Recently Roger Hicks had cataracts taken out and lens implants put in.

He adds, " I didn't start needing glasses until I was about 52 and it's a real disappointment as a pilot to have my license say I have to have corrective lenses."

Not only did Hicks develop cataracts but he also has astigmatism.

"I wear no line tri-focals and some of the instruments in some of the jet airplanes are above your head and I can't get my head back far enough to see out of the low part, says Hicks."

Afraid he would have to give up his pilots license, Hicks focused in on a new laser treatment being offered in Bay County.

While waiting for the procedure on his second eye to begin Hicks told newschannel seven,

"I'm getting the best of all worlds, a lens that's for short, intermediate and long range and the astigmatism taken care of by the new laser machine."

Dr. Brett Fisher says, 'It's a very special instrument. It corrects the astigmatism that's present when we do cataract surgery."

Lasers are nothing new to eye surgeons but this particular laser, called the lens x, is gaining quite a reputation for its pinpoint accuracy.

Dr. Fisher says, "I've been doing cataract surgery for quite a while now. I've done thousands and thousands and it can do parts of it better than I or any other human being can."

Dr. Paul Garland adds, "In the old days, we just did cataract surgery and fitted them with glasses for their astigmatism or any other irregularities, but now the bar has been raised so now we're trying to get people as good as possible with the naked eye."

Almost anyone who is having cataract surgery is a candidate for the lens x.

One of the pre-requisites is, you have to have astigmatism which most people have to some degree.

Hicks says he has been told there's a possibility he might need some glasses for reading very small things but after surgery on the first eye, he says "I can already read the instructions on those little eye drop bottles and they are tiny."

For more information just call the eye center at 784-3937.