Ask twice about vision and never meet "What's the hell?!" after

Oleksii Sologub
Jun 11
2 min read

What the hell? The surgeon believes everything went well, but the patient feels something is wrong and starts complaining.

A patient recently came to me after a technically flawless premium IOL surgery. 20/20 vision. Excellent procedure. But he felt anxious and misunderstood.

He said, "I can see clearly. But this is not the vision I imagined. I feel anxious. Something feels wrong, and nobody’s listening."

The surgeon was puzzled:

The outcome is perfect. The patient just didn’t adapt? Or wants too much?

And this patient is not an exception - my recent discussion on Reddit uncovered the magnitude of the problem. That gap between clinical logic and the patient’s lived experience is where most trust is lost, and that's the core leading both - a surgeon and a patient to a place where it's better to avoid premium procedures, to have fewer disappointments.

For 6 years, I’ve been listening to patients from over 60 countries - through YouTube, Reddit, my website, and direct conversations. And I have identified what industry is missing, as I work as the Patient Side Voice.

I don’t judge. I translate what patients feel, but never say, into something clinics and brands can hear and act on.

The problem is that when a doctor doesn’t hear, the patient often disappears into forums, seeks second opinions, or files complaints.

When a doctor starts listening, trust grows, premium procedures conversion increases, and the patient complaint rate decreases.

The patient isn’t always “right.”

But their experience is always real.

The keyword here is “REAL”.

If you want to understand why it happens, try these simple steps:

1. Think about any recent situation where you were unhappy with the results of any service you ordered.

2. Recall when you tried to explain something that felt “off” but no one truly listened. Or maybe you couldn’t explain it clearly, and felt dismissed.

3. Now, if you face an unhappy patient, take a deep breath, recall your experience from points 1+2, and say something like: "I hear you. I may not fully understand yet, but let’s figure it out together." And you will be surprised by the result.

It will help you hear what they’re not saying.

Are these patients just ungrateful, neurotic, and impossible to please?

Or is there something deeper we’re still not hearing?