Our Patients Say it Best…

I had some health issues and was treated with oxygen in a hyperbaric chamber which caused my eyes’ lenses to change. The changes crept up on me. I didn’t notice until my wife commented on my driving, which is something she has always done to some extent but she was more vocal than usual. I installed a panic button on the dashboard for her in lieu of screaming. She decided she would prefer to sleep through it but I saw her lips moving, I believe she was praying.

Seriously, though, you don’t know how bad the cataracts have gotten until you get the first eye done. It’s so amazing how the brain just adjusts for the handicap and pretty soon you’re nearly legally blind and you don’t know it!

My vision switched from far to near, but I found I could read. Really odd. The clinic with the hyperbaric chamber made no mention of the potential side effect to my vision but Dr. Winthrop knew about it. He said, ‘yeah, you’ve got 20/100 eyesight because of...’ well, he went on to explain it but the part I remember is when he said ‘we can fix it.’

He makes his suggestions about what kind of lens would work and says, ‘pick what is right for you, these are your choices.’ He councilled me but he urged me to read about it and make my own decision.

My uncle was an ophthalmalogist in Santa Barbara, one of the founding doctors of Samsum – he’s retired and in his 90s now – and he recommended Dr. Winthrop for cataracts.

I really like Dr. Winthrop. I’m grateful. He’s good people. His staff, his assistants are very punctual and respect your time. The little things add up to a really good experience.

It’s really great. Now I’m back to where I was, using readers but my far distance has improved dramatically and colors are more vibrant. My driving is now fine. I am going slow with the bathroom mirror, though, gotta sneak up on it. My mind has been making things up and the truth is out there!” ”

Dr. Winthrop recommended we do the 2 eyes separately, so after getting my left eye sorted out, it was amazing how the vision in my left eye overtook the poor eye. Driving was easy. So I thought, even if my right eye doesn't turn out well, I still can see really well now. But when my right eye was done, after about a week, I could see even better with my right eye! So my vision is better than 20/20.

I must confess, also, I was somewhat worried to do the surgery. You think if it doesn't work, if I lose my vision...But the whole team there is so well organized. They give you all the information you need to make a proper decision. ”

The procedure was so simple and quick. There was no pain associated with the surgery at all. Everyone in Dr. Winthrop's office was so nice and also at the surgical center. They were so reassuring.

It's made driving, playing golf, gardening...everything better. Before everything white was a cream color; now it's bright white and that happened right away. I had LASIK around 20 years ago but recently had begun wearing glasses again. After this cataract surgery, I don't need those anymore.

It's great. I have a huge rose garden and it's just beautiful right now. Pinks, reds, yellows – it's just beautiful.

Yesterday I was out on the golf course and every time I could find my ball – one huge plus for me!”

The first thing I noticed after my surgery was the color white! I never realized the color I was seeing all this time was never as white as it is now. Wow, my kitchen tile is so white, like ka-zow, it pops!

One bad thing I wish I had known…I found out I had more wrinkles. And of course dust and cobwebs. I know where all the spiders are now.

I play on a tennis team and now I can see the ball a lot sooner to prepare my next shot, so now I have no excuse! I can call lines a lot better and it feels like I have bionic eyes. No more bad calls for me!

When I ride my horse, I can really see the trails now (and can keep a better lookout for snakes). I can see the all the letters in a dressage arena for a change and I can untie knots and loosen buckles without switching to readers. So convenient! ”

My optometrist had recommended a cataract specialist down south with a big office but I felt uncomfortable there. It felt like a big sales pitch. Then we consulted with Dr. Winthrop. I turned to my wife and said, "this is the guy." I was educated by that point and knew that what he was saying was right on. He knew just what I needed.

It's great – I ditched the distance glasses! Everything is so vivid! I can read subtitles again on the foreign films we like to watch.

I'm kind of a nervous person, but Dr. Winthrop and his staff brought my blood pressure down! ”

Dr. Winthrop listened to me, made his recommendation, but never pushed to make a sale. After meeting him, I knew he was the surgeon for me; I was ready to schedule and get it done. Also his staff is efficient and answered all my questions. No regrets here.”

I used to have such great distance vision but that started changing a couple of years ago. Lately I've had glasses all over the house: different glasses for driving, TV, and reading. But none of them were working anymore...everything was blurry! Lights at night looked very strange and I couldn't make out the icons on my smart phone. Looking at someone across a table, their face would be blurry.

I went to the optometrist for new glasses but she said, Don't bother to get new glasses, you probably won't even need them once you have cataract surgery. That was a nice of her and she was right! ”

I didn't know how bad my cataracts had gotten because I was so busy. I was having trouble seeing but I thought it was eye strain from too much screen time. Driving at night was difficult – I would see halos. Then one day I couldn't see my grandson across the gym floor during his basketball game. Fluorescent lights in big-box stores also made my vision worse.

I had a physical exam and I couldn't even read the biggest letters on the eye chart! Now that I've had cataract surgery with corrective lenses, I can read every line and even the tiniest letters on the near-vision card.

Before cataract surgery, I was layering glasses to be able to see well enough to play tennis. This morning, I was out playing and it was great to see so well without any glasses at all!

And I didn't realize that I had lost colors! When I had the first eye done I could compare the vision difference between my two eyes and it was a surprise how brownish my vision with cataracts was. Now I can see that the sky is very, very blue!"”

Since I was 10 years old, I've worn heavy-duty prescription eyeglasses. Fast forward to 70 years old, my vision was like looking through a thick film of vaseline. As a handyman it was difficult to do certain work tasks, not to mention everyday driving. I was knocking over and spilling things – my wife was getting tired of cleaning up after me.

Dr. Winthrop did my cataracts with lenses, my eyes healed quickly and at my post-op check it felt like a miracle that I could read the entire bottom of the eye chart. My vision is close to 20/20. The whole staff and surgery team are cheerful, compassionate and you can tell they respect and enjoy working with Dr. Winthrop. I find him to be an exacting, highly professional, detail-oriented, caring eye surgeon dedicated to his patients. ”

A couple of things that were very attractive to me: no longer needing glasses to drive and the stent for glaucoma pressure relief that Dr. Winthrop put in during my cataract surgery. The stent is so small, I don't feel a thing.

I was impressed with Dr Winthrop's knowledge, experience and thoroughness. I would highly recommend him to others considering eye surgery. I'm pleased to report that using both my eyes I'm 20/20 now.”

My closeup reading went pretty early, in my 30s. I think I strained my eyes doing jewelry work. Around 2004, my distance vision went too and I started wearing glasses. About 5 years later my night vision became a problem and dimly lit rooms were difficult for me. 4 or 5 years ago an eye doctor told me that I was getting cataracts.

I went to Dr. Winthrop to talk about it. I decided to go with the top-of-the-line lenses that were multi-focal. I really wanted to not ever need glasses. I've been used to wearing progressive lens glasses so I thought similar IOLs would work for me. I have a friend who did monovision, but I don't think I would like that. I like seeing all distances really well. It's a good idea to talk to Dr. Winthrop about your vision needs because he can really counsel you on what kind of a lens you would be happiest with.

When my first eye was done, I was shocked! I was not expecting the clarity of color and brightness! I covered my good eye to see the difference...there was yellow-grey tinge to everything because of the cataract. The surgery was so simple: you don't need to wear a patch, you just use an eye drop for awhile before and after. Dr. Winthrop has got the latest tools so it's state of the art.

Living with this new multi-focal lens is interesting. It's not really the same as a progressive lens in glasses because I don't have to hold my head a certain way to see close – I just look at something and I can see it, close or far. If there is a bright light in the dark I will see a light ring around it; I think this is the slight edge of the different focal lengths in the lens. But it's not a big deal to me. I can see the stars perfectly. To me it is absolutely worth paying for the upgrade to the multi-focal lens. This is your body! It's so important, the ability to see.

I was an interior designer for almost 40 years but now I do a lot of writing and I was concerned I'd need some kind of readers but no, I don't need readers. I can read even tiny type on my phone. I now have a new super power. That's how it feels! ”

It really changes your visual world. You can tell that Dr. Winthrop really enjoys helping people and the results he gets for those people.

I had cataracts that advanced very quickly until it was like looking through bubble wrap. We recently moved to Alisal Ranch from Dana Point and asked around about the best eye doctor. Friends recommended Dr. Winthrop. While my wife was getting her vaccination we asked the doctor on site what he thought of Dr. Winthrop? It so happened that Dr. Winthrop had done procedures on a number of his family members, giving him the highest endorsement.

The surgery was a pleasant experience and with Dr. Winthrop’s knowledge I knew I was in great hands. After they were both done, 20/15 vision was the result.”

My reading vision had progressively worsened and I became increasingly frustrated.  I needed prescription glasses for driving and then intermittently I needed to use regular magnifying readers. Then I needed the reading magnifiers for almost all reading and computer usage.  I carried a credit card size magnifier in my wallet to be able to read product labels at the grocery store.  In recent months, I couldn't see the symbols on the TV remote without using magnifier glasses.

In the evening of the day of the procedure for my left eye, I was using my computer! No eyepatch, no need to rest the eye!  One week later, I received the same procedure for my right eye, and used my computer that evening.  I immediately acquired vastly improved reading vision following the second surgery.  After an adjustment period of a few weeks, I acquired even better reading clarity.  At my post-op appointment, I was told that a good result was reading print size 4 on the hand-held text eye chart.  I easily read print size 2.  At a follow-up appointment several weeks later, I read the very tiny print size 1.  I am delighted to re-acquire, after several decades, the ability to read small print unaided.

My vision is now excellent at every distance.  The ease of reading anything and discerning tiny symbols on electronic devices without needing magnifiers is very, very pleasing. I am thrilled to possess clear unaided reading vision. ”

I was in shock when I went to my regular eye doctor right after surgery to find out I have 20/20 vision. Absolutely amazing. 

The most interesting improvement was the introduction of color. Color is richer!”

My vision is back the way it was when I was in high school. I started losing some of my vision in my second year of college. This has now improved my life a great deal by having 20/20 vision in both eyes.

Playing tennis, I can see the ball much better and I can see the lines much better. The lines used to look curvy. I thought at one point my TV was going bad because it looked curved. It turns out it was curved because of my vision. So this has been a great improvement for me.

Cataract surgery has greatly improved my vision for flying. I no longer get blinded by the glare so much and I can see the instrument panel much better. It makes it much more enjoyable and I can spend more time looking out the windows at the scenery...and also for aircraft.

There was minimal pain, discomfort and anxiety, which by day three after each operation I could see with a distinct level of improvement, color and definition, a definite improvement over my prior sight with glasses. For senior citizens this is nothing short of a miracle and treasured.

As a professional, now retired, I designed, developed and manufactured medical instrumentation for Beckman Instruments, Bennett Respiration Products Inc. and Baird Corp. The speed at which the scientific world has advanced, supported the art of medicine and the advancement of medical knowledge is clearly framed by procedures like Lasik, especially the doctors, staff and instrumentation. My gratitude and appreciation is based on a lifetime of thoughtful experience. This is a very great country we live in.

It was the superb prior experience with Dr. Winthrop of a family member that made the final decisions surrounding the surgery selection easy. This is the value of an excellent reputation. I will pass on the benefits of recommendations deserved by these similar experience attributes, if the occasion should ever arise. Thank you.