Testimonials - Mountain Home Surgery Center

“Alice was so much help to me. Ozark Eye Center is a peaceful, friendly and caring clinic. I recommend the doctors and wonderful nurses and techs very much. I would definitely recommend their services without hesitation.”

KE

“Dr. Jones called to check on me after I got home. He asked how I was doing and if I had any questions. When I count my blessing, I count you. Everyone was very nice and helpful.”

MNM

“The nurses checked on me every few minutes before the surgery to see if I needed anything. My doctor even called me at home that same evening to see how I was feeling. That was unexpected. The doctor has never called me after surgery of any kind. The nurses and doctor was extremely caring and seemed to go out of their way to make sure I was comfortable and didn’t need anything else. It took away the nervousness I was feeling. I would definitely recommend Ozark Eye Center.”

MH

“Dr. Jones is outstanding. Mike and the nurses were great. The whole process was professional, easy and fast. Thanks for better sight. I have already recommended your facility.”

EM

“I was really tense, but felt at ease immediately. Everyone was very nice. First time ever to have a doctor call me at home following surgery. Pleasant.”

LT

"I was very nervous and afraid of going into this surgery, but everyone made me feel so comfortable and at ease. I was very pleased with the whole experience. Dr Hill is wonderful. I felt very much at ease in his care. Everyone, Mike, Kathy, Robin were just great. I was very pleased to have had a call from Dr. Hill the night of my surgery. A big thank you to all of you."

EMA

“This was so much better than being in the hospital. Everyone was very nice and attentive both before and after the surgery. I have told several people about the positive experience I had.”

SL

“From the time I went into Dr. Knox’s office, to my surgery, I had met the nicest and most caring people from the receptionist to all of his staff. My husband and I would recommend them to everyone. Kathy was wonderful, and the nurse that took care of me after surgery (forgot name) was wonderful too. It was a wonderful experience.”

CL

“Dr. Knox is always kind and professional. Everyone was very nice and caring. Both Dr. Knox’s nurse and the anesthesiologist called the night of my surgery. No one wants to have surgery but it sure helps if you have a nice and caring staff in a very modern and clean building.”

GBH

“Awesome staff. Felt very comfortable. Thank You!!!

TM

“I was very pleased with the efficiency and friendliness of the facility. I am a retired recovery room nurse and so I am a little harder to please. I wouldn’t mind working in that department.”

MAK

“I will be back whenever for the other shoulder. My neighbor who brought me for the surgery also commented on what a nice facility and wonderful staff you have.”

BH

“The written instructions are always so helpful. Kathy was lovely. I also wanted to mention Mike the anesthesiologist who was also very pleasant and thorough. I would recommend Ozark Eye Center without hesitation.”

NR

This is a letter of thanks to one very fine group of people, both in West Plains, MO and Mountain Home, AR. Thanks to every one of you!

I recently had cataract surgery on both eyes, and this has been nothing short of a life-changing experience for me. I have always had very poor vision, but little did I realize just how poor.

In February, I went to an optometrist to get my eyes examined, because it had been three years since my lens had been changed, and my glasses had become terribly scratched, or so I thought, by my having cleaned off the anti-glare coating from the lenses with very frequent cleaning. It seemed to me that in my sleep, the elves that scatter my dirty clothes around the house, as well as other personal belongings I could never find, had been over-active and had taken sandpaper to my eyeglass lenses. It also seemed that there was a fingerprint in the middle of the lens, and I was always looking through it even if my lenses were spotless.

It is fair to say now that my wife had been insisting for months if not years that I had a vision problem, and that I could not see well at all. I had also taken to driving close to the left side of the roadway lane in which I traveled, because I really could not judge the distance to the right side, and did not want to drop off the pavement and run off the road. I felt it was much safer to see if I could strike cars going the other way with my outside mirror. According to the wife, I also had begun to tailgate, and she was running out of fingernails to break while clinging to the safety bar on the dash when riding with me.

The optometrist immediately discovered that not only could I not read the eye chart, I was only able to see the white spot projected on the wall, and was not able to see even one of the largest letters. I could not even make an educated guess as to what the letter might be. I knew I was in trouble when my wife gasped and nearly fainted in the exam room. I was informed quickly that I needed to see an eye specialist, and when I pressed the optometrist for a reason, he would only say that there was something very bad going on with my vision, and in his experience, the only other similar case of deterioration he’d seen was related to a non-malignant tumor behind an eye, or cataracts.

While the tumor rumor shocked me to the core, I felt it must be a cataract getting started and since my mother had cataract surgery at about the age I am now, I definitely had been expecting to have the same problem at some point in my life … but surely not now. I am only 60 years old! And after recalling the misery she went through in her surgery, the amount of time she lost from work, and the troubles she had afterwards, I began having a slow, well maybe not so slow, panic attack. I became petrified, but I knew that I had to do something and do it fast. My employer had noted that I was having some kind of unspecified trouble, and that I must have either had a stroke, heart attack, or some kind of rare brain disorder occur, as my work was suffering. He suggested maybe I should consider taking early retirement, or find out what was going on.

These factors caused me to drive right from the optometrist’s office to the West Plains office of Ozark Eye Center and make an appointment with the first available doctor, which turned out to be Dr. Hill, for the following week. After a very thorough examination, and forcing Dr. Hill to listen to all my excuses about why I couldn’t see well, and could not possibly have a tumor, or scratched glasses, he set me at ease by telling me I had a bad cataract on my right eye, and confirmed the optometrist’s diagnosis that I was practically blind, and he had to idea how I was able to drive or do much else. Dr. Hill took a lot of time explaining to me how bad the cataract was in the right eye, and how easy it was to repair it. My only decisions were how soon did I want to be able to see again, and which location I preferred – West Plains, MO or Mountain Home, AR. He was very reassuring, as I imagine it was evident I was scared out of both of my remaining wits, and I needed some reassuring. I also told him of the glaucoma worries I had, and he assured me that I had a glaucoma situation beginning, that my eye pressure was high enough for both of us and needed immediate treatment and monitoring, and I left the office feeling like I had a new lease on life. Who wouldn’t be scared of going blind? And who would not want to take steps to prevent such a tragedy?

My way of dealing with most bad things is to find a way to laugh about them, and to make those around me laugh with me. Dr. Hill was kind enough to listen to my attempted humor, then let me know this was no laughing matter, and at the very least, the glaucoma needed treatment right now, and we would then address the cataract problem. I had one in both eyes, but the left eye could wait a while. I felt totally confident that he could fix me right up, but then by the time I got home, I had worked myself into a tizzy. So much so that my sister and brother-in-law decided to come down from Delaware and West Virginia, to help my wife get me to the surgery on time, in one piece, and then back home. All I could think about was how my mother had suffered. Seems like that she was restricted to lifting nothing heavier than a coffee cup for three weeks, and she was in pain. But this surgery was done over 30 years ago, apparently with a pickaxe and wire cutters for surgical tools. Or so it seemed at the time.

Shortly after, the Patient-Coordinator Alice Williams contacted me to arrange a date and make sure I had the correct medications for preparations for surgery. After letting her know up front, I was a coward of the first degree, and that I was as nervous as a cat on fire, and in fact, my alias was “Nervous Nellie”, she assured me that I was not the first and probably not the last patient that would arrive apprehensive as to having the surgery done. I begged her to put a note on my chart that I wanted to be called “Nellie” so that everyone in the building would know just how scared I was. Did I mention I had never had a serious medical procedure before? She spoke with me several times in the days approaching my surgery, and each time was very reassuring that not only would I survive the surgery, I would be able to see again. I had no idea how right she was, but I was not about to relax. It just isn’t in my nature not to have something to worry about. Alice continued to help me with motel reservations and assuring me this experience would be delightful, and not at all the horrible experience I was worried about having.

From the moment I stepped into the waiting room, I felt relaxed, way before it because my turn to have a little dose of something that would assure my relaxation. From the receptionists, to the patients sitting in the waiting room, to the technicians and assistants that I saw that morning, everyone was calm, and assured. Or at least what little I could see of them appeared so. When my turn came for surgery prep, my knees wobbled all the way to the prep room, and than I got to lie down on my cart. I was ready to scream, but everyone was so easy with me. Mike got me calmed down, with a little light conversation and well before I received any medication, and I am sure by now I had enough blood pressure for both of us! Did I mention I have White-Coat-Fever?

My turn came, and lickety-split, I am in the operating room, and the surgery was over. Dr. Hill had worked his miracle; I had not wet my pants, screamed out loud, nor jumped off the cart and run around the room with my hair afire. I was back in the recovery area, with a cup of coffee in my hand, and although I had a patch over one eye, I felt I could already see better, knowing that nasty cataract was gone out of at least one eye. After making sure I had survived the procedure, I was released into the arms of my family, and although I had a patch on one eye, I had sunglasses (my first pair!), a new eye, and a whole afternoon to go to the motel and sleep. How much better does it get? Dr. Hill called me in the afternoon to make sure how I was getting along, and I told him I had not had any bad pain whatsoever, that I had quit worrying, and how soon could we do the second surgery? Then I got another nap. How much better could it get?

The next morning, I found out the answer to that question, when Dr. Hill removed my eye patch and not only could I see, I could see clearly, at least out of one eye, for the first time in my life, without my glasses. My vision tested 20/20 in the surgical eye right then. I got teary-eyed, as I was really seeing for the first time in my life, at least in one eye. I had expected a bit of trouble adjusting, since only one eye was fixed, and then I went out to the eyeglasses area, I had the attendant pop out my right lens from my glasses, and nearly fainted. I could see better right then and there than I had ever before in my life. Of course, since my eyeglasses contained lenses about 4 inches thick, they tilted sharply to one side, and there was no way I could wear them like that, I had her reinstall the lens, and put my old glasses in my pocket. Also, with just one lens in, I felt like I was falling down or falling in a circle, being off balance. I could now see with both eyes, but the left eye was screaming FIX ME NOW! I WANT TO SEE TOO!

Alice scheduled me for surgery the following week to get the left eye fixed – there was no way I could not rush to catch another miracle as fast as I could run. During the week, my vision seemed to be clearer every day. Even with just the one new strong eye, I could read billboards, door signs, and street signs I had never had a clue existed prior to this surgery. My wife threatened to strangle me if I didn’t quit reading them ALL to her like a first-grader who just learned to read his first book. I could hardly wait for next week. I was able to read my emails without having to have my eye within 4 inches of my screen! This was indeed a new world. I think the most exciting part was getting to see the eagles in their nest, high up in a tree, at Panther Bay Park. So that’s what a bird looks like? Wow, it doesn’t get any better than this! I only thought I knew what a tree looked like and now I could see individual birds, and their colors, and even tried to convince my wife I could see a spider alongside the highway. She has been blessed with very good vision, and she quickly let me know that she could see the spider’s babies. But I still had one more surgery to go; maybe I could catch up with her. At worst, I would now be able to see the large green signs on the highway without having to park right in front of them, and might actually arrive at the correct destination occasionally without having to backtrack!

On to Surgery #2 – I was a pro at this now, and I was READY – I even offered to help speed the process by just letting the doctor start working on me without any prep. This was no big deal, but they duct-taped me to the cart, and still prepped me. I cannot tell you how excited I was getting, knowing that now I could see with one eye was nothing compared to being able to see with two eyes! This surgery seemed to go so fast to me that it was almost as if they just pushed my cart in, spun it around, and took me back to recovery. To say that I was not nervous, or concerned is to tell the truth and nothing but the truth. I felt totally safe and secure that I was getting the best treatment from the best people that were available on the earth. Not ONE time did I hear anyone complain that they didn’t like their job, that they had to work too many hours, and would really rather be doing something else. I thought about applying for a job there, and staying in Mountain Home. Any place that can help people this much is a very SPECIAL place indeed. Dr. Hill again called me at the motel, where I was taking, surprise, a nap, and made sure I was fine. Again, I had experienced not a single pain or bad effect, and could hardly wait until the next morning for the unveiling of the other new eye!

Now it is the morning after surgery #2, and my left eye is uncovered. Now I really could see, and for the first time in my life, I was seeing without ANY glasses. While I was waiting in the waiting area to see Dr. Hill, I realized I could read the newspaper headlines on a folded paper across the room. I could see the information runners on the bottom of the TV. I could see that my wife was even prettier than I thought. And I could see that it would not be long until I might be dancing a jig around the waiting room. My turn came along pretty quick, and Dr. Hill told me I was seeing at 20/20 out of this eye too! I felt like I had been reborn, and had a new lease on life. He released me to make a follow-up appointment, and told me I could get some reading glasses to help me read until a few weeks later when my eyes were totally healed, and gave me a few precautions on what not to do, such as rub my eyes, don’t forget to wear sunglasses, and enjoy my new world.

While I was at the desk scheduling my appointment, Alice came out to the waiting room and gave me a big hug and congratulations. By now, I had lost any control I might have ever had and started crying like a baby! I COULD SEE – AND I COULD SEE EVERYTHING – I could see outside, I could see grass, the trees, and people. I did not see anywhere close to this much detail even with my glasses, before the surgery, and as my wife had tried to clue me in, I hadn’t for no telling how long. My wife practically carried me out of the office. I could not stop crying. Being able to see is some great stuff, but be sure you keep Kleenex close at hand. Being a big, tough (?) man means men don’t cry. Well, forget that.

Maybe everyone might not have such a good result or be as blessed as me to have not only Dr. Hill, but also now my VISION. If there is a miracle-working place in Arkansas, it is the Ozark Eye Center. Thank you Dr. Hill, and thank you Alice, and Mike, and every technician, nurse, assistant, and desk person for making these two days the most wonderful thing in my life; other than those days my grandchildren were born. Now I can see how handsome and pretty they are, and that they definitely take after my side of the family!

I simply cannot thank you all enough. It seems that since I discovered I needed this surgery, I have talked to a couple dozen people who need it, or have had it, and I have told all those needing surgery to contact Dr. Hill and the Ozark Eye Center at their earliest opportunity, and experience a miracle themselves.

Sam Highers
Birch Tree, MO