Bill C.
April 1999

It’s been just over a year since I had LASIK performed on both my eyes, and I can report that there has not been much of a change since I first started posting (almost) monthly updates on internet bulletin boards.


I still have problems in anything less that bright natural light. This means that at dusk, or when it is cloudy, or when I am in an artificially lit room, etc. my hazing and glaring become painfully noticeable. I am reminded each day of the mistake I made on March 19, 1998, which is when I had my surgery.


Here’s my story in brief. When I was screened for surgery I was told I was a ‘perfect candidate’. How many of you have heard that one! I explained to the doctor doing the screening that my main hesitation over having the surgery was the fear of ‘starbursts’. I explained that I was moving to a northern region where the nights (and dusks) are long in the winter and where it is cloudy very often. In other words, somewhere light is in short supply much of the time. I explained this to his assistant, too; and to the doctor who was going to perform the surgery. I was assured that there was no special reason why I should become a statistic.


So I had the surgery. Since then I have not been able to enjoy a film on TV or at a cinema; take a walk in the evening without seeing all objects with a fuzzy halo or starburst, depending on the object and the amount of light; can’t see very enough at dusk to drive with the amount of confidence I had prior to surgery; can’t even walk through my own house with out constantly being reminded that I made a big mistake a year ago.


I knew the risks involved and I made my decision to have the surgery on what I had read and was told by my doctors. What I did not know.... What I wasn’t told, was that my pupils were on the edge of where most doctors probably would have mentioned the increase in the risk factor for glaring. They were measured by a third doctor to be 6.5 mm about 8 months after the surgery.


What did my original doctor say when I called and asked him what he had measured my pupils at? His receptionist told me that he had not measured my pupils with any special equipment. Only eyeballed them, a practice reportedly used by many doctors. Later, after the doctor found out about my problems, he claims that he did measure them. So either the receptionist lied or...


I hope everyone considering LASIK reads this and is at least able to get a little ‘direction’ out of what it is I am saying. I knew I was taking a risk, but I was not given all the information I feel I should have been given before going ahead with the surgery. Don’t fall into the same trap. Don’t fall for sales pitches and pie-in-the-sky stories. The risks are real and there are people out there for the money. Spend the extra bucks and get a second and a third opinion. If you don’t feel that is enough, get more opinions. Do anything to avoid becoming a statistic.


Bill C