision is 20/20!

A few side notes:
* The monovision did take some time for adjusting. I felt just a bit dizzy once in a while the first 3 months. That feeling is totally gone now and I have completely adjusted.
* For the first 3 months, I would always reach for my glasses in the morning! Habit I guess, but every morning I would smile at the fact that I did not need them.
* There is nothing like packing for an overnight and not worrying about the contact solution, cases, glasses. There is nothing like going to bed and not having to take your contacts out! Or rushing home from work so you can remove your contacts!
* I read a book about every 2 weeks now and I love it! I am so much more informed because I can spend more time with newspapers, magazines and books! (forget that small newspaper print before lasik)

I will never forget how grateful I am that I can see without help for the first time in 45 years! This is nothing short of a miracle and I thank Dr. Hale and his staff for the wonderful service!

ps – the teddy bear given for the surgery was an awesome touch!

Marty C.

I have been wearing glasses ever since I was in the second grade. Throughout the years, my eyes got progressively worse until I exceeded a minus 11 in both my left and right eye. I became completely dependent on glasses or contact lenses. That dependency also leads to worrying about what would happen if you lost your glasses or contact lenses when traveling. I had no way of traveling with such bad eye sight. Swimming in a pool required using just my thick glasses. No matter what style of frames I purchased , it was unattractive to be looking through the bottom of a coke bottle. The whole situation was a disability that I thought I would have to live with the rest of my life.

I started researching lasik surgery about ten years ago, but never followed through with it because of that fear of having my eyes operated on. What would happen if something went wrong? Last year I finally came to the conclusion that this is a very common and safe procedure. My only question was – who was going to be the one to perform the surgery? Lots of research led me to Dr. Hale. I would only have this done by the one that has the best record of success. That’s Dr. Hale.

One year ago, at age 50, I had the procedure done. Dr Hale examined me and decided that he would try to get me close to perfect vision. I, at this point would have been happy just to wear a prescription set of glasses that weren’t as thick. Perfection was not at all what I was expecting.

The day of the surgery, the staff had me totally prepared. I was coached on the full procedure, given a happy pill and prepped for the procedure. Dr Hale informed me step by step of what to expect as he preformed the procedures. I was very relaxed and comfortable about everything he did. It was over before I knew and I was sent home to sleep. The next morning I had an exam and could see like I never had before. By the time I had my one month checkup, I was reading the line on the charts below the 20 line. I now have better vision than the most people that have “perfect vision”.

Dr Hale always had faith that I would have “perfect vision”. He just thought it may take an extra procedure to do it. That would have been fine with me because the process was so painless and simple. Not only did it only take one, but it far exceeded my expectations.

Dr Hale changed my life in a very profound way. It’s like being cured of a debilitating illness. I can see on my own, and I can see well. What a gift!

See article at: http://www.expressmilwaukee.com/flex-211-medical-2011.html

What you should know before having Lasik surgery

The reality is that the majority of people who meet the age and general health requirements are in fact good candidates for the iLASIK Procedure (using exclusive LASIK technolog). Unfortunately, many of the people we talk to have an incomplete understanding of LASIK and an antiquated view of what makes someone a candidate. Sure, there are some conditions that exclude certain patients, but whether you have nearsightedness, farsightedness or an astigmatism, there’s a good chance you can still have the iLASIK Procedure.

Let’s make it simple, if you meet the basic criteria below, you should contact us and have a personal consultation.

•You are at least 21 years old
•You are in good general health
•You have had a stable vision prescription for at least one year
•You have no existing eye disease

Dear Dr. Hale,
It has been about 5 years since my procedure. I simply wanted to follow up and let you know how thankful and fortunate I am to have had LASIK done by your team of professionals.
Prior to the surgery I was going through a rough time with my vision. I could no longer could wear contacts and my 20/2000 vision prevented me from enjoying active sports and hobbies that were dependant on excellent vision. I had dry eyes and was often uncomfortable while wearing glasses when working on computers at my graphic design job.
The first LASIK surgeon I visited told me I was not a candidate for this type of procedure. Several months later I was delighted to discover I was a candidate by your requirements. Weeks later I was freed from glasses and contact lenses for the first time in my life. My girlfriend at the time (now my wife) also had LASIK a couple years later and she has also had fantastic results!
Five years later my vision is excellent and I could not be happier. One of my new hobbies is flying remote controlled airplanes. With only the help of polarized sun glasses I have excellent long distant vision. I just wanted to share a couple of videos (links below) I captured this summer from the north woods of Wisconsin from the perspective of a video camera on one of my airplanes. Enjoy.
Sincerely,
Joshua W

Can you have Lasik surgery with Type 1 Diabetes?
Having Diabetes is not considered a contraindication to having the Lasik procedure by the FDA ; but it is listed under the category of “warning”. This means the status of your diabetes both currently and in the past may have a bearing on the quality of your candidacy. Well controlled diabetics with normal visual function, normal retinal blood vessels, stable glasses/contact powers and normal general healing may be excellent Lasik candidates. Having uncontrolled blood sugars, fluctuation in vision, abnormal blood vessels and poor healing are all reasons why a patient may not be a candidate for Lasik. This, however, does not necessarily preclude you from having another form of laser vision correction (PRK) or perhaps an implantable lens procedure, all for which are available at Hale Vision.

Prior to performing any LASIK procedure, those qualified individual will need to go through an extremely thorough extra screening to ensure that they can have successful refractive surgery. A detailed retinal exam, close examination with a slit lamp, tear film and epithelial tests can lowered the high complication rate in individuals with diabetes who undergo LASIK.

http://www.halevision.com/whyChooseUs/testimonials/