Steve

My story is as follows:


Two friends of mine had refractive surgery done, and both said it was the best thing they ever did. Both of their prescriptions were below a -6. I always thought that I was not a good candidate for LASIK (I was around a -10), however, I decided to call the surgeon one of my friends had used in order to find out for sure. During my consultation I asked many questions regarding outcomes, side effects, etc for people like me. The response I received was, "no problem, we have done others up to -14 with great success." One of the doctors even guaranteed that I would not be worse off than before. ******** !


Unfortunately I went ahead with the surgery (both eyes) in June of 98.The main reason for me was that I was just tired of being so dependent on contacts and glasses. I felt totally disabled without them. In addition, one of my eyes was beginning to grow blood vessels and had to be monitored on a regular basis (due to wearing contacts for 16 hrs per day).


The first hours after surgery I was still very nearsighted. Immediately I felt something was wrong. I knew most people could see clearly right after surgery if it was successful. The doctor sent me home and said by tomorrow it should improve. It didn't. A week later I had my follow up visit and was a -.5 in my right eye and a +4 in my left. The scary thing at this point was that various lenses placed in front of my eyes didn't improve my vision. The doctor couldn't explain what was happening to me. He had never seen a result like this before!


At two months I had -.75 in the right eye and + 1.25 in the left. I was beginning to regress. From day one I also had night vision problems consisting of starbursts, ghosting, etc. I would get the same line every time I visited the doctor, "be patient, give it time, these things will heal over time, etc." Every time I asked what is causing the night vision problems the answer was you may just be a slow healer.


At 4 months I was -1 in the right eye and +.75 in the left. The night vision problems remained unchanged. At that point we had tried pupil reduction drops and anti-glare lenses, so the doctor could not offer a good explanation of why this problem persisted. All he could blame was the healing process.


At 7 months I finally stabilized at plano in my left eye but -2.5 in my right. The night vision problems continue. I have tried glasses with anti-glare coating, special contacts, pylocarpine (spelling?), but nothing helps. I cannot drive at night and I cannot enjoy a movie anymore. Ironically, I feel just as helpless at night as I did without my contacts before the surgery. So much for not being worse off than before.


I recently had a more detailed topography done and it revealed what I had suspected all along, a very uneven corneal surface. The damn thing looked like a mountain range! In addition, the ablation zone was not totally centered. Obviously my surgeon did not want to admit that these were the causes of my problem.


This is where I remain at the present time. I will be trying other lenses, but honestly I don't expect much. To my surgeons credit, he has paid for my visits with my optometrist and follows up to see how I am doing periodically. He never offered to refund the cost of my surgery. I have often thought about litigation but I am really more concerned with getting back to normal, as most of us are. I do feel , however, that I have to do something soon, before the statute of limitations in NY runs out.


My guess is that the doctor will only offer to pay for enhancements, contacts, etc until this time. Unfortunately we are probably a few years away from a procedure to correct my condition, so I may have no choice but to seek damages, not only for my past suffering, but for the future cost of correcting my problem.


Steve