On July 8 at Flagler College’s Lewis Auditorium, audiences for the annual Dancing Stars of St. Johns County fundraising event were treated to a unique performance.
The “star” was Dr. Arun Gulani. His dance partner was National Ballroom Dance Champion Natasha Namen. And their interpretive dance celebrated an important journey they had taken together: restoration of Namen’s vision after she’d been told by other eye surgeons that she was “not a candidate” for the procedure she most needed.
Namen has been dancing for 22 years, and for a decade she competed at some of the most prestigious competitions in the country and internationally. But she’d had poor vision throughout her life and in competition she had to dance while wearing contact lenses, which became useless once mired in the stage makeup running into her eyes.
Still, she was told again and again she was “not a candidate” for surgery. Patients are often turned down due to thin corneas, high astigmatism, high nearsightedness or farsightedness or previous eye surgeries.
But she made a crucial decision after one national competition when her contacts threatened her ability to compete.
“I couldn’t see anything,” she said. “I had so much pain in my eyes. … I was literally performing blind.” She said her contacts actually hurt more than did her dance shoes.
She won that competition, but not without realizing something had to be done.
“From that moment, I said, ‘I am never going to wear contacts again; I need to see Dr. Gulani,’” she said. Gulani had successfully treated several members of her family and had pioneered several techniques. Among them: no-cut Lasik surgery he patented as LaZrPlastique and no-needle, stitch-free cataract surgery he patented as LenzOplastique.
Using his patented technique, he was able to repair Namen’s vision in a surprising five-minute procedure.
“He changed my life completely,” she said. “I don’t have to wear contacts ever again. I can see perfectly. I can compete and wear all the makeup I want, and I don’t have to worry about my eyes hurting.”
Namen asked Gulani to dance with her in the Dancing Stars of St. Johns County, which raises money for the St. Augustine Community School of Performing Arts. He’d never danced before, but he stepped out of his comfort zone and agreed.
They practiced two to three hours each weekend for three and a half months. Their routine was Gulani’s suggestion, and it proved effective as the judges all gave it a “wow.”
It began with a waltz, Gulani in doctor’s garb and Namen blindfolded to represent her blindness. This transitioned to a salsa and merengue and Namen discarded the blindfold.
According to Gulani, Lasik is just one of more than 20 laser vision techniques, but some eye surgeons only practice two of them and must tell patients that they, like Namen, are “not a candidate.”
Gulani emphasizes the importance of treating each patient’s condition individually, “custom-designing your vision like custom-designing choreography for each dance.” He calls his patients his “Mona Lisas.”
His approach has won him high praise from his patients and an international reputation. Recently, he had patients fly in from Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, Australia and Hong Kong.
“They travel for days — not hours — for four minutes that change their lives,” he said.
In fact, he said, his practice has recently broken a world record; he has consulted patients from 98 countries.
“Working with Dr. Gulani was such an honor,” Namen said. “He’s such an incredible doctor. He helps so many people around the world.”
