24 Webster Place
Brookline,
MA
02445
I'm writing this now even though I received LASIK 10 years ago from Dr. Melki. I just had a checkup with another opthalmalogist today who complimented my surgery and recommended I go back to Dr Melki should I ever need cataract surgery in the future. I had nothing but a good experience. I elected monovision (one eye corrected for near, one for far). I did have to go back for a no-charge adjustment on one eye which is not uncommon. I had no complications, no dry eye. The Dr answered all my questions. I was calmed by a teddy bear during the procedure. 10 years later I'm still happy.
So I had my lasik procedure about 2 months ago now and I am alive and I can see! Awesome awesome, I am still getting used to not putting on my glasses in the morning and taking my contacts out at night! I had astigmatism and -3.75 in both eyes and now I have 20/20 and couldn't be enjoying my life anymore than I am! The facilities are clean. They have coffee and tea. The staff is very friendly and helpful. The initial appointment was long (not their fault, just busy). I had my consult with Dr. Melki and we scheduled the surgery 3 weeks after that appointment. I would give this place 5 stars except for the fact that I did get DLK, which has nothing to do with the doctors and happens randomly in a certain percentage of patients that receive lasik (so I would like to let people know that though lasik is safe it can have complications). HOWEVER, I did receive quality service and they ensured I recovered safely and were there every step of the way. (Dr. Melki even personally answered emails when I was worried). After drop therapy and multiple check ups to ensure my quick recovery I am 100% recovered. I highly recommend Boston laser! You will not be disappointed!
Got LASIK in Feb 2013. Dr Melki and his associates were wonderful. Got LASIK at 730. In 12 minutes I was done, but they do keep you there another 30 minutes and the fellow checks on you before leaving. Went home and it felt like my eyes burned a bit after but other than that no pain. Slept for 4 hours then woke up and had 20/20 vision. The consultation did take about 3 hours but honestly it went by so fast. Dr Melki only does surgeries on Fridays so I had to wait two weeks until I had another day off. By Saturday I was back at work and they were accompdating by taking me in Saturday for my 1 day follow up at 11am. Overall everyone was kind helpful and I actually referred my sister as well!!
AMAZING! Almost a year has gone by since my surgery with Dr. Melki and I couldn't be more pleased. Let me start by saying that I am very happy to have found Boston Laser as I had already been evaluated at another Lasik center in NY. I knew that I should get a second opinion and I followed my "gut". As it turns out, I made the right choice. It is always important to find out what your options are and Lasik may be just one of them, this was my case. I had a significant prescription and after being evaluated by Dr.Melki I was told that Lasik was not the best option and that in fact, he would not perform it as my results would not be as successful as someone with a lower prescription. There is no use in getting your vision corrected if the results aren't going to be 100%. I respect that Dr. Melki was honest and also surprised that I still had the option to get another procedure; I was a good candidate for Visian ICL; an implantable contact lens. Dr. Melki explained the procedure and risks. (At the other Lasik center in NY I was never given any other option to correct my eyesight)I had my surgery April 2012 (right eye) and May 2012 (left eye) and it's been great. I was able to see immediately after the procedure. Dr. Melki, Dr.Felix and the rest of the team were amazing.Everyone's experience is different and there are always side effects that should be taken into consideration, however, I always felt I was in safe hands and I am extremely happy with the results! 🙂
Lasek surgery performed in Jan 2013. Summary: Note, I've given 5 stars based solely on the surgeon himself. At the end of the day, the single important thing is the quality of vision you receive from the procedure. The price, customer service, amount of hand-holding, atmosphere, etc. are all secondary. At the time of the writing of this review, the place has 3.5 stars, which is surprising given the credentials of the surgeon. He used to work at one of the top eye hospitals in the world. He probably quit in order to take advantage of the lucrative aspects of privatization. Nonetheless, I've provided the below review to comment on all aforementioned items. Lasek: Note, this section is a review of the lasEK procedure (different than lasIK). Lasek is a rather new procedure that is a variation of PRK. It provides a slightly better recovery time with all else being almost the same as PRK. Due to my high prescription (-7.00) and thin corneas, I was not a strong candidate for lasik. I had also undergone a consult at TLC in Providence, RI and they had the same conclusion for the same reasons. Dr. Melki ultimately recommended lasEK. The laser used to correct the prescription is identical to lasik and PRK. The only difference is that the recovery is slightly better than PRK. Immediately after the surgery, I was very sensitive to light and could hardly see from the dryness and discomfort. The vision itself was blurry but definitely a vast improvement from my original prescription. By the weeks end, I was about 20/40 in both eyes with little to no discomfort. It takes about a month before the eyes heal completely and seeing 20/20. I would recommend taking a week off of work since you will be nearly incapacitated for at least the first few days. It is also very helpful to have someone help you during the first week. Medical drops have to be put in hourly, so it is nice to have someone to help with that as well. The saying with lasik is you will be seeing good in a day, great in a week. The saying with lasek/PRK is that you will be seeing good in a week, great in a month. Keep that in mind in your planning. Boston Laser: This place has the feel of a highly rushed place. All the employees are very busy and the clinic goes through a high volume of patients each day. Yet, I found everyone to be courteous and professional. They seemed to know what they were doing. They answered all my questions knowledgably. Nonetheless, I highly recommend coming in prepared with a list of questions. They also tend to give vague answers, probably due to liability issues. For example, if I asked how long the recovery time was, the answer would be, "varies patient to patient." This is an obvious answer. An answer including general numbers would be much more helpful such as, "varies patient to patient, but we typically see patients recover to be functional in 1 week, and seeing very well in 1 month." Toward the end of the consultation, you will finally meet the surgeon, Dr. Melki. He is very knowledgeable on the subject, but you MUST ask questions. Doing this day in and day out is probably like repeating the ABCs for him, so we have to come prepared with specific questions. Since I had never heard of lasek prior to the consult (all my questions prepared were for lasik), I couldn't ask many questions during the meeting. Nonetheless, he was very helpful over email and answered all my questions promptly. At the end of the consult, you will meet Rick, the head of the business end of the practice. He handles all the money/payment stuff. He is a nice guy who has been doing this for over 10 years. While not a doctor himself, he too is knowledgeable in refractive surgeries. For the surgery day itself, they provide a very useful information sheet as well as a "goodie bag" for the post-op care. They also advise you to fill prescriptions beforehand. This made the recovery a lot easier to deal with. Opportunities for Improvement: As mentioned in the previous section, they could improve their customer service. The medical care they provide is fine and that's not what I'm referring to. It's the small things. For example, their automated phone menu system takes you in circles sometimes. You have to pay for parking, although there is plenty of metered parking. When they answer questions, they tend to provide vague, conservative answers. For example, "the procedure will reduce your dependency on glasses." A better answer, "the procedure cannot guarantee 20/20 vision, but we typically notice patients similar to yourself achieve 20/20 vision." Final Notes Overall, I highly recommend this place. It is on the pricey side, but healthcare is not something to skimp out on. The surgeon is highly qualified. I had done a few consults, and am glad that I chose Dr. Melki to perform the surgery. I hope this review is helpful to you. I know Boston Laser also reads yelp review so I hope it's helpful for them too.