Phillips Eye Institute

If Doctor Webster works on your eyes, cataracts, you will not be disappointed. First Class job. Am now 10 years out from my surgery and everything is great.

I started off first grade with a boom. Literally. On the concrete playground of Wilshire Park (Go Pandas! LOL!), a notorious bully appeared out of nowhere and punched me in the eye while I waited my turn to ascend the monkey bars. She hit me with such force that it caused schoolyard children, supervising teachers, and nearby murder of crows to make a cacophony of ugly shrieks. (
) Later that day, I told my mom about my bully’s Balrog punch (
) and she enrolled me in karate. #nationalkarateinroseville
Several weeks later, the bruising on my face disappeared; however, the cost of her blow would still be felt decades later.
In my early twenties, I developed a cataract. (A cataract is blurred vision that occurs from a damaged lens in the eye.) My ailment was an anomaly –since I wasn’t old– that puzzled the head ophthalmologist at Park Nicollet (St. Louis Park)/ leading surgeon at Phillips. Eventually, she determined that my cataract occurred one of two ways: extreme drug use or trauma. I didn’t use any drugs, so she deducted that it had to be trauma. (Hence, the realization that it was due to that vicious punch.) I needed surgery, ASAP!
Coincidentally, my father, who is 32 years older than me, and within the age range for receiving a cataract, needed surgery as well. My father and I scheduled appointments to go «under the knife» by the same doctor on the same day and place. (First ever father-​son duo at Phillips, I might add) Our appointment times were different, of course.
My first –and hopefully, only visit– to the Phillips Eye Institute was nothing short of excellent. That’s mainly due to the considerate and professional staff. Beginning with the receptionists, they kindly guided me on filling out all of the necessary paperwork and answered all of my questions without any sighs. The nurses? Super awesome, since they clearly articulated how they would help me prepare for the surgery. They also anesthetized me without any hiccups, and when I went under, I was so relaxed that I probably wouldn’t have cared if someone slapped me in the face or hijacked and sold my organs on the black market.
While drugged up, I recall the surgeon making a minuscule incision on the side of my eye, which immediately caused my vision to become blurry. Right afterwards, though, I saw an array of colors and felt as if I was flying through a rainbow or in warp-​speed on the Star Trek Enterprise! (
) She then utilized a special operating vacuum to suck out my scarred lens and injected a folded and plastic one, perfectly.
Afterwards, I passed out, woke up, and found myself rockin’ a not-​so-​badass eye patch. (See photo.)
Several days later, I returned to see my ophthalmologist and had my patch removed. My vision was better than ever! I could now drive at night, read without any problems, and discern between light yellow and white. (Yeah, that’s how bad it was.) To this day, my vision rocks!
If I ever have an epiphany as to who punched me, I would attempt to find her via Google and then send a message demanding her to pay for my past cataract surgery. However, this will probably never happen.
If you or a loved one ever has a cataract, I highly recommend the Phillips Eye Institute! They changed my life!