REFRACTIVE LENS EXCHANGE aka RLE/NLR +IOLs

I am devastated!

As a scuba instructor travelling all over the world, I was fed up with swapping between lenses and glasses, so I had lens replacement in my left eye on 21st December ’14 and the second eye a week later.

I am less than 3 weeks post op but I know my vision is not right.

I cannot see in low light and whilst I can read small print it seems like I'm looking through cling film and it makes me feel nauseous. I tried to walk the dog this morning and I could not see him 40ft away!

I have been back to the clinic this morning and been told it's a matter of time, but I don't have time! Yes, I expected not to dive for 12 weeks as Optical Express told me, but in this condition I could not ever be responsible for students under water. Right now I see no way out of this.

Strangely, after my first lens was inserted my sight was worse than before the operation. I was told it was because the other lens had not been put in, so I used a contact lens in my right eye and things were ok. I mentioned this to the surgeon Alex George before the second eye was done and he abruptly told me I had better than 20/20 vision.

Yes I can see small print without glasses, but my sight is NOT improving as they say, and my world is a horrid sickly blur. I hope something will change because I cannot live like this.

The misleading description of laser lens replacement surgery being "non-evasive"remains on the Optical Express website! This would be laughable if it didn't have such potentially serious consequences, especially if carried out on unsuitable patients with unsuitable lens implants.

Until legislation and regulation is enforced by the government; and here is yet another prime example of why this has to be made to happen?!

I am yet again, writing to my MP, SMP, the Care Quality Commission, Healthcare improvement Scotland and of course Which?. Anyone else worth writing to? General Optical Council? This is the good thing about not being gagged.

I request that others left with problems through lens surgery with Optical Express do the same.

To quote Mr Steve Schallhorn

"This process (informed consent!) starts even before the patient shows up/even before the consultation with the information that's available, written information!"

What about information on the Optical Express website?!

Laser lens surgery is described on Optical Express's website as "non-evasive". Are they being deliberately misleading, dishonest - or maybe just plain stupid? How ridiculous is this description?

Ordinary people with no knowledge will take this at face value and believe that this surgery is without risk! This is WRONG! The beginning of the Optical Express informed consent process!

If you experienced retinal detachment after undergoing RLE or NLE (refractive/natural lens exchange) please contact me asap

admin@opticalexpressruinedmylife.co.uk

"It’s an increasingly common scenario: A middle-aged woman with minimal refractive error visits her ophthalmologist. She’s annoyed by the fact that she needs reading glasses and she’s determined to get rid of them. She’s been surfing the Web, reading about accommodative and pseudoaccommodative IOLs, and arrives armed with articles. She hates wearing glasses. She cannot (or will not) tolerate monovision contact lenses. She has no sign of cataracts, but she is “desperate to do something,” and she wants to talk about refractive lens exchange procedures

What do you tell such a person when she visits your office? For James J. Salz, MD, the answer is obvious: No way. “Regardless of the extent of the patient consent she signed, there is not a chance I could defend in court performing intraocular surgery simply to get rid of a $10 pair of reading glasses.” It is a view he shares with the Ophthalmic Mutual Insurance Company, which has, in the past several years, published guidelines to help surgeons navigate the somewhat murky legal and ethical waters of this increasingly popular refractive procedure”

According to Ophthalmic Mutual Insurance Company (Betsy Kelley): “Ophthalmologists may have a difficult time getting in front of a jury or judge to defend this procedure in the event of an adverse outcome, especially if the patient is relatively young with minimal refractive error and no evidence of cataracts,”
www.aao.org/publications/eyenet/200506/feature.cfm

Worldwide studies are funded by the industry, by those who make the most profit from refractive eye surgery, and statistics are therefore biased.

At a meeting in April, I argued this with Julian Stevens, one of Moorfields’ best known refractive eye surgeons, and he agreed with me (recorded).

I would like to believe that Sir Harold Ridley would not have approved of his sight saving invention being sold as an economic commodity:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Ridley_%28ophthalmologist%29

According to the OE website they are offering laser lens surgery.
Is this superior method available now at all OE locations carrying out lens surgery?


www.opticalexpress.co.uk/lens-surgery/what-is-lens-surgery.html

"All Laser Natural Lens Replacement Surgery is a non-evasive method of performing your treatment using femtosecond laser technology."

"Non-evasive"?


Does this mean that they will look after those patients unfortunate to develop complications without imposing a gagging clause?

Except for newspaper sized text my vision was brilliant. The woman who tested me at Specsavers said my long range vision was amazing. Now it's all gone to hell on a handcart.

I should have taken notice of the Spitting image song "I've never met a nice South African"

Trouble is this one had a scalpel in his hand!

What could you see prior to the surgery

Winter is here again so I'm having to drive at night, halo's from car headlights are a nightmare. Made an appointment with specsavers to see if they could supply me with anti-glare lenses and was told there is nothing they can do. Bummer. They did test my eyes and gave me a form to hand to my G.P. Here are the numbers on the form. hopefully someone on this site can explain them to me. Right eye sph distance +0.05 near +1.00 Left eye distance -0.50 near 0-00 Under comments they wrote VA .R eye 6/5.5 with halo/shadows. L eye 6/7.5 with halo/shadows. R eye 6/15 L eye 6/15 Thanks in advance. The lady who tested my eyes didn't want to get involved with my problems but did say that she is hearing from workmates she talks to that there are a lot of people with the same problems.
__________________
admin: Pls contact admin@opticalexpressruinedmylife.co.uk

Having RLE done in Jan 2012 by Mr George Settas‎ was the biggest mistake of my life. Having succumbed to the hard sell from Optical Express I am left with blurred vision in my left eye on top of the halos snd starbursts and difficulty in night time driving. My advice to anyone is to not have it done snd stick to wearing glasses, otherwise you are playing Russian roulette with your eyesight