Jeff Nadler
I saw my surgeon almost 2 years ago and was told over the phone that I was an "excellent candidate". Of course I was not told this until after my credit card passed. I went in a week later and was told that the release forms were out of date and that I would be driving the next day: "Just sign the forms, they are routine" is what I was told.


The day of the surgery the doctor completed both eyes and said, "do you see what time it is on the clock"? My response was "what clock"? The next day I went in to see the doctor and they said that they had no idea why I was seeing double. The week following I saw two of their specialists. The doctor said that I should also try a pair of glasses. They fitted me for glasses and that is when I knew something was wrong – there was no difference in my vision. I lost my confidence in them at that point.


I then flew out of state to see a Dr. for a real second opinion. He said that I had a decentered ablation causing this severe irregular astigmatism. There were several reasons that this could have happened, but it is hard to tell exactly which one and that it was definitely the fault of the surgeon. He said not to get a corneal transplant but to wait for technology to develop and possibly that one day, topolink could help.


I tried desperately to find counsel and expert witnesses to try to get compensation for what the doctor had done to me. Since my in August of 1997, I have not driven a car, cannot read well and barely do anything at night. I can not be promoted at work since I can not drive or excel at my job. I think about suicide frequently now, have sought counseling and been on Prozac.


Now, after two years, I feel like an expert on this subject. I saw a Dr. a couple of months ago to see how my eyes were 1 1/2 years post-LASIK. He said that I did indeed have an irregular astigmatism and that possibly someone could help me one day. The nurses and assistants think their topography machines are broken when they do an exam on me. They see what appears to be a very poor rendition of a 3 year-old’s water coloring. It is supposed to be like a bulls-eye, but from what can be seen every time, it looks like a combination of a surface map of Jupiter and a small child's art project gone astray.


My attorney is having a tough time getting my case going for one simple reason. We have several expert witnesses who have said to me and my family that I have a decentered ablation caused directly by the surgeon. They said that this is preventable and that my surgeon performed the LASIK below the standard of care. They even went as far to write this down. However, when my lawyers contact these world-renowned surgeons, they suddenly have a lapse of memory and state that I healed improperly or that they simply will not testify against another surgeon.


The toll this has taken on me is immeasurable. My wife drives three hours a day taking me to work, my son to day care, herself to work and all over again in the rush hour traffic. She does all the errands, shopping, reading my son to sleep, household errands, etc.


I have learned a lot by this however, that the medical field will do whatever they can to keep the truth quiet. That although when one checks the local Board of Medical Examiners record and the local court docket for related filings and we find the complication rate to be around 30%, that the doctors do not need to release their real statistics. There is not regulation at all.


After I contacted Stone Phillips and Dateline NBC to run the story last year I was under the impression that it would be an unbiased story, but with VISX and Summit and the medical society holding a large stake and billions of dollars at stake, I realized that this would be one sided. All I have now is hope and that is dwindling.


My lifestyle has changed dramatically. I now see double 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in both eyes and night vision is non existent. I am handicapped and hate life now. I was once a well-known athlete. I was Deion Sander backup -Defensive back at Florida State University. I was a world class arm-wrestler for 12 years being ranked in the top ten consistently and appearing on ESPN II several times.


I was an excellent snow skier and enjoyed nothing more that driving to the gym and working out. Now with a small child and a wife as a make-shift limo driver, time is not an option and to demand her to drive me to the gym every day after she has already driven three hours a day and it would be the most selfish thing to do to demand her to drive me to a gym and help me around the gym. This is my true passion and I miss it. My eye/hand coordination is terrible and my self-confidence has all but dissolved. As many have suggested, "Why don't you try to arm-wrestle, snow ski, bowl, golf, whatever"? The answer is I have. It is not the same anymore. When I was once a world class athlete doing one-armed wrist curls of over 300lbs breaking world records and now I can barely see my hand around the dumbbell, things have changed. The snow is very hazy and dangerous. I can not travel to train and am only a burden to people now.


I also resent people saying that even 100% blind people can golf and do other activities, I say great and good for them. I used to love golf and did it once a week for 7 years. It has now been 2 years for me. I was not great at it, but enjoyed it.


I went in to have a surgery that I was told would free me of my contacts and allow me to live a fuller life. Granted, I may be able to attempt these personal and professional goals, but at what level? I paid $5,000 to see better. That was it. Not to live life at a lower and slower pace.


I can get by life now and attempt feats I once excelled in, but the performance level is totally different, thus my happiness. My happiness is what this was all about to start with, and now it is and has been and always be effected.


Thanks,

Jeff