There are lots of people whose vision has been restored through expertly fitted rigid gas permeable (RGP) prosthetic contact lenses. Most of them are so happy to be able to see again, we never hear another word, except, perhaps, "thank you!" Dr. Ken Maller, whose expertise with Z-wave lenses is indisputable, has received a number of letters from happy patients who feel that posting their stories of rehab success might help others by giving them hope that things will improve.

The following posts are excerpts of some of those wonderful letters.

Mark Rolfs, Colorado, writes:

"I had Lasik surgery on both eyes early in 2001. The results were not good. Although the doctor who did my surgery told me that my vision was in the 20/30 range, it was clear to me that something was wrong. My vision fluctuated and nothing was clear. Even when I could read something, the characters looked very blurry. There was also a problem with a difference between my eyes. I felt like my head was being torn in half. My eyes just did not want to work with each other. The doctor who did my surgery was not helpful at all. He told me that my vision was fine. He did not recommend further surgery. I now realize that this was a blessing. Further surgery would most likely only have complicated the problem.

"My eye problems did not prevent me from functioning for the most part. I could still drive and I could usually read things, although sometimes with great difficulty. The big issue was that my vision was driving me crazy. It is only a small exaggeration to say that there were many times when I wanted to poke my eyes out with a sharp stick. I thought about my visual problems almost constantly for years. My quality of life was very poor during that period. I was not able to explain what I was experiencing to other people. Their attitude was that I could drive and work so everything must be okay. I think that they thought that I was imagining the problem.

"I traveled to Florida to see Dr. Maller. Dr. Maller spent a lot of time with me on the first visit. He explained what my problem was, which was something that no other doctor had been able to do up to that point. He said that different parts of the surface of my eye had different curvatures. Some parts of my eye were focusing at 20/20 but other parts were off by up to nine diopters. That was why I could read most letters, even though they were extremely blurred. Some parts of my eye were contributing a clear image of the letter but other parts were overlaying a bunch of smeared images on top of the correct image. This did not explain why my vision was fluctuating but it was still a big step forward. It was very comforting that someone actually understood at least part of what was wrong with me.

"Dr. Maller ordered a set of lens that arrived in two days. The left lens was perfect the first try, both in terms of fit and vision correction. The right lens needed further work. Due to various problems, it took three more attempts to get a lens for the right eye that worked correctly. The final test was whether I would be able to wear the lenses in Colorado. I have now been wearing them for several months. I do have very small problems with visual quality and comfort late in the day but this is a very minor problem relative to what I was experiencing previously. Overall, the lenses are a HUGE success. Dr. Maller measured my vision with contacts at 20/15 but this significantly understates the improvement in my vision. Everything is clear now. No more blurry, smeared view of the world. I no longer think about my vision constantly. It is hard to put into words how much this has improved my life. The lenses even solved the problem of my fluctuating vision. I have no idea why this happened but I don’t really care.

"One result of the contact lens is that I now need to wear reading glasses for close up work. Dr. Maller had warned me that this would probably happen. It is such a delight to be able to see clearly that it does not bother me at all to wear glasses part of the time."

Jansen, Ontario, Canada, writes:

"I had PRK laser surgery several years ago. Afterwards I was left with severe starbursts and haloes in both eyes. I had difficulty focusing on anything, even close up, and I had constant eyestrain and horrible headaches. I was unable to work full time and life had become pretty miserable for me. A few years later I had an unsuccessful enhancement surgery, and then another one a year later, and over the years I have tried various types of soft contacts, reverse geometry RGP's and even custom RGP's with a local OD.

"About two years ago I decided to see if Wave RGP contact lenses would work for me. There weren't any OD's in my area that could fit me, but I did some searching on the Web and found out about Dr. Ken Maller, an OD in Ft. Lauderdale, who specializes in fitting irregular corneas. I flew to Florida and saw him for an appointment on a Monday morning. He did an exam that included a topography. That morning he was able to design a set of lenses and he sent the design data to a lab in Las Vegas. The first set of lenses arrived two days later. The prescription for both lenses was right on and I couldn't believe the quality of my vision! According to the eye chart I was 20/15, and even able to make out some letters on the 20/10 line. Almost all of my visual aberrations had disappeared! I was amazed at the quality of my vision and I spent most of that afternoon just driving around and looking at things, and since I had some time to kill before my flight left, I even took in an iMax film.

"At home with the lenses, over the next few days I found that my right eye was getting a little irritated after five or six hours of wearing time, so I booked a return visit to Ft. Lauderdale. Dr. Maller was able to adjust the design slightly, and the new lens was more comfortable, although after wearing it a few days, I still found it a little irritating. I ended up seeing him a third time a few weeks later, and that lens fit like a charm. I have been wearing the same lens for almost two years. The original left lens was a great fit, but because I had had PRK laser surgery eight months before seeing Dr. Maller, about a year later, the shape of my cornea had changed just enough to change the way the lens fit on my cornea and was causing some irritation. I saw Dr. Maller again, and after two attempts he was able to fit me with a new left lens that I'm able to wear comfortably all day long.

Nowadays, comfort is fantastic in both eyes, and I can easily wear the lenses for 14 hours a day. I have dry eyes and was not able to wear soft lenses in the past because of a lid allergy, but both of those problems have not been an issue. My day and night vision is very good, and probably 80% or more of the aberrations are gone. Headaches and eyestrain are a thing of the past!

Before booking my appointment with Dr. Maller, I was doubtful that I would have much success with Wave lenses, as I had heard from some other post-LASIK patients who had been unsucessfully fitted by other OD's. Dr. Maller explained that the default lens design that the system comes up with is just a STARTING point in the fitting process, and that some OD's with limited experience may just go ahead and order the default design for patients with irregular corneas. He said that that approach almost always does not result in a good fit. Part of what Dr. Maller does now is act as a consultant for Wave and he trains OD's who are fitting patients that are post-LASIK, post-PRK, have keratoconus, grafts, and other eye diseases.

Janet Hawes, Washington, writes:

"After many hours of internet research weighing out the pros and cons I decided I would have [Lasik] done at a clinic in Vancouver, Canada, that allowed me to have all of the pre and post opt work done in Bellevue, WA. I (my Mother and Aunt) would only be in Vancouver for the procedure and one follow up visit the next day. Simple and convenient enough. The price was less then half of what I would have pay for the procedure in WA at the time and I was quite excited. I was getting the procedure done by experts at half price!

"The surgery was uneventful as well as the post op appointment the next day. I returned home the following morning. When I walked into my home, I noticed something strange. My vision seemed fuzzy the instant I walked from the sunny outdoors to the inside of my house. This sensation became constant when my eyes transitioned from light environments to dark and vice versa. Several weeks later I noticed that I was not seeing things on TV as clear as I had before. Two months after the surgery, I traveled over the mountains with my family. I kept asking my husband if he could see and he kept responding that he could. I said “you’re lucky I’m not driving because I can’t see at all.” This was the first time that I was out of my familiar surroundings and I realized I truly could not see properly.

"In the next two years to follow, although I made many attempts to have it corrected, my sight seemed to worsen daily. Simple lights became extremely large like blinding flood lights with halos around them that seemed to go on forever. Figures in the dark came and went as ghosts in a science fiction movie. I was no longer able to do the things that I most enjoyed (let alone the daily necessities).

"I was told that the University of Washington would see patients that had lasik surgery done in Canada. After a very frustrating exam, with fluctuating vision, the head of the Ophthalmology department provided me with his determination. The [ablation] that had been made during the surgery was too small for the size of my pupils. He explained to me how there was no technology available at that time to correct what had been done wrong. He recommended that I do not have an enhancement surgery due to the risk of scar tissue and thinning cornea from wearing contacts for many, many years. The good news was that the doctor explained to me that I was not crazy! Even though I was seeing 20/20 with my contacts, my visual acuity was not there. He kindly and patiently explained to me how our eyes are a camera to our brains and that mine was very confused. It couldn’t process the way I was seeing anymore. Saddened, but somewhat relieved that someone could explain what was wrong I continued my pursuit for normalcy.

"I began working with an optometrist at the University of Washington who specialized in fitting contacts. After countless fittings he eventually exhausted his options. While he was able to get the vision correct, to actually wear the contacts was unbearable for me.

[A local optometrist] provided me with Dr. Maller's web address. I immediately looked up his site and emailed him. He responded to me later that day and said he would be interested in reviewing my medical records. The following day I sent my medical records via overnight mail. Shortly thereafter he contacted me and said he could not guarantee anything but thought he might be able to help me. We agreed on an appointment date and I made travel arrangements. I was nervous and did not want to get my hopes up too high. I understood that Dr. Maller’s treatment was through special contact lenses and there would be no cutting, poking or probing to be fearful of. At my first visit Dr. Maller explained that he didn’t expect a perfect match the first fitting. Dr. Maller goes for comfort first then goes after the vision enhancement. “After all,” he said, ”if they’re not comfortable, you won’t wear them.” Boy, did I understand that comment! After a lengthy exam and lots of questions and answers, he told me to come back in a couple of days to try the first set of contacts on and he would determine what steps to take next.

"Two days later, at my exam, Dr. Maller slipped the contact into my eyes and believe it or not I could actually open my eyes with them in. I wasn’t even blinking a million miles an hour. After several minutes of wearing them I started to realize that I could actually see normally for the first time in 4 years! It was so unbelievable I told Dr. Maller I think I can see. Dr. Maller gave me an eye exam and yes I could see 20/20! I could see almost to the smallest letters on the eye chart. No fuzzy vision! No double vision! No halos! No bursting! No even a bit of guessing or presuming what I was seeing! Everything was clear for the first time in 4 long, long years! I was so delighted but still had some apprehension as to whether it would last.

"Dr. Maller had me come back in couple of days for a follow up appointment. During that visit, everything checked out perfect. For the first time in almost 4 years I actually drove in the dark to a store in Florida with absolutely no interference of vision problems. I went to a professional hockey game in the Florida coliseum and didn’t have major anxiety about not being able to see once I got into the building because lack of visual acuity and poor lighting. I actually flew home from Florida by myself. Prior Dr. Maller’s treatment I would not have even considered walking through an airport without a companion much less getting on a plane and flying home.

"In summary, I hope by writing this letter, I can play some small part in giving others who can identify with my story, some hope. I’d like to convey some understanding that they’re not alone. I want to give some encouragement that their own lives just may be improved through the services of Dr. Maller. And finally, I want to thank Dr. Maller for giving me my life back and all he does to help others with the same."