Thinking
about Lasik eye surgery? Doing a little research to see if it's
right for you? Good for you! Batten down the hatches, take
a deep breath and read about my experience. If you can get thru
this story without being put to sleep, I'm going to do my best to
dissuade you from this dangerous surgery. If you feel yourself
starting to snooze, jump to the end of the story for links to several
first-rate resources that you will definately want
to see!
My name is Andrew G., I am 47 and have been wearing glasses all my adult life. My vision was about 20/400 with astigmatism. For years I dreamed of having surgery and seeing without glasses. With 2004 drawing to a close, I decided to act. I called Eye Center South in Dothan, Alabama to find out about Lasik. They invited me in for free testing and consultation.
I went in at the appointed time and went thru a battery of tests. I learned about the state- of-the-art half million dollar Lasik machine and had a consultation with a doctor. He stated that based on the test results, he would be able to correct my vision to 20/15 (better than 20/20). I was excited in a major way and scheduled an appointment.
The day of the surgery, I checked in and filled out scores of forms. There were the normal warnings that this procedure could actually damage my vision and leave me worse than prior to the surgery. I was required to hand copy one particularly dire warning into a fill-in-the-blank area of the form. I was starting to worry. But, I thought, everybody requires legal BS like this these days. I'll be ok.
I was taken to another part of building were the surgery would be performed. They put me in a waiting room with another young man who would be having Lasik before me. They asked the other young man if he was feeling relaxed from the 10 milligrams of Librium they gave him earlier. He said he could not feel anything and requested 5 milligrams more. Now this was a skinny little fellow (maybe 160 pounds) and I knew I outweighed him by good 40 pounds. When they asked me if I'd like something to relax me; I requested 15 milligrams of the Librium. The nurse put 2 colored sticky paper dots on my forehead to show the Librium dosage.
The young man went into surgery and came out somewhat dazed but fine. It was my turn. I was feeling somewhat loopy from the Librium as they lead me into the surgery. Here, I was given a two-page form to sign. The lady (nurse?) said these forms were required in case they needed to access my medical records while the surgery was under way. I was in no condition to analyze the multiple page document. Why would anyone give a complex legal form to a patient that was swimming in Librium? Sheesh. I just signed on the line and was then led a few feet to the padded table beside the machine.
My eyes were numbed and soon the surgery began. A clip was attached to my right eye to hold it open as the flap as cut. There was a high pitched noise for 10 or 20 seconds. It was not a sound you'd expect in an operating room. Sounded like a very small 2-stroke weed-eater motor. There was a long delay before before the clip was removed and the Lasik machine was positioned over the eye. The Lasik machine made a soft popping noise as the laser fired; reshaping my lense of my eye. When the laser was finished on the right eye, the doctor used an instrument in a squeegee-like motion over the eyeball (about a half-dozen times). This was very stressful to me for some reason.
The clip was attached to my left eyeball and the flap was cut. While the doctor was working with my left eye, he asked me to open my right eye. I managed to open the right eye briefly but the discomfort was too much. I closed my right eye and the surgeon did not say anything more. There were no delays as the Lasik machine was positioned and went to work on the left eye. The flap was replaced and the surgery was finished. The left eye had taken about half the time of the right eye.
I was given a care kit and was driven home by family. Following instructions, I went to bed -- only getting up to go to the bathroom and to use the three different types of eyedrops. About half the normally white portion of my right eye was bloodshot. I was told I would be able to see fine the next day. Boy was I in for a surprise.
When I got up everything was fairly blurry. Everything both near and far was blurry. I could not read my digital watch. My old glasses were worthless now. Feeling a bit of panic. I was starting to worry that the surgery had gone wrong. I was about to call the clinic but then remembered that the clinic had scheduled a post surgery follow-up with my ophthalmologist for that morning. I'd just wait for a few hours.
My vison was way too blurry to drive, so I was driven to my appointment. During the visit, the doctor said my right eye had been 'handled roughly'. She tested my vision with the wall charts. The letters were very blurry but I could make out the letter shapes at 20/30. That was a major improvement from my original condition. Feeling serious relief. More testing revealed that reading glasses at 2.5 power were necessary for me to read (and tell time on my watch). The doctor also said my vision would continue to improve as the swelling went down.
During the next week, my vision was unstable. In low light conditions the quality of vision was much less than bright sunlight. Indeed, while driving in bright sunlight, I had brief periods were I could see extremely clear at a distance.
I bought 4 pairs of reading glasses of various powers 1X, 1.5X, 1.75X and 2.5X. Most of the time - and always in city traffic - I needed the help of reading glasses to make out details for safe driving (usually 1X lense). Clear vision is also an absolute must for my work as a repairman (operating many types of power machinery). This week was a major bummer spent swapping glasses and struggling to see.
After a week, I went for my second checkup with the ophthalmologist. She tested my vision with the charts and now I could make out most letters on the 20/25 chart although they are very blurry. I can't reliably read letters like 'S' or 'B' because they are so blurry that I can't discern the shape I'm looking at. Still, it was an improvement!
After about 3 weeks my right eye was no longer major-league bloodshot. I felt most or perhaps all of the swelling must be gone. My vision had not improved or declined since the 1 week post operative check. I was looking forward to my next checkup.
In the week leading up to the one month checkup, my vison was fairly unstable. On the way to the appointment I was able to read car license plates from 20 to 30 feet away. During the appointment I was able to read on the 20/20 chart but the letters are still fuzzy. All-in-all it was a good visit for calming my worries. Interesting enough, a few days after the visit, I could no longer read license plates.
If I had to characterize my current eyesight with one word, that word would be "unstable". Sometimes my eyesight has the quality of looking thru shimmering water. Sometimes my vison has the quality of looking thru an optical lense at 5 or 10 degrees off perpendicular. Sometimes my eyes don't autofocus normally. My ability to resolve images changes from day-to-day and week-to-week. Thankfully, the range of vison does not vary a huge amount most of the time. I'm fairly certain I'll have to wear glasses for the rest of my life - buy hey - I'm just grateful that I've still got my sight. I am worried though about my long term visual health. On balance though - for now my eyesight has improved.....so I may have the consolation of wearing glasses with thinner lenses.
Look folks, lasik is a gamble. It's that simple. The failure rate is way too high for an operation dealing with a person's eyesight. One government source says the dissatisfaction (failure rate) is 10%. Others give varying estimates of the failure rate. I believe the Federal government needs to to start tightly regulating this procedure. This regulation is particulary important because this is a technology without a long term record. Using any procedure without a long term track record means you are essentially a lab rat in an ongoing experiment (remember Phen-fen?). I also believe that lasik practioners should bear 100% absolute liability, especially so in those cases were the patient suffers partial or total loss of vision.
If you absolutely decide you have to have this procedure, here are a couple of things for you to consider:
1. Go to a doctor that video-tapes the operation and provides you with a copy. The doctors that follow this practice will generally be higher caliber with *real* confidence in their ability, technique and equipment. Even so, don't get too comfortable about this surgery. A certain percentage of patients are going to have their vision reduced or destroyed. What will you do if your vison is destroyed? How will it affect your family, work and living conditions? Interested in learning braille?
Whatever you do, don't rely on the pleasant personalities or the spoken word at the laser clinics. Talk is cheap; virtually worthless. Remember that your eyesight is at stake here!
2. Make sure that the doctor you checked out will personally be doing the surgery. You absolutely don't want to be operated on by a trainee under the doctors supervision.
More later.
----------------------------------------------
For an eye-opening experience, take a minute and visit http://lasikinfocenter.net/, http://www.lasikmemorial.com and http://www.lasikdisaster.com. I only wish I had found these sites before rolling the dice with lasik. You would not be reading this today if I had recognized the real danger in this procedure....
My name is Andrew G., I am 47 and have been wearing glasses all my adult life. My vision was about 20/400 with astigmatism. For years I dreamed of having surgery and seeing without glasses. With 2004 drawing to a close, I decided to act. I called Eye Center South in Dothan, Alabama to find out about Lasik. They invited me in for free testing and consultation.
I went in at the appointed time and went thru a battery of tests. I learned about the state- of-the-art half million dollar Lasik machine and had a consultation with a doctor. He stated that based on the test results, he would be able to correct my vision to 20/15 (better than 20/20). I was excited in a major way and scheduled an appointment.
The day of the surgery, I checked in and filled out scores of forms. There were the normal warnings that this procedure could actually damage my vision and leave me worse than prior to the surgery. I was required to hand copy one particularly dire warning into a fill-in-the-blank area of the form. I was starting to worry. But, I thought, everybody requires legal BS like this these days. I'll be ok.
I was taken to another part of building were the surgery would be performed. They put me in a waiting room with another young man who would be having Lasik before me. They asked the other young man if he was feeling relaxed from the 10 milligrams of Librium they gave him earlier. He said he could not feel anything and requested 5 milligrams more. Now this was a skinny little fellow (maybe 160 pounds) and I knew I outweighed him by good 40 pounds. When they asked me if I'd like something to relax me; I requested 15 milligrams of the Librium. The nurse put 2 colored sticky paper dots on my forehead to show the Librium dosage.
The young man went into surgery and came out somewhat dazed but fine. It was my turn. I was feeling somewhat loopy from the Librium as they lead me into the surgery. Here, I was given a two-page form to sign. The lady (nurse?) said these forms were required in case they needed to access my medical records while the surgery was under way. I was in no condition to analyze the multiple page document. Why would anyone give a complex legal form to a patient that was swimming in Librium? Sheesh. I just signed on the line and was then led a few feet to the padded table beside the machine.
My eyes were numbed and soon the surgery began. A clip was attached to my right eye to hold it open as the flap as cut. There was a high pitched noise for 10 or 20 seconds. It was not a sound you'd expect in an operating room. Sounded like a very small 2-stroke weed-eater motor. There was a long delay before before the clip was removed and the Lasik machine was positioned over the eye. The Lasik machine made a soft popping noise as the laser fired; reshaping my lense of my eye. When the laser was finished on the right eye, the doctor used an instrument in a squeegee-like motion over the eyeball (about a half-dozen times). This was very stressful to me for some reason.
The clip was attached to my left eyeball and the flap was cut. While the doctor was working with my left eye, he asked me to open my right eye. I managed to open the right eye briefly but the discomfort was too much. I closed my right eye and the surgeon did not say anything more. There were no delays as the Lasik machine was positioned and went to work on the left eye. The flap was replaced and the surgery was finished. The left eye had taken about half the time of the right eye.
I was given a care kit and was driven home by family. Following instructions, I went to bed -- only getting up to go to the bathroom and to use the three different types of eyedrops. About half the normally white portion of my right eye was bloodshot. I was told I would be able to see fine the next day. Boy was I in for a surprise.
When I got up everything was fairly blurry. Everything both near and far was blurry. I could not read my digital watch. My old glasses were worthless now. Feeling a bit of panic. I was starting to worry that the surgery had gone wrong. I was about to call the clinic but then remembered that the clinic had scheduled a post surgery follow-up with my ophthalmologist for that morning. I'd just wait for a few hours.
My vison was way too blurry to drive, so I was driven to my appointment. During the visit, the doctor said my right eye had been 'handled roughly'. She tested my vision with the wall charts. The letters were very blurry but I could make out the letter shapes at 20/30. That was a major improvement from my original condition. Feeling serious relief. More testing revealed that reading glasses at 2.5 power were necessary for me to read (and tell time on my watch). The doctor also said my vision would continue to improve as the swelling went down.
During the next week, my vision was unstable. In low light conditions the quality of vision was much less than bright sunlight. Indeed, while driving in bright sunlight, I had brief periods were I could see extremely clear at a distance.
I bought 4 pairs of reading glasses of various powers 1X, 1.5X, 1.75X and 2.5X. Most of the time - and always in city traffic - I needed the help of reading glasses to make out details for safe driving (usually 1X lense). Clear vision is also an absolute must for my work as a repairman (operating many types of power machinery). This week was a major bummer spent swapping glasses and struggling to see.
After a week, I went for my second checkup with the ophthalmologist. She tested my vision with the charts and now I could make out most letters on the 20/25 chart although they are very blurry. I can't reliably read letters like 'S' or 'B' because they are so blurry that I can't discern the shape I'm looking at. Still, it was an improvement!
After about 3 weeks my right eye was no longer major-league bloodshot. I felt most or perhaps all of the swelling must be gone. My vision had not improved or declined since the 1 week post operative check. I was looking forward to my next checkup.
In the week leading up to the one month checkup, my vison was fairly unstable. On the way to the appointment I was able to read car license plates from 20 to 30 feet away. During the appointment I was able to read on the 20/20 chart but the letters are still fuzzy. All-in-all it was a good visit for calming my worries. Interesting enough, a few days after the visit, I could no longer read license plates.
If I had to characterize my current eyesight with one word, that word would be "unstable". Sometimes my eyesight has the quality of looking thru shimmering water. Sometimes my vison has the quality of looking thru an optical lense at 5 or 10 degrees off perpendicular. Sometimes my eyes don't autofocus normally. My ability to resolve images changes from day-to-day and week-to-week. Thankfully, the range of vison does not vary a huge amount most of the time. I'm fairly certain I'll have to wear glasses for the rest of my life - buy hey - I'm just grateful that I've still got my sight. I am worried though about my long term visual health. On balance though - for now my eyesight has improved.....so I may have the consolation of wearing glasses with thinner lenses.
Look folks, lasik is a gamble. It's that simple. The failure rate is way too high for an operation dealing with a person's eyesight. One government source says the dissatisfaction (failure rate) is 10%. Others give varying estimates of the failure rate. I believe the Federal government needs to to start tightly regulating this procedure. This regulation is particulary important because this is a technology without a long term record. Using any procedure without a long term track record means you are essentially a lab rat in an ongoing experiment (remember Phen-fen?). I also believe that lasik practioners should bear 100% absolute liability, especially so in those cases were the patient suffers partial or total loss of vision.
If you absolutely decide you have to have this procedure, here are a couple of things for you to consider:
1. Go to a doctor that video-tapes the operation and provides you with a copy. The doctors that follow this practice will generally be higher caliber with *real* confidence in their ability, technique and equipment. Even so, don't get too comfortable about this surgery. A certain percentage of patients are going to have their vision reduced or destroyed. What will you do if your vison is destroyed? How will it affect your family, work and living conditions? Interested in learning braille?
Whatever you do, don't rely on the pleasant personalities or the spoken word at the laser clinics. Talk is cheap; virtually worthless. Remember that your eyesight is at stake here!
2. Make sure that the doctor you checked out will personally be doing the surgery. You absolutely don't want to be operated on by a trainee under the doctors supervision.
More later.
----------------------------------------------
For an eye-opening experience, take a minute and visit http://lasikinfocenter.net/, http://www.lasikmemorial.com and http://www.lasikdisaster.com. I only wish I had found these sites before rolling the dice with lasik. You would not be reading this today if I had recognized the real danger in this procedure....
bravenet.com