The medical tourist

I am back from a medical treatment in Manila, Philippines, and we finally have an internet connection again. Technology in the Pacific islands is in early stages of development; it is slow and not that dependable, yet we have jumped over the generations of tech and landed in a modern tech era, but without the substantial backup facilities that keep most of the world connected.
My treatment was for my eyes.  I have a condition called keratoconis, a weakening of the surface of the cornea that causes loss of vision and can eventually cause the cornea to burst, leaving its victims blind.  In the US, treatment involves waiting until the inevitable happens, then transplanting an artificial cornea and trying to get the thin surface to heal over.  At St. Luke's hospital in Manila, they do collagen cross-linking.  It is a procedure developed in Germany that uses a laser to excite molecules of riboflavin (vitamin B6) and incite the collagen fibers to link together and form a protective net at the eye's surface.
First, they scraped the surface of my eye.  That was the part I feared most, but it turned out to be the easy part.  Anaesthetic drops left me without sensation, and I only "saw" the wrinkled up surface tissue, not felt it.  Then, the B6 drops begin.  One each 5 minutes, followed by focusing on the laser.  Lying still and remembering to focus on the light is not as easy as it sounds.  An hour and a half later, the procedure was finished, and I emerged with hardly any vision in my left eye.  Over the course of the next week, the eye began growing new epithelial cells, and the "wound" healed over.  Ten days later, I was able to see 20/40 with my old glasses.  Most importantly, the surface of the cornea had doubled in thickness!  In a few months, the eye will have adjusted fully, and a new prescription will make my vision sharp as new.
It could be some time before this procedure is widely available in the US.  The FDA is not known for expediting new procedures.  However, for those million or so Americans who have keratoconis, hope is on the way.