The anguished and dubious task of finding a doctor who could help me with my condition ended when I found Dr Benjamin Azman.
I was diagnosed in 2013 with advanced case of keratoconus. I was a freshman pharmacy student. I had always worn strong prescription of glasses but I knew something was different. Changing my glasses didn’t work anymore. I was exhausted after reading for half an hour and driving at night quickly became a challenge. I was having hard time judging how far the oncoming cars were. The increasing light sensitivity and headache became unbearable.. desperate for a solution or a new pair of glasses, I booked an appointment with Dr Macedo of Washington Eye Physicians and Surgeons for an evaluation for potential Lasik surgery. She diagnosed me with advanced keratoconus in less than 30 minutes of consultation and referred me. I was greatly surprised that no one had come to this diagnosis before. I reach out to many eye specialists but they wouldn’t deal with my insurance and couldn’t afford the fees. I was a student with a state insurance. I had many stories of inconvenience. I began to educate myself about KC, how to cope with it and who could help me. I was referred by my insurance to a local optometrist. She switched me to the rigid gas permeable lenses. While I could see fairly well with RGP, they were pure misery. Extremely painful, forcing me to take them in and out. They irritated my eyes badly I became so light sensitive. I remember spending time in a dark room with sunglasses on. She eventually switched to scleral lenses, which provided me with some relieve after weeks, months of fitting, trial and error. Couple of weeks after my fitting was completed, I began having good days and bad days.
As I continued to research, I came across Dr Azman practice. At first I was hesitant. I didn’t know who to trust with vision, I was tired of experimental procedure or hearing that my only option was corneal transplant. It took me a year to make up my mind. On my appointment day, I walked in with a swollen right eye for which I was on moxifloxacin eye drop for over a month with no improvement. I was beyond impressed by the service I received. The receptionist, Barbara was always very patient with me and accommodating. Dr Azman discussed with me his plan in detail and answered all my questions. He didn’t believe I had an infection. He explained that the inflammation and irritation was a response to stress from my unfitted contact lenses. He took me off the antibiotic and the fitting process began with scleral lenses. I was amazed to see how well equipped Dr Azman was. There were so may options of shape and form of lenses not to mention that the exam room was equipped with high tech computer for mapping or measuring your cornea. The first moment moment I try my new lenses on I knew it was the answer I had been searching for. They were super comfortable and I had a decent vision. The inflammation in my eye resolved within 2 weeks. It was a life changing. I can wear them for over 20 hours during long trip abroad without felling any discomfort. I have minimal light sensitivity and glare at night that I can easily correct with sunglasses.
I can’t conclude without acknowledging the genuine care of the technicians at Dr Azman office. Joanna and Stephanie were so helpful and very friendly. Joanna took the time to practice with me how to insert and remove my contact with ease and that have made a huge difference in my life. The fear and pain from scratching corneal are gone! I have nothing but high esteem for Dr Benjamin Azman and his team. I am blessed to have a manageable case of KC and access to good medical care.
M. Gakku, Maryland