Eye Care – Ophthalmologist
After years of my husband having ever-stronger prescriptions for eyeglasses, the time came for cataract surgery. We priced the surgery inside and outside the United States. In the U.S., the cost estimate was $4,000 to $5,000 per eye.
We got a referral to well-recommended English-speaking ophthalmologist in Nogales, Sonora, Dr. Stephany Quintero.
We came up with a way of getting to know the doctor easily. Since we each have different eye health issues, we made a shared initial appointment for eye examinations. This way, we could get a sense of the doctor’s manner and approach before Bob made a decision about surgery.
The office was in a clinic just a couple of doors down from a favorite seafood restaurant of ours, Mariscos Chihuahua. We parked at the restaurant, not knowing the doctor had patient parking in a sheltered parking lot a few doors down. At least we knew where to get great garlic shrimp after the eye doctor visit. A boy about eight or nine years old directed us where to park. We asked the family that runs the restaurant, presumably the parents of our young parking director, if we could leave our truck while we visited the eye clinic, and then we would return for lunch. They were more than fine with the idea. We were off.
I have a dry eye condition. When I go to an eye doctor for a first visit, I don’t spew out a lot of details. I let the doctor tell me what the doctor sees. After Dr. Stephany took one magnified look in my eyes, she asked me a slew of questions, the same ones U.S. ophthalmologists ask me as a dry eye patient. I was convinced she knew her stuff.
Then she did something different. She gave me suggestions for daily eyelid care. She told me why it would help and what I could expect to accomplish. She sat down and showed me what to do and how to do it. She had me practice while she coached me. She quizzed me about allergies to preservatives in lubricating eye drops. She told me about a product I could use, one that’s only available in Mexico, Lagricel. The over-the-counter eye drops are preservative free and contain oils similar to those Sjogren’s Syndrome patients don’t produce. I was bowled over to learn something positive and new.
My husband chose Dr. Stephany to perform the facoemulsification, the type of cataract surgery the doctor recommended for him. We sensed that before, during and after the surgery, we would be making a lot of trips back and forth across the border. In Southern Arizona, we know a number of people who work on one side of the international border and live on the other. Most of them have SENTRI passes. We applied for and within a very short time received SENTRI passes, which soon turned out to be a godsend. For more information on this fast lane pass to return to the U.S. from Mexico, check out our
SENTRI section.
Prior to surgery, Bob visited the adjacent laboratory for a complete blood workup (CBC) and a check of his blood pressure. The doctor reviewed the results with him. She said he was approved for the surgery, and she recommended that he continue to have his cholesterol checked with regular exams.
The doctor’s surgical suite in the clinic was everything we would have wanted and expected. We scheduled the cataract surgery.
The doctor was well-assisted during the operation by her brother who is also a surgeon. Her full surgical suite staff was on hand. The intraocular lens (IOL) this ophthalmology surgeon uses is one commonly used in similar surgeries in the United States. After the surgery, Dr. Stephany gave us her cellular phone number to call day or night in case of any concerns during his recovery at home.
I navigated the streets of Nogales with the awake, alert, bandaged patient in the passenger seat. I was thrilled to see the SENTRI lane sign so I could merge into the dedicated lane, take the speed bumps extremely slowly and be on our way into the U.S. again.
The doctor phoned us several times that afternoon and evening to check on Bob. I was happy to hear from her, and to tell her he had almost no post-surgical pain.
When we returned the following morning to have his bandage removed, our young friend, the boy from the restaurant, was out on the sidewalk. He looked frightened to see such a big bandage over my husband’s eye. He asked us what had happened. We assured him it was an operation to help Bob see better, and that before lunch time, the bandage would be all gone. When the doctor tested Bob’s eye, the results were all we had hoped for. He could see very well. He was so happy with the outcome, he was already talking with the doctor about when he could have the surgery on his other affected eye.
Overall, the cost for the two surgeries fell well within our 30 percent of U.S. costs range. Importantly also, the whole procedure was as comfortable and stress-free as it could possibly be. We were super-satisfied with the attention and care. And best of all, Bob’s vision in both eyes is excellent.
By the way, that morning when Bob had his bandage removed, we stopped by the seafood restaurant afterward. Our young friend beamed us a big smile when he saw Bob return wearing ordinary dark glasses. Somehow, this child we see so often just needed to know that Bob was okay.