Well, I'm about 7 1/2 years post-LASIK now. Today I had my annual exam with my OD. I had a list, as usual.
For 20+ years before LASIK my script was stable. It has been a moving target for the past 7 1/2 years.
Now remember, I was a -4.25 with no astigmatism before LASIK, and I've only had one surgery. No "touch-ups".
Just for fun I had my OD check my uncorrected visual acuity. Ha! All I could see with the R eye was a horribly distorted "big E". I saw about 10 of them, all twisted and overlapping and smeared -- what a joke!!! The "big E" is the 20/200 line. If I hadn't already known it was an "E" I might not have even been able to read it. My LASIK surgeon really did a number on my R eye. And of course the eye chart itself was a distorted haloed mess. Pure visual garbage.
The left eye was a little better -- it's my "good eye". I could barely make out one or two letters on the 20/50 line with ghosted images smeared all over the place -- like somebody wrote the letters in a pile of mashed potatoes, then dropped the plate and stepped on it. And the whole thing had a huge ugly halo all around it. Thank God for my good eye.
My glasses refraction was -1.00 -1.25 x 180, -1.25 -.50 x 180, +2.00
Do you think I should ask my LASIK surgeon for my money back?
My current glasses are overcorrecting me. I can't decide if I want to buy some new lenses that will be wrong again in a few months. After 7 1/2 years of refractions swinging back and forth, back and forth... I hate going to the eye doctor... it just reminds me of what I've lost, and I just wish I could forget.
He asked me if I wanted him to check my pressures... I said, "Can you?" We had a good laugh over that one.
He refilled my Alphagan script... you know... for emergencies... you just carry the bottle in your purse, unopened until it expire because you can't tolerate the "side effects".
I asked him to check for cataracts, again. Yep, they're there. What, did I think they would magically disappear? I decided not to have the "
cataract IOL power calculations after LASIK are inaccurate" discussion this time. I'm a handful, and he's such a good sport. How many patients come in with a list? He said I'm his favorite patient. I think he was just being nice.
I have been wearing the original SynergEyes. Today I asked to try the PS version. So we did a contact lens fitting today. We all know how much fun that is! The visit today, including $660.00 for new SynergEyes PS lenses was $844.00. And, I need new glasses on top of that.
And to think that one of the reasons I had LASIK was because I thought it would save money on glasses and contacts! Ha!
I asked my OD if his practice had seen any post-LASIK ectasia cases... he hesitated, then answered "yes". I could tell the question made him uncomfortable.
He told me about an 18 year old student who he's seeing for post-LASIK follow-up care. It apparently bothered him that a surgeon would do LASIK on someone so young, whose vision has most likely not stabilized.
The appointment today left me feeling sorry for myself again... I'm having a pity party. Does anybody in the LASIK industry care about people like me? I doubt it. They're all too busy counting their money.
