My name is Juan Ramirez and I am an ophthalmologist in a good sized city on the west coast of Mexico. I do quite a good business doing cataract surgery and occasionally I do ICL surgery for the few select people who can afford it. I am also known as one of the best people to see if you have retinal problems. For this area of the country I make a darned good living – nowhere near what I could make in the USA, but my needs are not nearly as great as those of an American Doctor.
The interesting thing is that I am an American. My parents didn’t enter the USA in the prescribed manner before I was born and when Immigration caught up with them and returned them to Mexico I was 2 years old and had my birth certificate stating that I was born a US citizen. At age 2 however, there was no way that I could remain in the states without my parents. When I graduated from high school with honors and wanted to attend medical school my US citizenship opened a lot of doors to me and I was able to do my medical training at one of the best known schools in the USA. After I graduated I could easily have stayed in the US, but my parents were getting on in age and I felt that I should stay in the general vicinity of where they lived.
A number of cruise ships dock for the day in my city. Most of the tourists do not venture as far as the medical district unless they happen to have a medical emergency. So I was surprised when I came out of my clinic into the office to find an extremely beautiful young lady who was likely in her early 30’s sitting in my reception area. I assumed from the power of the glasses that rested on the bridge of her nose that this gorgeous young lady most likely had a retinal problem, or possibly a corneal tear from over wearing contacts. I questioned my receptionist in Spanish to see what the young lady wanted and was surprised to hear that the young lady wanted a private consultation. Fortunately I had a few minutes to spare before my next appointment and I asked her to follow me back to my office where we both sat down.
I asked her a few routine questions such as her name, address and age along with the general health question. All the while I was looking at her and I could see that at one time she definitely had a breast augmentation. And a close look also determined that her nose had been sculpted. Some dentist somewhere had made a few dollars from the braces that gave her a set of perfectly straight white teeth. I speculated that she most likely wanted to have ICL implants before I spoke up.
“What can I do for you today?” I asked.
“I would like to have my eyes operated on. I have checked with a number of people around here and they all say that you are the most qualified doctor around. The only problem is that I am not sure that you would be willing to do what I want.” Ms. Davis said.
“I am sure I would have no problem returning your vision to 20/20.” I replied.
“I don’t think you can do much to improve my unaided vision doctor.” She said.
“What exactly do you mean by that Ms. Davis?” I asked.
“I do not need these glasses that I am wearing. I wear plus contact lenses so that I can wear these glasses, and my unaided vision is very close to 20/20.” Ms. Davis said.
“I have heard of that. People call it G.O.C don’t they?” I asked.
“That is the acronym that is often used, yes.” She said.
“I am having a bit of a hard time wondering why such a beautiful lady would want to wear very thick and strong glasses on an absolutely gorgeous face. Can you try to explain that for me?” I asked.
“When I was 17 I had a crush on a boy who liked girls who wore glasses. I didn’t. He suggested a method by which I could wear glasses and before I knew it I was hooked. I started off with -8D glasses that were worn over +7D contacts, and within a short few months I was buying stronger and stronger combinations. Right now I am wearing +20D contacts with a pair of -27D glasses over them. I would likely go to an even stronger prescription for my glasses if I could find the higher powered contacts a little easier.” Ms. Davis told me.
“You have been doing this full time since you were 17, and you are 32 now?” I questioned.
‘I have, and I want to go on doing it. But lately I have been having problems wearing the contact lenses for as long a period of time as I would like to.” Ms. Davis stated.
The buzzer on my desk rang. “I have another patient right now. Are you on the cruise ship that docked this morning?” I asked.
“No, you were highly recommended to me so I flew in last night to see if I could consult with you.”
“Can you come back around 4 PM today? I will have an answer for you then.” I told her.
I spent the rest of my day thinking about Pamela Davis. She had spent the money for breast implants and while her breasts were very attractive now I couldn’t help but wonder if her breasts really had needed that drastic a change. She had fixed her nose, but I found it hard to believe that her nose had looked that out of place on her face. And those pearly whites had cost her a pretty penny. She was used to spending money to change things to get exactly what she wanted. Even though her request was within my realm of expertise I wasn’t sure I could fulfill it for her. But finally I came to the conclusion that if I didn’t do it she would just go shopping around until she found someone who would. I didn’t want to force her into the hands of a butcher.
Pamela Davis was back in my reception room slightly before 4 PM. I always try to book my last patient for a 3:30 appointment and I had just finished escorting her to the reception room as Ms. Davis walked through the door. I looked at her, a vision of female perfection, and I couldn’t help but think that there was something slightly out of whack upstairs for this gorgeous lady to want to wear the extremely thick and strong looking glasses that she had on her face.
“Ms. Davis, please come back to my office.” I said.
“I won’t waste your time Doctor. Just tell me now what you decided.” Ms. Davis said.
“I will do what you wish Ms. Davis.” I answered.
“Thank you Doctor. I was worried that you would refuse me. And please, call me Pam.” Pam told me.
It took about an hour for me to take the necessary measurements. I had to believe her when she told me that her natural vision was 20/20, because when she took her contacts out my equipment did show that she had a small amount of actual myopia. But this often occurs because of the contact lenses changing the shape of the cornea slightly. I suggested that she should come back for more precise measurements after she had gone without contacts for at least 24 hours, but she advised me that the actual outcome was not critical. She could end up slightly less myopic, or slightly more as a result of the implants and it would not matter to her as long as she could wear strong glasses that would correct the resulting myopia.
Pam Davis wanted to end up with a prescription that was in the -30D range. She wanted both eyes to be very close to the same prescription, and she wanted to be able to wear contact lenses should she so desire. Most people, including Pam, have an inner lens that is about +20D and using this as a base I calculated the correct power for a contact lens to make her a -30D myope. The lens I had to order was going to be close to +50D and there were very few companies that made a CLR (clear lens replacement) in this power that is also a multifocal lens. I advised Pam of the all-inclusive cost to have this done and she didn’t blink an eye. She merely asked me if I would take a check and when I told her yes, she wrote me one for the full amount.
After the operation was finished Pam had to recuperate for a few days before we could get an exact reading on her prescription. Her existing glasses were -27D in power, but after checking for her new prescription I discovered that she now needed -31D. I needed to increase the power by another diopter if she didn’t want to wear her glasses quite close to her eyes. She chose to bring her glasses down her nose very slightly, so I ordered Pam her new glasses with a -32D prescription. She wanted them done as a biconcave myodisc out of regular plastic and although I had charged her for a 1.9 hi index glass I wasn’t going to refund the difference.
Even paying extra for express service didn’t get the glasses here in any less than a week. When I saw them, and how thick those chunks of plastic were, I was convinced that she would hate them, but she looked at them carefully with her old -27D glasses on, and then slipped them onto her face without saying a word. She looked in a mirror and seemed extremely satisfied with how she now looked.
It had taken 2 weeks between the time Pam had her eyes operated on and the day she got her new glasses. Her check had cleared immediately and when she picked up her glasses she asked me if there were any further charges. I told her that she was all paid up and she thanked me with a big hug. When Pam Davis walked out the door that day she didn’t look back.
I have never heard from her again. Sometimes when I lie in bed, unable to sleep in the hour or so before dawn, my mind brings her to life again and I wonder how she is doing and if she is still as happy with her decision as she was the day she left my clinic.
Specs4ever May 2015