Laser Eye Surgery Horror Story.

[Bob Hubbard]

Thats the problem, Im afraid. Alot of folks have it done, and everythigns fine....others have it done and its a major nightmare...most fall in the middle, I expect. A little glare, some sensativity, some dryness, but worth it to be free of glasses and contacts.

I was told that I should have had PRK, not LASIK...after the fact by my original cutter.... this of course based on the complications I had..not the original diagnoses....which after reading others stories of their evals now seems hurried and somewhat lacking in both the depth and the warmth of theirs.

If you are considering this type of surgury...get several opinions, get evaled by a few docs (even if you have to pay for them), and definately think twice. You may be fine, or, you may not be...once its done, there is no going back.... Sometimes, its worth it to me..othertimes...it wasnt. Everyones different, so get as wide an experience base as you can looking at you...and definately check out those websites.... I wish I had before I got it done...probably still would have done it (this is me), but then again...maybe not.

Good luck.

 

[qizmoduis]

Originally posted by Cthulhu

I have very bad astigmatism as well, but the new toric contact lenses work very, very well for me.

Cthulhu

Yeah, I tried torics as well. I could never get good vision from them. The haloes were so bad that I was virtually blind at night, plus they were so fragile (when I tried them) that they were prone to tearing. And of course, they could never get the prescription right.

Hard lenses would pop right out of my eye when I blinked, as would gas perms. Or, if I managed to keep them in more than a couple of hours, I would get vicious headaches. Contacts just weren't worth the agony.

To each his/her own.

 

[tunetigress]

Originally posted by Kaith Rustaz



Ya know, its funny....but a friend of mines so sensative to things that he has to use that no-perfumes/no bleach/etc stuff, else he has vision problems (among other things)... I never even thought of it til now though...and it makes perfect sence given that my eyes are ultra sensative to stuff that never really bugged me before.

:asian:

Since I was disabled by a Chemical Injury, I have become well-versed in the area of Chemical Sensitivity. In my experience, once you become sensitised to one chemical substance you are at risk of becoming sensitive to a host of man-made products that most people never think twice about using. For those of you who have never given any thought to the toxic effects of the chemicals that are contained in virtually every product sold in supermarkets these days, perhaps it's time to wake up and smell the formaldehyde!

Sensitivity to chemicals is a signal from your body that your system is being overloaded by toxins, like artificial stuff that is considered a 'foreign object' by the body. The way the condition was explained to me was to think of your body as having a barrel through which every chemical substance you are ever exposed to must pass. If you take in more chemical molecules than your body's organs can filter out, your barrel can start to overflow, allowing toxins to build up throughout the body. Then, you get sick, with a host of different symptoms that could easily be construed by your everyday prescription-pad wielding Doctor as psychologically based, in that one person could not possibly have system-wide symptoms from 'no apparent cause.' You might be told that you are merely 'depressed' or being a 'hypochondriac, or suffering from a little anxiety that a little Paxil Pill will cure.

If the world's doctors ever dared to breathe a word about chemicals being the cause of the increasing level of illness in our supposedly technologically-developed countries, they would be subjected to the most severe censures by the Petro-Chemical/Pharmaceutical Industry who must protect their multi-billion dollar profits, and by the politicians who assist them in doing so.

There is no drug to cure Chemical Sensitivity, in fact the use of drugs merely makes the chemically sensitive individual even more sensitive, as the body tries to process still more toxins introduced into an already overtaxed system. The prognosis for people like this is truly pathetic. In a world in which thousands of new chemicals are introduced to consumers each year, it has become difficult for the chemically ill to avoid exposure to symptom-inducing toxins because they are absolutely everywhere. Fumes are emitted by the personal-care and laundry products people use, thinking they must be safe, since they are advertised relentlessly and, after all, they wouldn't be allowed to sell them if they weren't perfectly safe, would they??? The contents of all our supermarket products are all tested for safety, aren't they??? Are they??

Think again.

Most household and personal care products, especially perfumes and fragranced 'fresh-smelling' laundry and body products are protected under the Trade Secrets Act. They do not have to reveal ALL of the contents of their products, nor would they want to do so. Testing for long-term safety? Why? It's so much more cost effective to market products and wait until problems arise, then simply recall any 'defective' products, if anyone succeeds in proving that a specific product actually injured them. To avoid 'negative publicity' the Corporations involved traditionally settle these cases out of court, with no media fanfare. The public might panic if they were aware of the existence of neuro-toxins and immuno-toxins in the many seemingly 'harmless' products they use, day in and day out. They might choose non-toxic household and personal care products instead, causing Chemical Corporation stocks to suffer. Tragic, ain't it??

The number of people suffering similarly to Kaith's friend and myself are growing fast, now estimated at 15% of the population. What can people do to avoid or reduce symptoms of Chemical Sensitivity???? Simple! Avoid or reduce your use of products containing chemicals, fragrances, artificial ingredients, pesticides, herbicides, anti-biotics and growth hormones. Think you could do it?? If you became Chemically-Sensitive, do you think your friends and relatives would willingly give up their scented and chemically laden brands so that they could come near you?? How would you avoid the polluted air and the chlorine and other chemicals in your water? How would you manage to go to work or do your shopping if you became ill from the fragrance and chemical fumes in stores and offices? Ever even thought about it?

I hadn't given the issue any consideration till it happened to me.

Maybe you won't either until you find someone's perfume making you annoyingly symptomatic, or find a favorite product that you've used for ages starting to 'bother' you. Then other things, such as cigarette smoke and car exhaust start to 'bother' you. Using commonly available cleaning products or gassing up your car make you feel sick. Eventually the slightest amount of chemical content can cause debilitating symptoms.

With me, it was respiratory failure that caught my attention. What will it be for you?
:soapbox:

 

[Lasik Mess]

Contact lenses which are well-fitted don't pop out. One solution is to go to an optometrist who knows how to fit larger RGP lenses. RGP fitting is becoming a lost art, because it's so much easier to plop soft lenses on a patient and not care that vision is much sharper in RGPs. However, there are still ODs out there who enjoy fitting lenses and there are new technologies to aid them in their efforts.

Large RGPs can be just as comfortable as soft lenses, and they don't get foreign matter like dust underneath them, nor do they pop out.

I now have 12mm lenses after LASIK, and if I could have been made this comfortable in RGPs three years ago, I never would have been desperate enough to resort to surgery.

Now most of my friends are lasik messes and it's heartbreaking to see how their lives have been destroyed by the "twenty-minute miracle". I personally know several people who are undergoing cornea transplants after LASIK and even a dentist who has basically lost his practice because he cannot see. There's the United Airlines pilot in Arizona who was fired. A mom out there driving her kids to school with 20/70 vision with an RGP in one eye and just had a transplant in the other. She's not legal to drive, but has to get her kids to school. There are a lot of us on the road with impaired vision now. Especially at night.

 

[Bob Hubbard]

Well, Its been a heck of a long time...figured I should update.

Its been 2 1/2 years since my surgery. Until 2 months ago, I was living with family who smoked non stop. I've since moved out and am living in a smoke free enviroment. Up to then, my eyes were always tired, dry and irritated. I was still going through 5-10 vials of drops each day. In the last 2 months, I now have improved to the point of only needing 1 vial every other day, more when I'm shopping (those stores air's dry) or when I'm really intense in computer time. Otherwise, I'm doing pretty good. The eyes don't get tired as much, or as fast either. Still not 100%, but a hell of alot better.

Vision - well, the left eyes fuzzy, and still has starbursts on bright lights. Right eye is almost 100%, which is cool. I can finally see stars in the sky again. (Couldn't for a long time, and I like star gazing.)

Overall, theres still some problems, but there has been some improvement. All I can say is, if you're considering getting it done, get a couple opinions, do -alot- of research and remember, if something goes wrong, you have to live with the outcome. There is nothing they can do to fix the problems with my eyes.
They will either heal, or not.

:asian:

 

[OULobo]

Originally posted by Kaith Rustaz

This is suplimented with 1 tube per month of Muro 128 5% ointment that I use every night so that my eye surface doesn't dry out and fuse to my eyelid. (If that happens, I rip the surface of my eye off when I open it....very painful...to understate things)
:asian:

Kaith

I had this exact problem from a sparring accident. I caught a glove right on the eye and the shearing motion from the surface of the glove on my eye tore a gash on the side of my eye. I would get these spasms of pain and watering especially in the morning and couldn't figure it out. When I finally went to the opthamologist, she told me that I had a gash that couldn't heal because the scab would rip from attaching to my lid every morning when my eyes were dry. Eventually it formed a scar that would form cysts from friction from the eyelid. The cysts would regularly fuse and rupture and this was what was causing the pain and watering attacks. She assigned the drops and ointment and told me that if I could stop an attack for up to six months, then it should heal right. It took much longer because I was horrible with the meds., but eventually it healed.

On the Lasik thing I have a comment too. An aquaintance of mine had catarak (sp) laser surgury that was supposed to be more routine than even Lasik. During the process they peirced his retena of one eye and scarred the back of his other eye. He has been legally blind for almost 8 months and has had three repair surguries on one eye and two repair surguries on the other. Even with all that he will have lasting effects. Luckily he was retired and didn't have to worry about work. It seems that too many doctors think they can do these "common" surguries with little or no experience.

 

[TonyM.]

On a side note; my wife is still wearing the hard contacs she originally got in '70. The optomitrist polished them last year and was amazed they were still OK. (Her prescription hadn't changed and all the scratches buffed out.)

 

[Phil Elmore]

That's the neat thing about hard contacts -- they don't pick up the biological crap that makes soft contacts dangerous over time no matter how much you clean them.

 

[Cruentus]

Wow...I am glad this thread was revived. I had thought about getting it done....F-that. I'd rather be blind and comfortable.

Hey, does anyone have nay stats on this? What percentage of Lasik patients have long term complications?

Just wondering.

Thanks.

PAUL

 

[Bob Hubbard]

10-50% experience some complications.

Somewhere in the area of 5% of LASIK patients attempt suicide within 5 years of the surgury dur to those complications. (Yes, I did briefly consider it the first year....Being unable to read, function, drive and perform most of my normal pleasures was a source of constant anguish.)

Complications: Note- My comments are in Italics

Aniseikonia (difference in image size between the two eyes)
Anisometropia
Aquarium Vision
Arcing
BCVA (loss of)
Blindness
Branch Retinal Vein Occlusion
Cataract Formation
Central Islands
Central Toxic Keratopathy
Contrast Sensitivity Loss
Corneal Abrasions
Corneal Necrosis
Corneal Perforation
Corneal Scars
Corneal Thinning
Corneal Ulcers
Decompensated Strabismus
Depth Perception (loss of)
Diffuse Lamellar Keratitis (DLK, Sands of Sahara)
Dry Eyes (If you think this isn't a big deal, can you cope with having to put drops in hourly, maybe even every 5 minutes and absorb a $50-$100+ PER WEEK! eyedrop bill? Mine averaged out to $40/week for the first 2 years!)
Ectasia
Edema
Endothelial Cell Loss
Epithelial Ingrowth
Epithelial Sloughing
Flap Buttonhole
Flap Decentered
Flap Unfolding
Flap Melt
Flap Striae and Wrinkles
Flap Subluxation
Fluctuating Vision
GASH
Ghosting (This, combined with the next 4 are constant companions of mine)
Glare
Haloes
Haze
Headache
Hyperopic Shift
Induced Aberrations
Induced Astigmatism

Infectious Keratitis
Interface Debris
Interface Keratitis (infectious and non-infectious, early and late onset)
Irregular Astigmatism
Irregular Wound Healing
Microperforations
Monocular Diplopia

Muscle Spasms

Nerve Fiber Damage and/or Thinning
Night Vision Loss (Yup...got this...)

Nocturnal glare

Optic Nerve Infarction

Optic Nerve Neuropathy

Overcorrection

Pain (persistent)

Palebral fissures (expanding induced),

Photophobia (undesirable visual sensations produced by bright lights)

Progressive Hyperopia

Psychological Problems (induced or exacerbated)

Ptsopis (droopy eyelid)

Quality of Life (loss of)

Reading Problems (Yup. When the Sunday Comics kick your ***, theres a problem

Recurrent Erosion

Regression (both naturally occuring and induced via hypoxia)

Retinal breaks/tears/macular holes

Retinal Detachment

Scarring (My left eye has some scaring caused by constant abrasion.

Starbursts (Have this too, especially at night.

Steroid Induced Glaucoma

Trigeminal Neuralgia

Undercorrection

Uneven Pupils Sizes

Visual Field Defects

Vitreous Detachment (Floaters)

Future Induced Difficulties:

IOL Calculation Difficulties
Difficulty detecting Glaucoma Onset
Induced Contact Lens Intolerance
Increased susceptability to ocular trauma (i.e., late flap, dislocation)

 

[arnisador]

Glad to hear that it's getting better Kaith. Hope it continues.

 

[Bob Hubbard]

1 year update:
Eyes are still easily tired, but have been much better on the mosture level. I can now sleep at night without needing to put goop in em. I'm down to 1 box of drops per month, and thankfully walmart makes a generic version of the 1 drop I can still use. Night vision and haloing is still as it was. Light sensitivity has improved but I'm still wearing shades outside. Night visions better, but still not like it was.

3 years, $2000 operation, $5,000+ in drops, 10 pair of sunglasses.....still dunno if it was worth it.

 

[Ceicei]

Bob,
It's time for your another update. In a couple of months, it will be your 2nd year. How are your eyes now?

- Ceicei

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

Bob,

Thanks for this thread. I have on and off thought about Lasik
eye surgery and generally when talking to my family we determine
that the risks as of yet do not outweight the gain. My eyesight
for distances is not great but I see perfectly everything around
me in a twenty foot radius or so. Thanks again for this thread,
as it outlines some of the potential problems and highlights also
some of the common problems associated with Lasik!

Brian R. VanCise
www.instinctiveresponsetraining.com

 

[CrankyDragon]

1) Sorry to hear about your problems, hope things get better, though it sounds doubtful.

2) Thanks for sharing your story. Ive worn glasses as long as I can remember, Id love to throw them in the trash and have thought about that corrective surgery thing many times. I am now glad Ive never persued it.

3) The link in the original post is defunct. Can you check it please, Id like to look at the information you wanted to present.

Take care,
Andrew

 

[Bob Hubbard]

Link fixed: http://www.surgicaleyes.org/

It's been a little over 4 years now.
For the most part, my eyes are fine, though when I'm tired, or the humidity drops they bother me a bit. A little blurry and feel 'odd'. At the moment, my drop usage is minimal, a few a day, and once before bed. This will increase during the winter when the air is dryer in the house. Left eye is still a little out of focus compared to the right, but it's tollerable. Night drivings a bit more challenging as night is darker than it used to be. Rainy nights are the worse for me as everything is very dark, and theres lots of glare. Starbursts arouns light sources are the worse.

Look at http://www.surgicaleyes.org/ and check out the Image center. You can see through my eyes. LOL

 

[Jade Tigress]

You're situation really sucks. I'm glad things are slowly getting better for you. It seems to me there would be some sort of legal course you could take with the surgeon. Was the procedure performed properly? In any case, I'm glad you are having continued improvement.

 

[Bob Hubbard]

AFAIK it was, but, I never saw my records.
After the fact I've been told I should have had PRK not LASIK, and that I probably shouldn't have had either due to my eyes being too dry to start.
Unfortunately, you sign waivers, and I wasn't in a position to retain a lawyer then.

 

[arnisador]

I wasn't in a position to retain a lawyer then.

It's just as well. They'd rob you blind.

I'd like to get this done, but stories like Kaith's stop me. I've sat there chatting with him in person and watched him go through eye-drops as though they were addictive. (I'm glad it's improving!) I am not ready to take the risk.

Honestly, I've been hit in the glasses at times when I would otherwise have been poked in the eye--there are some benefits.

 

[Lisa]

Bob, How old were you when you had the surgery done? I was under the impression that the older you were, the higher the risk. Is this true?

My sister in law had the surgery done... she contracted an infection but luckily being a nurse practitioner she caught it early herself and was diligent about eye drops and antibiotics and saved herself a lot of pain and discomfort.

Me, I am lucky.. still have 20/20 vision It is a little blurry in the morning but that is often due to not having coffee yet