Seeing perfect once againFor over 20 years, Michelle Battleslived with blurry vision that wascaused by a childhood injury

For 20 years, Michelle Battles had trouble seeing out of her lefteye. That all changed when she met Dr. Stanley Braverman.

The Braverman Eye Center is located at: 1935 East HallandaleBeach Boulevard, Hallandale Beach, FL 33009. www.bravermaneyecenter.com.

Traditional Cataract Surgery is the removal of your cloudy natural cameralens, which is usually dissolved using high frequency ultrasound through asmall (less than 3 millimeter) opening. If your eye qualifies, the second option,Laser Assisted Cataract Surgery can now be done using state of the art Fem-tosecond Laser technology to assist with parts of the cataract surgical proce-dure, including softening up the cloudy camera lens. This reduces the amountof high frequency ultrasound needed. Laser assisted cataract surgery takes adelicate procedure and refines it even more, so that the surgical precision isunparalleled. The computer-guided accuracy of the laser complements yourdoctor’s skills with today’s latest tech neology. An artificial man made lens isthen placed inside the eye where the cloudy lens used to be.

There are several types of high quality premium vision lenses that can beused, giving you potentially better results than with a standard basic lens. Afterthe surgery, eye drops are given to the patient to aid in the healing of the eye,which takes a few months, but the patient is able to return to normal activityalmost immediately after surgery and usually sees well within just days. If theeye is otherwise healthy, cataract surgery is successful in more than 98% ofpatients and they enjoy improved vision after the procedure. Cataract surgerycontinues to improve. Recent developments include no-stitch surgery, topicalanesthesia, surgical correction of astigmatism, new upgraded premium lensdesigns, Laser Assisted Cataract Surgery, and Dr. Braverman's newly trade-marked LACE™ procedure. The LACE™ procedure, if you are deemed a candi-date, can nearly always guarantee that the patient will need no glasses fordistance vision, and no glasses for distance or near vision if a multifocal lensimplant is used. At the Braverman Eye Center, we are proud to offer the ad-vanced VICTUS™ femtosecond laser system, for unsurpassed FemtosecondLaser Assisted cataract surgery performance!

ABOUT DR. STANLEY BRAVERMANDr. Stanley Braverman is a Voluntary Assistant Clinical Professor at the Uni-

versity of Miami School of Medicine and the Anne Bates Leach EyeHospital/Bascom Palmer Eye Institute. He is also an Adjunct Associate ClinicalProfessor at the Nova Southeastern School of Optometry. In addition to treat-ing patients, Dr. Braverman, a board certified ophthalmologist, has been amedical researcher, and is the inventor of several eye surgical instruments, andauthor of many articles for medical journals. Dr. Braverman's newly trade-marked LACE™ procedure (Laser Assisted Cataract Extraction) provides thebest possible cataract surgical results. He has lectured at professional meet-ings about upgraded lens implants, advanced cataract surgery and LASIK,both nationally and internationally. He has recently been recognized byNewsweek Magazine as one of the Fifteen Leaders in Laser Eye Surgery in2011, and recently co-authored a book on Z-Lasik that is being distributed in-ternationally. You can find it on Amazon.com.

An initial cataract or LASIK consultation can be scheduled by calling theBraverman Eye Center at: (954) 458-2112 or (305) 374-8694. For additional in-formation please contact Regina Vasquez, Surgery Coordinator for cataractsurgery, or Rosemary Hartford, LASIK Coordinator for LASIK surgery, or visitthe Braverman Eye Center website at www.bravermaneyecenter.com whereyou can watch a video of cataract or LASIK surgery and learn more about all ofthe latest advances in cataract surgery and upgraded lens implants, as well asLASIK Surgery, including Near-Far Multifocal PresbyLASIK, for patients over 40years old who require glasses for both distance and near vision.

In addition to Dr. Stanley Braverman, a Refractive Cataract and LASIK LaserVision Correction surgeon, your other sub-specialty eye care needs can alsobe evaluated and treated. On staff at the Braverman Eye Center are RashidTaher MD FACS and Tirso Lara MD FACS, Vitreo-Retinal surgeons; Andre Sar-raga MD FACS, Ophthalmic Plastic, Reconstructive and Cosmetic Surgeon;Aarup Kubal MD FACS, Complex Glaucoma Specialist; Jesse Pelletier MD,FACS, Corneal Surgeon; Eric Ciliberti MD, Neuro-Ophthalmologist; and Ryan Y.Hargreaves OD and Shalonda McCallum OD. All sub-specialist surgeons at theBraverman Eye Center are Board Certified.

Michelle Battles remembers it well. It changed her life forever.As a 9-year-old growing up in Indiana, Battles was like every other young girl

who wanted to be a part of everything. She was a vibrant young lady who lovedto be around her brother.

It was at a baseball game, while waiting around for a ride home that somethingso innocent - and what every other youngster does at that age - that altered herpath. While her brother was throwing rocks at a billboard, and everyone washaving a good time - the mood changed in a second when one of those rocks hitlittle Michelle squarely in the eye.

When that rock hit, this healthy young lady was suddenly at a place where shehad never been. No vision problems or glasses in her past, that rock scratchedthe inside of her eye and it was certainly a game changer.

“Everything was blurry and I had trouble seeing,” she recalled. “That was re-ally something that you are never prepared for. You are a kid and fear just abouteverything.”

Because of that serious injury, growing up was very tough on Battles. She hadtrouble seeing - and over the years - it started getting worse. When she movedto south Florida six years ago, Battles could tell that her eyesight was declining.Blurred vision and that annoying glare from lights at night had made things verytough.

By the time she had her baby in 2014, Battle’s sight had gotten so bad that shewas not living her life to its fullest. She was blind in the left eye. It was also whenshe saw Dr. Stanley Braverman in Hallandale Beach. He told me that what I hadwas a traumatic cataract.

“You could see on Dr. Braverman’s face that this condition was indeed very se-rious,” she recalled. “With a new baby and much of my life left to live, it wastime to take care of this.”

Battles who turned 32 this year, looks back at the decision and the way every-thing was explained. While she had plenty of reservations, which is natural foranyone facing eye surgery, it was something that had to be done. Traumaticcataract can present many medical and surgical challenges.

A Department of Health Case Worker, who needed her sight to fully do her job,the Fort Lauderdale resident was now excited about finally regaining her eye-sight. It was something that she had long struggled with.

“I remember when I went to see Dr. Braverman and sitting in the waiting room,reading all the stories written on patients who have had life-changing proce-dures done,” Battles said. “Reading some of those stories made me feel moreconfident. It gave me more knowledge as to what I was facing, although it wasdifferent than the surgery I was going to have.”

“Going over everything that he was going to do during my operation, Dr.Braverman and his staff really made me feel at ease,” Battles added.

Battle’s life-altering experience came in March of this year, and within twoweeks, she could see clearly for the first time in over 20 years. Some six monthslater, she is still singing the praises of the surgery and her eyesight.

“I can see better than I ever remember,” Battles said with plenty of enthusiasm.“It took me a little over two weeks to fully recover, but this has been such a pos-itive experience in my life - and I cannot thank Dr. Braverman enough for what hehas done to elevate the way I live.”

WHAT ARE CATARACTSA cataract is formed when the natural lens of the eye, responsible for focusing

light and producing sharp images, becomes cloudy and hardens, resulting in aloss of visual function. The lens of the eye is clear at birth but is one of the firstparts of the body to show the effects of aging. A cataract is painless and usuallydevelops gradually over several months or years. The onset of a cataract in oneor both eyes may cause decreased night vision, impaired depth perception, andincreased color distortion.Cataracts are the leading cause of vision loss among adults age 55 and older. Infact, poor vision from cataracts affects 60 percent of all adults over age 60.However, cataracts also can result from injury, heredity, or medications, so theycan affect people of all ages.

Understanding that no two conditions or patients are the same, Dr. Bravermananalyzes the patient’s symptoms, performs a comprehensive eye exam, and maytest for glare disability and contrast sensitivity before making a diagnosis. Thefinal decision to proceed with the surgery belongs to the patient.

Your optometrist or Dr. Braverman may prescribe glasses, medication or sur-gery depending on your symptoms, complaints and age. Usually surgery will notbe recommended until glasses no longer work to make you visually happy. In thecase of clear lensectomy surgery, the patient cosmetically wants to get rid oftheir glasses, but they are out of the LASIK treatment range.

CATARACT SURGERY: What to expectThanks to new advancements, this is a great time to have cataract surgery.

Your eye is like a camera. It has photographic paper (the retina), and a cam-era lens. Two excellent options exist for cataract surgery. The choice is yours.

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