MATT MILLER: It’s changed my life in quite a few ways. As I said before, I’m a contractor so seeing things far away has improved dramatically. I just don’t need glasses any longer. I don’t wear my glasses. I don’t wear my contacts. It’s given me my life back if you will. It’s terrific.
ALAN FAULKNER: Not only is the IntraLase a more precise way to make a flap, it’s a safer way to make a flap. It also allows us to do patients who weren’t previously candidates for the LASIK surgery because their corneas were too thin.
CYNTHIA HENKE: I had actually gone to a few other places before I found out about Dr. Faulkner and when I came into meet with his staff here, I actually got to meet with Dr. Faulkner himself which is something that is not common at other places where they correct your vision through the laser. Also most places do the, I think it’s the microkeratome where they make the incision in your eye and they actually use a laser here to do that and they have the Allegretto which I believe is the fastest laser and that was also part of my reason for coming to Aloha Laser Vision.
DR. ALAN FAULKNER: One of the reasons we like the Allegretto is its incredibly fast speed. It’s the fastest laser in the U.S. It’s much more predictable, patients are much more comfortable and there are less complications with the procedure.
NIKKO BARAQUIO: The surgery was actually very quick. My husband accompanied me and he was able to observe and it really didn’t hurt at all. The best part was taking a four hour nap afterwards and then being able to see when I woke up. Oh my gosh, it’s just freedom. That is the best feeling to be able to see close. I can read, I can use the computer and I can drive and see clearly. It’s wonderful.
FEMALE VOICE: I wake up in the middle of the night which I do all the time, I can actually see my clock. I don’t have to worry about, you know, the contact solution or being out at the beach. I get sand in my eyes all the time, the lens tears, I go in the ocean, I can’t do much, open my eyes or anything because of the contact lenses. So for me I don’t have to have that hassle of worrying about it. Or I went on a trip the last time without my contact lenses which was a complete bother being on vacation with just your glasses. So in regards to my personal life, I’m out and about more often. I do a lot more things at night now so, you know, playing my tennis matches at night or the soccer matches is not an issue at all, especially that it’s getting a lot darker earlier. It’s a big thing for me. I’m actually two blocks from the beach so my weekends are spent at the beach and now I’m able to not have to worry about keeping my eyes closed or worried about my contacts falling out so I can really just go in without having to worry about it.
MALE VOICE: LASIK. Most of us have heard of this unique vision correction surgery that has given millions of people freedom from glasses and contacts. But what you might not have heard of is the revolutionary technology from IntraLase, a new tool that now enables our surgeon to provide you with even better vision, vision that is far more predictable with technology that is uniquely safe and precise. And since we are dedicated to providing you with the best vision possible, our office is now equipped with IntraLase. Better technology, better results, better vision. Since the introduction of LASIK, the procedure has always involved two steps but until today has never been an all laser procedure. Traditionally a handheld mechanical device, essentially a surgical blade, was first used to create a think flap of tissue on the front of the cornea. In the second step, this flap was then folded back allowing surgeons to reshape the inner layer of the cornea using a laser beam. The flap was then returned to its original position. Complications of the procedure are rare but most of the complications that have occurred have been directly related to how precisely and how uniformly the initial flap was created. Well exactly how does the IntraLase technology help us provide you with this uniquely safe, uniquely precise approach to predictably better vision? The difference today is that we use IntraLase’s advanced laser technology in the first step of the procedure rather than the traditional mechanical, hand held bladed device. The IntraLase technology provides a less invasive approach that uses a computer controlled laser rather than the handheld bladed device. This enables our surgeon to safely create a corneal flap of exact shape and thickness. The benefit to you, better vision and a new sense of assurance that comes from this unprecedented level of safety and precision. So if you’ve been considering laser vision correction surgery, your timing couldn’t be better. Better technology. Better results. Better vision. With IntraLase, we’re making every procedure better.
BERNADETTE BARAQUIO: You know some people are told that they’re not candidates for laser eye surgery and they continue to live with poor eyesight but now there’s a new technology that can bring new hope. It’s true many have been told they don’t qualify for LASIK surgery while hundreds of thousands of Americans are dependent on glasses or contact lenses. If this sounds familiar, you might want to consider some alternative type of refractive surgery.
DENISE SUGIHARA: Unless you have bad vision, one doesn’t understand how important your vision is. But it’s like a miracle when you open your eyes and you can see without contacts or glasses, you’re like “Wow, yes”. It’s all I can say.
BERNADETTE GALIOS: I’ve been a contact wearer and a glasses wearer for like twenty five years now and now that the children are out of the house it’s like “Oh, you know what? Maybe it’s our time to do a little bit of improvement here and there”.
BERNADETTE BARAQUIO: Dr. Alan Faulkner is one of the leading laser eye surgeons in Hawaii and the only certified physician in the state to perform the Visian ICL.
DR. ALAN FAULKNER: Visian is an implantable lens. It kind of looks like a contact lens but it’s made to put inside the eye and it’s implanted behind the iris, the colored part of the eye, and it rests on the natural lens of the eye. So it doesn’t replace anything, it just basically adds a lens inside the eye.
BERNADETTE BARAQUIO: And because the lens is made of a substance naturally found in your body, the eye doesn’t recognize it as a foreign object so side effects are significantly reduced. With more than 60,000 successful implants made worldwide and a recent FDA approval, the Visian ICL procedure is fast becoming a viable alternative to LASIK.
DR. ALAN FAULKNER: For many patients, the Visian’s actually a better and a safer alternative because of some of the potential complications of LASIK itself.
DENISE SUGIHARA: I got Visian implants because I wasn’t a candidate for LASIK.
DR. ALAN FAULKNER: A lot of the patients for Visian would absolutely be unsafe patients for LASIK because their corneas would end up too thin for what we know the eye can tolerate.
BERNADETTE GALIOS: I didn’t know there was anything beyond, you know, LASIK. I didn’t know there was that, you hear about implantable lens but you heard they were only offered to like cataract patients but I wasn’t sure if they were extended to other patients with other levels of eye weakness.
BERNADETTE BARAQUIO: Now with modern technology, good vision can be a reality for many patients who have lost hope, even those with myopia or severe near sightedness.
DENISE SUGIHARA: I was legally blind. To see something, it literally had to be touching my nose for me to see it. That’s how bad my vision was.
DR. ALAN FAULKNER: She went on after a very short recovery period to actually see 20/10 which means that she can see at twenty feet what a normal person sees at ten feet. So it’s double normal vision.
DENISE SUGIHARA: I can wake up and see the clock. I can wake up and see everything. I can go swimming and open my eyes under the water. I can see and do everything and anything.
BERNADETTE BARAQUIO: For those who wish to keep their options open for the future, the Visian ICL is a completely reversible process and the affects are immediate, literally moments after surgery.
BERNADETTE GALIOS: You know walking out of there that afternoon I was like “Wow”. I mean I was just in awe because when you haven’t been able to see at a distance for a while and you can finally see, it’s like “Wow, was I missing everything? I mean did I not see that?” I should sit there and go, “Wow”.
BERNADETTE BARAQUIO: For Dr. Faulkner and his staff, giving people the gift of eyesight is simply their way of giving back to the people of our Hawaii.
DR. ALAN FAULKNER: I guess the thing that motivates me the most is being able to come in here and see how lives are changed and how happy people are, seeing the smile on people’s faces when they come in the day after surgery and can see.
BERNADETTE BARAQUIO: So if you suffer from poor eyesight and really want to enjoy a better quality of life, check out Aloha Laser Vision and see what options are best for you.
BERNADETTE GALIOS: It’s a lifetime change. There will never be a, you’ll never regret it.
NIKKO BARAQUIO: I love being able to see. It’s like a new world for me.
SANDY NG: My eyes are perfect now. They’re not dry. I don’t need to constantly be putting in eye drops.
MATT MILLER: I just don’t need glasses any longer.
CYNTHIA HENKE: You can actually look up on the wall and see the clock and see what time it is.
DR. ALAN FAULKNER: My favorite day is the day after surgery because people come in and they are so happy.
GLORIA BARAQUIO: I can say goodbye to my contacts and say Aloha to Laser Vision. I’ve always been nervous about laser eye surgery but when my squinting sister, Rose, decided to give it a try we knew that the only place to go was to Aloha Laser Vision.
ROSE BARAQUIO: Recently I realized that I was squinting every night to watch the television, squinting at people waving at me down the hallways, squinting at everything and not really wearing my glasses as often as I should.
(Background) Dr. Faulkner: “Take ‘em off. Can you make that out? C an you make that one out?”
GLORIA BARAQUIO: And so did I. But things were even worse without my glasses.
(Background) “I’m guessing it’s an ‘E’ but it looks pretty blurry.”
Luckily we were in good hands with Dr. Alan Faulkner who walked us through the entire procedure.
(Background) Dr. Faulkner: “Here comes the laser, and it makes this in a circular pattern.”
(Background)Gloria: “That’s just right on my cornea?”
(Background) Dr. Faulkner: “That’s right on your cornea, and you won’t feel this at all.”
(Background)Gloria: “And how long does that take?”
(Background) Dr. Faulkner: “In your case it’s going to take about 8 to 10 seconds to reshape your eye”
(Background)Gloria: “Seconds? Wow”
GLORIA BARAQUIO: A Punahau grad and a son of a world renowned eye surgeon, Dr. Faulkner is considered to be one of the best eye care specialists in the state and he’s always on the cutting edge of technology, investing millions of dollars into his equipment.
DR. ALAN FAULKNER: In LASIK, we’re the only ones in Hawaii who use the IntraLase, which is a laser to cut the flap before the next laser reshapes the eye. Both of the lasers we use there are unique in Hawaii. I think that tells our patients that we have a commitment to get the best results for them and to get them the best vision.
GLORIA BARAQUIO: Rose and I could really sense that commitment from the entire staff. They made everything so easy and comfortable for us. The operating room was just as relaxed where they gave us a blanket and a teddy bear to hold.
ROSE BARAQUIO: It’s so funny because like they kept calling it surgery, surgery, surgery but when I did the actual surgery, it was like nothing to me. It was just a couple of lights in my eyes and a little bit of eye drops, some valium and then I woke up four hours later and I could see just like a, what do you call it, a rabbit.
GLORIA BARAQUIO: Rose, I know you know how completely freaked out I was to have someone work on my eyes but I think we both can attest to how easy and painless it was.
ROSE BARAQUIO: If that’s the only thing that’s holding you back from getting LASIK surgery is that you’re afraid, well get over it. Gloria and I did and we’re so happy because now the only glasses we’ll need are sunglasses.
BERNADETTE BARAQUIO: But Aloha Laser Vision is more than just laser surgery.
DR. ALAN FAULKNER: We offer all kinds of eye care, everything from cataract surgery to general eye exams.
BERNADETTE BARAQUIO: And most importantly they do it with Aloha.
DR. ALAN FAULKNER: The embodiment of Aloha is treating people extremely nicely and welcoming them into your office as if you’re welcoming them into your home.
BERNADETTER BARAQUIO: So if you’re looking for a path to better eyesight or for some tender loving eye care, make sure you visit Dr. Alan Faulkner and his ohana at Aloha Laser Vision, the people of vision.
MALE VOICE: LASIK. Most of us have heard of this unique vision correction surgery that has given millions of people freedom from glasses and contacts. But what you might not have heard of is the revolutionary technology from IntraLase, a new tool that now enables our surgeon to provide you with even better vision, vision that is far more predictable with technology that is uniquely safe and precise. And since we are dedicated to providing you with the best vision possible, our office is now equipped with IntraLase. Better technology, better results, better vision.
Since the introduction of LASIK, the procedure has always involved two steps but until today has never been an all laser procedure. Traditionally a handheld mechanical device, essentially a surgical blade, was first used to create a think flap of tissue on the front of the cornea. In the second step, this flap was then folded back allowing surgeons to reshape the inner layer of the cornea using a laser beam. The flap was then returned to its original position. Complications of the procedure are rare but most of the complications that have occurred have been directly related to how precisely and how uniformly the initial flap was created.
Well exactly how does the IntraLase technology help us provide you with this uniquely safe, uniquely precise approach to predictably better vision? The difference today is that we use IntraLase’s advanced laser technology in the first step of the procedure rather than the traditional mechanical, hand held bladed device. The IntraLase technology provides a less invasive approach that uses a computer controlled laser rather than the handheld bladed device. This enables our surgeon to safely create a corneal flap of exact shape and thickness. The benefit to you, better vision and a new sense of assurance that comes from this unprecedented level of safety and precision. So if you’ve been considering laser vision correction surgery, your timing couldn’t be better. Better technology. Better results. Better vision. With IntraLase, we’re making every procedure better.
DR. ALAN FAULKNER: I ask patients all the time exactly what they think about their night vision and the majority of patients now tell me that their night vision is as good as their day vision and often times say that their night vision is far better than it was in their contact lenses or their glasses.
SANDY NG: My eyes were always dry because I’d have my contacts in from the time I wake up till I went out at night. So late at night my eyes would be really dry and driving home would be a problem and I was always worried about that. My vision’s been perfect. I can see. When I’m driving at night I can see far away. I don’t have those halos in my eyes.