Lasik | Lasek Problems

My full clinical notes arrived today from Optical Express:



I may have dry eyes, MGD, problems with reading, light sensitivity, halos, ghosting and eye pain... but hey, lucky me - at least I don't drive!

Hi Maria,
I am an artist and colour is so important to me that I once bought 3 different brands of brilliant white emulsion, in order to find one I liked........this was before Optimax trashed my eyes! Now colour has drained from my world and it's a nightmare.
It is a fact that nearly all laser treated eyes lose some contrast sensitivity, and in some cases the loss will be significant, yet surgeons and providers never explain that this means you will also lose some colour perception (as in my case). It is unbelievably arrogant and irresponsible to assume that we won't mind/notice.
The public should be told about this so that they can decide if the treatment is right for them.
Had I known that I would lose even the tiniest amount of colour perception, I would never have had my eyes done, but, like most everyone else here, I was not fully informed!!

I'm having a bad day.
Last night my eyes were very sore, worse than usual and I had to apply my gel every hour until I ran out. The tube lasted only 3 days!
In the morning I couldn't see the text on my computer and in order to reply to an email I enlarged it until I had a couple of words on the page, making it impossible to compose a coherent reply. I gave up.
During the weekly shop (kids have to eat) the strip-lights seemed a lot harsher and when it came to checking eggs for cracks, I simply couldn't see the difference in colour or texture between the box and the egg. I felt around, mumbling that they should use different colour boxes. When I came home I realised the boxes were different.

What i could see ( kind of, this is actually clearer than my actual vision was at the time - I'm just rubbish at distorting images online)

But the eggs look like this in real life


What's going on ?!!!
My dad is an artist and as a child I was able to distinguish between very subtle shades dad mixed up for me. And I wore glasses then. I'm sad to be losing yet another skill I once took for granted.

KC - I'm sorry to hear this happened to you. We like to think we are protected by strict regulations where in fact this industry seems to see the customers as opportunity to make money, without the care and responsibility attached.
I remember my own consent process which I now see as 'manipulated' not informed. And very rushed, without a chance to challenge facts stated in the sales room, nor a chance to further investigate the risk factors on the clinical form. My patient information pack, given to me as 'everything you need before the procedure' contained promotional material and a map, I couldn't even check what was in there due to having just been given eye drops at the consultation. At home I searched online for customer feedback but found the positive, caring face of Optical Express. If I had found OERML I would have cancelled the op - my procedure was a birthday gift and purely elective, I wouldn't have taken the risk. I signed the clinical consent form minutes before the surgery, clipboard on my lap, my glasses in the waiting room in my daughters bag. I read it all as carefully as I was able under the circumstances - I was anxious, especially when a nurse told me I was next. But I felt the risk factors didn't really apply to me - after all, during my consultation and the sales appointment everyone referred to me as 'perfect candidate'. I trusted the people in the room - the optometrist seemed knowledgeable, told me an anecdote about his wife and how LASIK she'd had only 'last week' was as close to a miracle as you can get, no pain, no complications. I thought it was a bit early to say but he was the professional in the room. My concerns related to medical conditions I suffer from, and now know should have rang alarm bells, were dismissed as irrelevant as risk factors. Nobody mentioned the pupil size - until recently I had no idea mine was classed as big. Nor did I get told my need for reading glasses would come overnight, +2, a shock for someone who expected a normal age related process. Dry eye was only an issue for people with current dry eye problems - not me then. As the branch manager was present at my sales appointment, I felt reassured - surely if she spotted any underhand or unethical practices, she would address them immediately. Instead she pressured me to decide on the spot, and pay, as the price was likely to jump very soon - this was a one off special offer.
Like you KC -I'm grateful it didn't turn out worse. I'm also very anxious about my future - the complications are increasingly having an impact on my day to day life. The multiple reading glasses of different strengths, the visual disturbances, constantly dry eyes, photo-sensitivity - all instead of one pair of reliable glasses. It was no special offer. Especially now they are changing terms of aftercare, I'm likely to keep paying out for the rest of my life - and so is a taxpayer.
When I came for one of the post op checks, the sales assistant wouldn't meet my gaze. Previously chatty, she busied herself behind the desk and hardly spoke to me. What makes a person break every rule, how do they go on with their daily life with the knowledge they mislead and cheated people who trusted them. I couldn't.
All the best to you KC.

Having read some of the horror stories and having had a very negative reply to my complaint from Optical Express I am now ready to share my story if it might help you with your demand for proper regulation of this industry. I recently listened to the 2014 BBC 5 Live interview and agree that what is needed is informed consent. In my case there was a complete lack of this. I was simply told I was an ideal candidate for Lens Replacement surgery. I did not see my surgeon until 3 minutes before my operation, at which point he asked if I had any questions. Having waited almost 6 hours I suggested we had better get on with it. So no assessment was undertaken by my surgeon prior to the procedure. The only "cooling off" period was the 6 hour wait and that was BEFORE I saw the surgeon.!
I wrote a letter of complaint and received a very detailed reply with a long list of points most of which were a fallacy as none of the things they said happened had actually happened. The long consent form was handed in when I got there and not discussed. My distance sight was not good enough and had to be enhanced by a Laser procedure 6 months later. This did improve the distance but at a cost to the reading element.( I now need a +2.5 prescription). So I now have lots of reading glasses as they are never where you need them. As my distance is almost perfect I consider myself very lucky bearing in mind what could have happened.I agree that we seem to go into this naively with a lack of informed consent and that really needs to change. OE refused my request for varifocal lenses (I offered an existing frame to save costs) to put me back to where I was before the operation. So no goodwill there either.
The sales guy was wonderful, the promised outcome seemed wonderful too. However, the reality left a lot to be desired. Perhaps under the Sale of goods Act they could be sued for "goods not as described". I was promised I would only need glasses when in a darkened restaurant.

I will look upon this as a very expensive mistake (£4000) and am grateful that it didn't turn out worse than it has. Knowing what I now know I would never agreed to go ahead.
____________________________
admin: Re 'Perhaps under the Sale of goods Act they could be sued for "goods not as described".

Currently there are a number of people doing exactly this! If you send email with your phone number I'll be happy to advise info@opticalexpressruinedmylife.co.uk

NB: The Sale of Goods Act has been replaced by the Consumer Rights Act

Joe Tye's very helpful facts about LASIK, have no doubt helped a great many people make the right decision over the years, so I have the deepest respect for him......I wish I had found his videos etc. before I had my eyes treated! One thing I'd like to point out though, is that while glasses and contacts are obviously safer than surgery, reason no:10 for not having LASIK states that some leading surgeons have replaced lasik with surface treatments, but these are by no means a safer alternative. I had lasek, a surface treatment, but it left me with so many complications that my life is a living hell. Years of terrible pain and terrible eyesight, and now getting worse.
If you are thinking of having any type of refractive surgery, please don't risk your precious eyes.

if only I'd seen this before my op. I would have walked away even after I paid the balance - in a long run it will cost me far more. It's hard not to bang one's head on a brick wall… my Mum is a nuclear physicist and she was against this procedure, but what does she know - I regrettably trusted OE!

Valuable info from Joe Tye

I trusted my optometrist and he greatly minimized the risks ( or chose to ignore them altogether) so if you're thinking of having your eyes 'done' the only way to make informed decision and give fully informed consent is to look outside of the industry. There are tons of research papers one could read - I wish I had done that before I let these people near my eyes. Listening to testimonials of others would have made a difference to my decision - I'm not a risk taker.
Below are some bits I found useful in my recent, desperate quest to find out more, beautifully assembled by Mr Joe Tye.






www.lasikcomplications.com/TopTenReasons.htm

In recent weeks I've had to face a prospect of living with consequences of my procedure. I researched Lasik until I was blue in the face and really hard to live with (ask my kids). Anyway, while I'm still determined to get to the bottom of how a company is allowed to manipulate customers and terms of provision in this, I thought, highly regulated industry - I'm also determined to introduce a positive element to this sad affair. After all, we have to live with this stuff every day, while we wait for Karma to intervene. So, how are you people coping with the consequences of your procedure?

After years of optometrists dismissing my concerns, I finally got to see a surgeon, a nice man, who explained my fluctuating vision is due to chronically dry eyes and my night vision disturbances are a result of performing Lasik on a large pupil - something I was born with - and could have been minimized by doing the superior iDesign procedure. Hello, I would have had that if I'd known. Anyway, only a week ago I was handed a lovely paper bag full of goodies but sadly I've got through a lot of it already. So I'd assembled my own little survival kit (please observe the forget-me-nots, couldn't find a dog with a bone).

For the dry eyes I'm supplementing my diet with Omega 3,6,9 and plenty of water. I'm also taking vitamin supplements. My GP prescribed some well superior drops and gel - it has no preservatives added and seems to give faster and longer lasting relief. My most recent find is the lavender eye pillow I warm up in the microwave - much better than warm flannel and more effective for tension headache. I tend to frown and clench when my symptoms are worst and this mask helps avoid painkillers. If out, I use the headache remedy one paints on the forehead, helps a bit. Also if I can't put drops in ( like in a bus - end up poking myself in the eye) the eye mist is a Godsend.

Now glasses. My vision fluctuates between +1/2 and +2 so I have 4 pairs of reading glasses. I also suffer from light sensitivity so for computer use and white light I have the lovely yellow pair (customized with Elastoplast because I couldn't find a metal free pair and I tend to react badly to metal). Sunglasses are essential - I have an ordinary medium dark pair for indoors and cloudy days and dark wrap around ones for brighter days. I must say, the wrap around glasses are a real find - they protect the eyes from dust as well, and since my procedure I'm really sensitive to dust. I got the metal free pair from Boots but have seen them around for half the price if metal is not an issue.

If I'd known I'd be swapping a pair of glasses for all this lot... :S
Wishing all sufferers a good day!

I feel sorry for you, Klopper butchered me back in 2009, my vision is shot, the guy is totally incompetent in my opinion, he knew my pupil size was large and then proceeded to give me much smaller optical zones, he must have known that this would cause massive issues yet he went ahead and did it anyway, I have a report from Prof Dua who is the very best in his field stating that my pupil size with the optical zones Klopper did would 100% guarantee major issues and he is correct, aside from that Klopper also for some reason did elliptical optical zones and the one on my right eye is not even centered, the guy is just a complete butcher.

I have just successfully completed almost 4 years of litigation with Klopper which I won a large settlement, I suggest you don't go near him or OE again, see a good independent surgeon and look at starting litigation.