After losing most of my vision (except shapes and colors) due to lasik, my prospects for vision were minimal. There were many years of procedures and waiting to see if there was anything that could be done to help me see. And many years of slow recovery to gain vision back. Those years were long and arduous. Dr. Gong came highly recommended by the surgeon that runs the AZ Eye Bank, who performed my cornea transplants. As he told me, “If anyone can get you to be able to see during this time and after you’re fully recovered, it’s Dr. Gong”. And he was right.
During these years, Dr. Gong was a ray of hope. On each visit (and I had to visit her multiple times a year), she would have to spend much longer with me than any other patient. This is because I would provide different answers to the same vision tests just minutes apart due to the constant fluctuation in my vision as well as how poor the vision actually was. But she would patiently give me the same test countless times until she figured out which answer was ultimately better for me. Eventually, after each visit, she would be able to provide some sort of glasses or contacts that enabled me to function in life. There were times when I couldn’t read a book or a computer screen, and almost lost my career. There were times when I couldn’t tell the difference between peanut butter and jelly at the grocery store, and could not drive. There were times when I had no hope. But every time I saw Dr. Gong, she spent the time with me to give me hope; to give me life. I have cried with joy in her office many times at the miracles she’s performed, when nobody else would give me hope. I live in Chicago now, and still fly back to AZ to have my prescriptions done by Dr. Gong, because even here at Northwestern, they can’t get me close to the vision she provides me.
Today, almost ten years after going through these trials, I have almost normal vision again, with the aid of the glasses and contacts from Dr. Gong. I am grateful to call Dr. Gong my optometrist. But I’m even more grateful to call her my friend.
-Kim Sprott