ok, on to the thing that disappointed me...
I’m not sure if I’m more disappointed in the doctor or in myself for having had the procedure done.
April 25th will mark the 1 year anniversary of my lasik procedure. I’ve never been completely satisfied with my vision ever since. Anytime someone would ask me about it, I thought that I was coming across as being so “Debbie Downer”; pessimistic.
Each appointment after the surgery, the doctor would not ask me how I was feeling; he would tell me. He would make statements like “you must be so excited that you’re able to see so clearly” or “it must be fantastic that you can see 20/20 now”. Those types of shrewd statements started making me angry right away.
I would bring a whole list of things to address at my appointments, but each time I would just get “yeah, you still have some swelling, give it time” and other manipulations. I asked for a prescription for Restasis, since I had read about how this helps healing by making your eye wet, but he didn’t feel that my eyes were dry enough to justify a prescription drop.
By May 24th, I noticed that my left eye was weaker than my right. But when I mentioned it to the (assistant) doctor, he would say “you still see 20/20”.
At the last appointment I had with the assistant lasik doctor in October, he stated that he didn’t believe that he would need to see me any longer unless I had some major issues.
So, at this point I gave up and decided that I would just live with the problems.
Lately I had noticed myself squinting to see things like road signs, etc. So, I finally made an appointment with an Optometrist.
I went on Tuesday evening, prior to the VF Committee Meeting as described in my earlier post.
I told her that I had had lasik a year ago and that I’ve noticed lately a lot of blurring and the left eye is not as strong as the right. I felt that my eyes were dry and I am always yawning to bring up natural tears since they seem to work better than the drops that the assistant lasik doctor gave me; Refresh and Optive. I will use Visine in the morning and again in the evening. She told me that typically she would not prescribe Restasis unless the person really has a bad dry eye problem. It takes several months for the drops to kick in and there are complaints that the drops sting.
She did the typical eye test where you have the optical refractor (phoropter) up against your face and you read the letters at the other end of the room, and then she put some drops in my eyes and looked into them through a microscope kind of tool reflecting different color lights off the corneas.
She asked if this had been the only surgery on my eyes or had I ever had more. I told her this was it. Hummmm. After her exam, she said that she was not really impressed with how my corneas look. She also felt that the scar tissue was really large and that is why she asked if I had had more than one procedure on my eyes. She is not sure if it was the result of shoddy work or if it’s just the way I healed. Also, my prescription has changed and I am becoming near-sighted again. I will need to have glasses in order to drive if I want to see clearly during the night or other times where vision is hampered. She told me that she would be writing me a prescription for Restasis because even when I blink, my eye is not creating enough lubrication. So, I am suffering from dry eye. She would like to see me again in 4 months.
She asked how the lasik doctor responded to my complaints and I told her about his leading statements. She said “yes, you may be seeing everything on the chart, but it’s not a quality 20/20”. She also suggested that it wouldn’t be a good idea to get a “touch-up” because of the condition of my scar tissue.
The surgery cost me nearly $2400 and I feel that if the assistant lasik doctor could have done something for me like prescribe the Restasis and it would have made things better, why wouldn’t he?
I think that the lasik doctors are only interested in the high price you are paying and once you’ve done that – they don’t want to get a bad name, so they manipulate you to make you feel like you are pessimistic and you just need to wait a little while longer; be patient. No bad press for them.
I am tempted to make another appointment with my lasik doctor to see what he has to say now.
April 25th will mark the 1 year anniversary of my lasik procedure. I’ve never been completely satisfied with my vision ever since. Anytime someone would ask me about it, I thought that I was coming across as being so “Debbie Downer”; pessimistic.
Each appointment after the surgery, the doctor would not ask me how I was feeling; he would tell me. He would make statements like “you must be so excited that you’re able to see so clearly” or “it must be fantastic that you can see 20/20 now”. Those types of shrewd statements started making me angry right away.
I would bring a whole list of things to address at my appointments, but each time I would just get “yeah, you still have some swelling, give it time” and other manipulations. I asked for a prescription for Restasis, since I had read about how this helps healing by making your eye wet, but he didn’t feel that my eyes were dry enough to justify a prescription drop.
By May 24th, I noticed that my left eye was weaker than my right. But when I mentioned it to the (assistant) doctor, he would say “you still see 20/20”.
At the last appointment I had with the assistant lasik doctor in October, he stated that he didn’t believe that he would need to see me any longer unless I had some major issues.
So, at this point I gave up and decided that I would just live with the problems.
Lately I had noticed myself squinting to see things like road signs, etc. So, I finally made an appointment with an Optometrist.
I went on Tuesday evening, prior to the VF Committee Meeting as described in my earlier post.
I told her that I had had lasik a year ago and that I’ve noticed lately a lot of blurring and the left eye is not as strong as the right. I felt that my eyes were dry and I am always yawning to bring up natural tears since they seem to work better than the drops that the assistant lasik doctor gave me; Refresh and Optive. I will use Visine in the morning and again in the evening. She told me that typically she would not prescribe Restasis unless the person really has a bad dry eye problem. It takes several months for the drops to kick in and there are complaints that the drops sting.
She did the typical eye test where you have the optical refractor (phoropter) up against your face and you read the letters at the other end of the room, and then she put some drops in my eyes and looked into them through a microscope kind of tool reflecting different color lights off the corneas.
She asked if this had been the only surgery on my eyes or had I ever had more. I told her this was it. Hummmm. After her exam, she said that she was not really impressed with how my corneas look. She also felt that the scar tissue was really large and that is why she asked if I had had more than one procedure on my eyes. She is not sure if it was the result of shoddy work or if it’s just the way I healed. Also, my prescription has changed and I am becoming near-sighted again. I will need to have glasses in order to drive if I want to see clearly during the night or other times where vision is hampered. She told me that she would be writing me a prescription for Restasis because even when I blink, my eye is not creating enough lubrication. So, I am suffering from dry eye. She would like to see me again in 4 months.
She asked how the lasik doctor responded to my complaints and I told her about his leading statements. She said “yes, you may be seeing everything on the chart, but it’s not a quality 20/20”. She also suggested that it wouldn’t be a good idea to get a “touch-up” because of the condition of my scar tissue.
The surgery cost me nearly $2400 and I feel that if the assistant lasik doctor could have done something for me like prescribe the Restasis and it would have made things better, why wouldn’t he?
I think that the lasik doctors are only interested in the high price you are paying and once you’ve done that – they don’t want to get a bad name, so they manipulate you to make you feel like you are pessimistic and you just need to wait a little while longer; be patient. No bad press for them.
I am tempted to make another appointment with my lasik doctor to see what he has to say now.
Comments
Maybe you should see a lawyer and recover your original cost since you are no longer 20/20.
It's frustrating when some drs think they know more about what your feeling than you do.
Good luck.
However, the thought is crossing my mind more and more...