Retina Vitreous Associates

I have been going to Retina Vitreous for more than a decade and have had good experiences and some not so good. The not good experiences were always at the Oak Lawn office with Dr. Bennett, now retired. He was excellent at diagnosing and treatment but general bedside manners were, at times, offensive. Nevertheless, I felt compelled to write a review because of previous comments about Dr. Poley and what read like a very bad situation for a reviewer’s mother. I was surprised about the comments calling the staff and Dr. Poley unprofessional. I came to Dr. Poley with hesitancy because she is so young and I have a complicated vision history. She has been consistently polite, even when disseminating not so good news. She has explained treatments and other medical information clearly and with current awareness. A few times when dealing with the possibility of Avastin eye injections I went in with questions and suggestions from my own online research (sidebar: avoid looking at pictures for examples while researching!) and she was open to my thoughts and I didn’t feel shut down or offended by her comments. We have always had a respectful conversation about issues and treatment. Also, the staff has been polite and attentive, they seem to work well together. Basically, I had a totally opposite experience with several procedures over the years, including back to back eye injections with Poley. I can only summarize by saying how sorry I am for the past experience and that I hope other patients will consider the reviews but judge for yourself. Don’t settle for bad medical service.

On Jan 15^th, 2013, took my 81-​yr-​old mother, who had just moved here from Ohio, for continuing Avastin injections in the eye for histoplasmosis. After 3 ½ hours, we left exhausted, bruised, insulted, and vowing NEVER to return. We saw a young, smart-​mouthed, inexperienced Dr. Poley, who actually told my mother, ‘Don’t tell me how to do my job.’ when mom asked if the injection is going to go in behind the caterache in her eye. As a retired teacher of many years with lots of education, she has a curious mind. How rude to do that especially after being mad-​handled by a tech for a dye test of the eye. She poked my mother 3 times before she found a vein for the dye! Just terrible. The office was not busy. (Should have walked out then). Dr. Poley made a point of saying when NOT to call her after the injection, but failed to give us the information about when TO call her, which she said she would do… very unprofessional doctor and staff!