General Chat

Just having a look through this site as someone who is considering eye surgery and wanting to research thoroughly first.

Do you think there are any decent companies out there with properly trained surgeons?

I've always put off surgery as I was too worried about something going wrong. Obviously the majority, if not all, of experiences on here are negative but surely this surgery is something that can have good results if carried out by a properly experienced surgeon in a hospital setting? I have to say I would never consider going to a high street store for this sort of procedure. Any advice would be appreciated.
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admin: Stay worried - wish I had! There are no guarantees and problems can occur no matter who performs the surgery.

I'm representing a damaged patient in the small claims court, operated on by one of Moorfields' 'top' surgeons. (It will be reported in the press)

Even if considered successful you could still suffer with side effects like starbursts and halos.

Read the small print and make up your own mind whether the very real and possible risks are worth taking simply to give up wearing specs or CLs.

Everyone posting here wishes they'd had the info you have before going ahead with the biggest mistake of their lives!

When I worked at OE, about ? yrs ago, for patients who had only one good eye, the protocol was not to recommend treatment if the bad eye was worse than 6/12, ie less than driving standard, in case the treatment on the good eye went wrong. However, there was pressure to change it from the top, but the surgeons at that time wouldn’t go along with it as the Royal College wouldn’t support it. By the way Giles Turner was my line manager. Cut him in half and he's like a stick of rock with OE running all the way through him!
A guy certainly not to be trusted :evil:
As for Hannan, words fail me..

Worrying that McOptom couldn't trust his eyes and needed to run colour tests. When we used to meet at the Complex Cases clinic in Harley Street (before OE made a "corporate decision" to ban me) I didn't think to ask him if he'd had laser eye surgery!

Also surprising that he found time for frivolity with so many damaged patients to 'help'!



Read Nick's story (True Stories) for more about irresponsible optometrist Giles Turner who spoke to Sky News yesterday - see video:
news.sky.com/…/what-colour-is-this-dress-debate-swam…

conversation.which.co.uk/consumer-rights...r-eye-surgery-terms/
I had to LOL when I read the comment from malcolm r who obviously has no knowledge at all of what Sasha Rodoy is doing and had the ignorance to ask her 'have you lobbied your MP?'! If he looked on Google and You Tube he'd find she has done much more than that!! Even better, have a look at Optical Express Ruined My Life Facebook/website and you might find yourself feeling embarassed for your obvious ignorance. Problem with some people is that they are too quick to judge without bothering to spend some time invetsigating the details or themselves.

There is a theory that many surgeons are psychopaths, because not many other people would have the courage to perform surgeries that could possibly go horribly wrong, a useful quality in this line of work. But there is a downside when ethics are replaced with greed and personal reward is more important than patient welfare.
I am now totally distrustful of doctors after I trusted one who trashed my eyes!

"Worryingly, a top surgeon from Moorfields Eye Hospital, Julian Stevens, describes the first few surgeries as crude and it being a case of “burn and learn.” But at what risk? Many patients were left with terrible side-effects such as; dry eyes, blurring, unable to look at bright lights and even loss of eyesight. Depending on how one looks at it you could see the progressions in Laser Eye Surgery as a thankful development or a sorry sacrifice for several people in the name of science. 6th December 2009"
www.youreyeguide.co.uk/lasereyesurgery/l...urgery-turns-21.html

Nothing’s changed as Julian and his pals continue to "burn and learn" - sadly too much burning and not enough learning

i will post my story when I have spoken to the solicitor, but thought you might like to laugh at this for now!

Heather A wrote: Does anyone have experience of Wavefront Contact Lenses?

I have no experience of these, however similar technology is applied to scleral lenses.

Four years ago today (it was a Friday) I temporarily lost my sanity, forgot why I was scared, and had lasek eye surgery. With regard to it being "life changing", the ads are true, it was!

Today’s date is even more memorable than my own birthday, and since accepting that my eyes are ruined, every single morning I have woken up wishing I could reach for a pair of glasses that will give me crisp clear vision, without pain and without so many debilitating side effects!

Sometimes I don’t open my eyes for a while and lie in bed trying to remember how it was, pretending that when I do open them I’ll be back to normal. Sad huh?!

Short sighted from the age of fourteen, people often suggested that I should consider laser eye surgery, but I was too scared of what might go wrong, adding the excuse that I couldn’t because of my astigmatism.

In hindsight, why did I think I needed an excuse? There should be no need to justify your decision to others.

After surgery, for less than half an hour, I had the ‘wow’ factor people talk about, when I could see distance without specs. Then the anaesthetic wore off and the intense pain kicked in - for three days! Lasek is no fun - then or now!

Three days later, when I was able to open my eyes without too much pain, I couldn’t see anything close up, not even the controls on the washing machine, or my watch. That was the real ‘wow’ factor for me!

I experienced loss of depth perception immediately after surgery, and poor vision in lowlight, starbursts, etc… and my gut instinct didn’t believe the assurances that it would improve... give it a month, three months...

For perhaps a year I could see distance without specs, but not any more, and even had it lasted, I would never have traded my perfect near vision for that.

If only someone had warned me, been honest, and left me to enjoy my beautiful healthy eyes.

Two years later, I was wearing three different prescriptions - for everything, unable to see clearly at any distance! Even more problematic, the starbursts and photophobia got worse, and I developed MGD, which the industry swear has nothing to do with laser eye surgery - they are WRONG!

Vision correction surgery is incorrectly described by many as ‘cosmetic surgery’, but it doesn’t matter what the person's reason, this is NOT a cosmetic procedure. And, with RLE being pushed as an option to laser (bigger profits), I doubt that anyone would describe cataract surgery as cosmetic!

Pre surgery, because I wore designer frames, with thin anti glare lenses, each pair could cost as much as £600, and I always had two pairs, plus sunglasses. So whenever I changed lenses, or bought new frames, it was an expensive outlay. The irony is that I had surgery to save money, but as a result I need three different prescriptions instead of just one, and my vision fluctuates, so my opticians make more money from me than they ever did!

Even worse, aged 57, with a stable prescription for more than 4 yrs, I didn’t realise it was unlikely to change much, certainly not over the next 10 years!

And why didn’t I ask my optician’s advice? Because I thought he would talk me out of laser so as not to lose sales! I now realise how little I knew about eyes back then, whereas I now know enough for a First Class degree!

In January 2012 David Moulsdale visited the Optimax head office in Finchley Road, when he apparently told Russell Ambrose: “We have a problem with Sasha Rodoy”.

No flies on David!

Russell told me he didn’t understand why David was worried at that time, because it was before I’d published OERML, still blissfully unaware of the numbers damaged by laser eye surgery. But of course David knew the scale of the problems, and he didn’t want me finding out.

David Moulsdale then sent his General Operations Director, Patrick James Green, to bribe me not to mention Optical Express in any interviews. But of course that went badly wrong for OE when I recorded our meeting and later found out that Patrick is the number one suspect in a 1992 murder investigation.

Subsequently, in October 2012, Surrey police filed a report with concerns for my safety. Last year I requested a copy under the FOI Act, available to any interested journalists.

When well meaning people ask if my eyes are getting any better, like it’s a broken leg that will heal, I bite my tongue and explain that my eyes will never get better, only worse.

Even my GP called me in response to my requesting anti depressants recently (I was teetering) and suggested it would be better for me to go in and discuss the underlying cause of my mood swings.

Now Dr J is a great doctor who knows what’s happened to my eyes, but I had to spell it out for him too! This is a black cloud that will always shadow my life, as so many of you understand.

Last night I watched a movie on TV, and when attempting to read the closing credits (white letters on black) I was horrified to realise I have a new affliction - ghosting!!

To be fair to the industry, it must be said that they are genuinely very upset that my eyes are irreparably damaged, and my life as I knew it destroyed. I see you raising your eyebrows in disbelief, but they really are upset - because there is no amount of money that will persuade me to shut up and go away!

Compensation with a gagging order failed to silence me, as did bribery offers and physical threats.

Russell Ambrose told me in 2013 that I should stop being angry, but I fuel my campaign against this corrupt and immoral industry with my anger!

Not how I would choose to live my life, but that’s how it is

Does anyone have experience of Wavefront Contact Lenses? I've been reading of their success in Texas (Dallas) to reduce glare, ghosting, lack of contrast etc.

Sounds really good, but, a very long way to go and very expensive. Do you think that OE would pay?

Any information would be really useful.... I'm almost desperate enough to remortgage the house to go to America and investigate (almost - I don't really have the money for what might be wishful thinking)????

Heather