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September 2004
The Heart of Delray Beach
"Eyewitness News" Takes On a Whole New Meaning for Television News Anchor Dwight Lauderdale
With tens of thousands eyes upon him every day as he delivers the news on Channel 10 (ABC), News Anchor Dwight Lauderdale depends upon the performance of his own eyes. So, when his eyes failed him, while live on the air, Lauderdale knew the time had come to undergo LASIK corrective eye surgery. And with that decision came another; that he would share this experience with his viewers - also while on the air.
"Because I was farsighted, reading the teleprompter which was several feet away from me was never a problem," he explained. "But, I needed my glasses to read my script. And then, it happened - my biggest fear became a reality when the teleprompter failed. There I was in front of thousands of viewers, unable to read either the teleprompter or my script because I didn't have my glasses at the news desk. Fortunately, I knew enough about the story to get through an uncomfortable several minutes! I knew then, that I had to do something."
Lauderdale, who began wearing reading glasses for the first time seven years ago at age 46, had considered LASIK surgery in the past, yet, remained unconvinced the surgery could help him without compromising his distance vision.
That is, until he watched a story aired by the station's health reporter featuring Cory Lessner, M.D. using the Allegreto laser, the latest in LASIK technology.
Dr. Lessner is the Medical Director of Millennium Laser Eye Centers (www.mleye.com) in Sunrise. He is one of a select few board-certified ophthalmologists in the country whose practice is limited to laser vision correction. In addition to offering custom-guided LASIK, Dr. Lessner is the only doctor in Florida who currently offers the Allegreto laser, which gained Federal Drug Administration approval in October of 2003.
Until now, for a patient such as Lauderdale, who is farsighted, or for someone who has a more severe nearsighted prescription, the only option has been standard treatments. Custom treatments have only been available to those with lower amounts of nearsightedness and astigmatism. The Allegreto laser is a superior treatment without the need to customize.
Dr. Lessner, who is the team LASIK surgeon for the Miami Dolphins, Florida Marlins, and the Florida Panthers, explains that treating Lauderdale essentially involves "cheating mother nature," in which one eye is treated for distance and one for reading.
These strategies are called monovision and modified monovision. Although Lauderdale says he had unsuccessfully tried monovision in the past (wearing a single contact lens), after meeting with Dr. Lessner and extensively testing out several prescriptions, Lauderdale says he became "completely convinced" the surgery would be successful.
"I wish I had a dollar for every time I met with a prospective patient over the age of 40 who came in with a negative pre-conceived notion only to find out that this monovision worked wonderfully for them. You won't know if it works for you unless you try it," says Dr. Lessner.
Lauderdale opted to share his experience with his viewers to show them how easy the procedure is. "I also wanted them to know that this procedure can help people like me, who want to be free from reading glasses."
On and off the table in less than ten minutes with absolutely no pain, Lauderdale says he couldn't be happier with the results. Like many of Dr. Lessner's patients, "I wish I had done it sooner," Lauderdale said.
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Contact: Dave Bloom of Bloom Public Relations, Cell (561) 866-3392, or dave@ournewsroom.com.
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