Beverly

I had ALK surgery in Dec 1992 on my lefteye. It was grossly undercorrected and had a great deal of astigmatism.

One week later I had an RK revision. The correction still wasn't right, so my opthomologist did a corneal mapping and found out I had an unusual corneal mapping. Finally, I got corrected to 20/40 with a second RK revision. Eight months later we got around to the right eye, which had to have 1 revision.

My night driving was severely impaired; I was seeing halos and starbursts, and my depth perception was distorted. I couldn't drive at night. In 1996, I found that my vision had decreased to about 20/60; I couldn't read the eye chart.

I began to wear glasses all the time until I went to my Kaiser optomologist after being diagnosed with beginning nuclear sclerosis by several doctors. After he diliberated with several other doctors about the possibility of catarac surgery, he concluded I was not a good candidate for it due to the refractive surgery, so I was fitted for contact lenses.

I had frequent eye infections and corneal abrasions, so I had to go back to glasses. I had a lot of hope when I had the surgery, but now because of it, my options are limited.

I have to wear glasses, I can't have cataract surgery, and I can't wear contact lenses. I wanted to tell you my story and I am relieved to know there are others who have had adverse effects. Thank you.