Laser eye correction - feedback?

[khtm]

That sounds real shitty...
Maybe you need to consult with this guy?

[cdnsir]

Originally posted by BBabe
I'm 28 years old, active female.
My perscription was -4.85 & - 5.5 astigmatisms in both eyes as well.. I was told by Dr. Mitchell himself that I was a great candidate for the AST procedure.
The night of the surgery I was in super amount of pain, cried for hours, day after surgery I was also in a lot of pain, I could not see very well or deal well with life.
I was promised that 4 days after the surgery I would be back to life as normal.. it has not happened yet and the apathy from the doctor is appalling.
I now also suffer from chronic headaches and instead of getting better.. they are getting worse.

That's very unfortunate to hear, I sincerely hope you will get well soon. Well, I do have my first consult with MEC in about 2 week's time here. I'll definitely probe him with questions regarding post-surgery symptoms such as yours.

I want to see if they will blatantly understate the associated risks. And also if they will over-promise on the post-surgical care they provide...

[aznexec]

BBabe


Do kindly keep us posted with *hopefully* your speedy recovery and what you find the cause to be.

To me it's strange that you have only improved 60% - after 45 days.....so i guess your prescription is roughly -1.94 and -3.3....to me that seems very undercorrected as from what i have read it would not take that much time to heal and get back to 20/20 vision for most refractive surgeries... could this be a potential reason you are getting headaches (Stressing your eyes w/ no glasses contacts)

I am very curious to see if the attidute and mindset of Mitchell and his staff changes as time progresses.

Again, hoping you get better... and you can let us know how you progress and what you find. Thanks.

[BBabe]

I have actually lodged a complaint with the College against Dr Mitchell... I am not impressed at all with their attitude or attention.

My Real Eye Doctor yesterday told me that I am healing.. it is just slow because of the amount of trauma inflicted upon my eyes... the cornea is swollen still.. so I am expecting to be taking the FULL 3 Months to heal.. 1/2 WAY THERE!!!

But I am not impressed with the attitude or reaction that I've gotten when I said I had concerns.. they are no friendly and do not want to accept fault. I think a different procedure maybe should have been done due to the amount of work needed for my correction.

I will keep you all updated.. but please learn as much as you can and ask about the RISKS.. I was told they were not that high of a percentage of possibility which is why I was not told about it...

HOWEVER!!!! Commercials are subject to listing ANY and ALL POSSIBLE side effects that may occur.. so why was I not told?
Please be careful if you are going to get surgery done....

I honestly wish I never did it

[colinxx235]

I'm sorry to hear that your eyes were messed up, but you were well informed of any and all consequences, especially if you read through the whole site as you are supposed to before you sign the consent form... I didn't do mitchell (went to demong because he was rated higher then both mitch/gimble) but regardless I read through all 3 sites and it states all possibilities of complications/side effects, healing time etc etc and that sometimes you are unfortunately that statistic.

I bet if you re-read you would see some of the side effects you are experiencing on the site, as I remember reading through them... but well it does suck that it happened, that was my biggest fear when doing the surgery, although I went with lasik which is typically a quicker/safer procedure...

But I guess you will have to just wait it out and see how the healing goes, it states that if can take anywhere up to 6 months (I believe) to heal properly and if not maybe you should ask them to pay someone like demong to fix there error if one was present...

[lasik_dude]

Very sorry to hear about your situation BBabe.

I had Lasik 5 months ago and I had bad headaches, quite frequnetly for the first couple months. They slowly faded, and its only the past month that they have stopped, but they HAVE stopped for the most part. I suffered from dry eye for a while, but each passing month there is an improvement there. From everything i've read, healing after surface abblation such as ASP or PRK can be a lengthy process. It seems typical to take up to 6 months for your vision to stabalize, and symptoms to fade away. I know its the hardest thing in the world to do right now, but you just have to stay patient. Things will no doubt heal with time.

It is also very true that everyone heals differently. I am amazed when i talk to people who had the Lasik - zyoptix done here in Calgary, probably by the same surgeon as me, and they felt back to normal after a couple of weeks, considering what I've been through. To me, Lasik seems like a total crapshoot, and if you are one of the unlucky ones, there isn't much help afterwards.

Anyway, good luck and stay positive.

[BBabe]

There is nothing that says I have to read the website.. the clinic never stated read our website. They gave me written material and none of it stated side effects... So I was not informed.

I am being patient and it is good to hear that I am not the only one who did not have a great experience. I am also grateful that I have a family eye doctor that is willing to spend the time with me and make sure I am not upset about the situation as well as know and understand all that is going on.

Thanks for all your well wishes, it is good to hear, and let me tell you that ocular migraines are the worst pain I have ever experienced!!!!!! I have my fingers crossed that none of you have had to deal with it...

[Casa]

I'm very interested in this as well and i'm getting my eyes looked at by a specialist in Toronto for this.

[colinxx235]

Originally posted by BBabe
There is nothing that says I have to read the website.. the clinic never stated read our website.

I'm a little dumbfounded by this comment, not only did I read every piece of information on all 3 sites, but as well upon making consultations for all 3 places they asked if I had already read all the information, and if not to do so as to understand the process, so unfortunately I call ... i'm not trying to be an insensitive prick or nothing but I find it hard to believe that someone would go through with an expensive surgery concerning there eyes without reading into all possible consequences/issues surrounding it... if so that's some pretty bad ignorance on your part, not that it's your fault for being in your situation but everyone should understand risks

[BBabe]

I did research, however I don't like to research on the internet, personal preference. Just because the information may be on the website does not mean a clinic should not have to provide it to me in writing - they gave me many printed sheets, why not risks.
When I asked the doctor WHY I was not told about the risks he said they were too low of a percentage to mention. When I asked the clinic about side effects and recovery - they stuck to the position that 4 days afterwards I would be back to life as normal.
I did not go to other clinics for assessments because when you have a job that closes your company doors when you take time for personal appointments - you try to make those as few as possible.
I went for assessment on surgery for my shoulders 5 years ago - they told me all of the possible risks and possible outcomes and possible side effects.. they wrote it all down and gave me % as to what they thought may affect me the most. I was able to make a fully informed decision to hold off and try another approach to my shoulder situation.
I probably should have asked more questions but when you are facing a Confident surgeon and his employees who are saying 4 days 4 days 4 days it is tough to get another answer out of them. I even asked - What if the surgery does not go as expected - That is not a concern of theirs because it did not happen in their office........

[lasik_dude]

You can read the websites all you want. They do not tell you even half the story. The average person can read all the medical facts, but when you hear it from an experienced doctor, you expect to be able to trust him.

I see floaters after my surgery. Why wasn't this even mentioned as a side effect? They tell me I must have had these before the surgery. Please.

5% of people experience dry eye? They don't mentions studies that have shown that up to 33% of zyoptix patients have dry eye symptoms after 6 months.

First they give you a ridiculously low statistic (where do these numbers even come from? They've never asked me any questions?) Then they tell you from their experience, they are very confident you won't have a certain side effect. You can hardly blame yourself for being convinced by a doctor about this wonderful and safe procedure.

They don't bother to tell you any consequences?

Did anyone hear from the doctor of the possibility of not being able to drive at night if they experience night vision problems? Not being able to work any more due to chronic dry eye pain or sever headaches?
What 1% of people experience ecstasia, but no mention that could lead to a corneal transplant which may or may not take.
And don't get me started on HOA's that to date are untreatable.

I've probably read way to many people's stories on the internet, but that doesn't change the fact that they are real consequences of laser eye surgery, and that the doctors are very good at undermining them. You can read they're websites all you want, you will not get the facts.

I don't fully regret my Lasik, as it hasn't turned out too bad, but I am a little shocked and unhappy about the way I was treated.

[FiveFreshFish]

ICL is the way to go.

[KLCC]

except ICL is pricier than the other operations.

[zarge]

Originally posted by KLCC
except ICL is pricier than the other operations.

If you can't afford the best one then why the fuck would you do it? lol.. it's your eyes for gods sakes.
I am -13.5 (-2.5 astig) -11.25 (-2 astig).. worse than most peoples eyes and I will wait til I think something is completely safe.

Just read what ICL is.. prob gonna go ahead and get those

[KLCC]

Originally posted by zarge

If you can't afford the best one then why the fuck would you do it? lol.. it's your eyes for gods sakes.
I am -13.5 (-2.5 astig) -11.25 (-2 astig).. worse than most peoples eyes and I will wait til I think something is completely safe.

Just read what ICL is.. prob gonna go ahead and get those

ICL isn't for everybody, it only applies to people with heavy near-sightedness....(because there is not enough cornea for LASIK to shape)

I can't see people dishing out 3000+ /per eye for ICL on, say a -6 near-sightedness when they can have it done cheaper using Lasik

[FiveFreshFish]

Originally posted by KLCC


ICL isn't for everybody, it only applies to people with heavy near-sightedness....(because there is not enough cornea for LASIK to shape)

I can't see people dishing out 3000+ /per eye for ICL on, say a -6 near-sightedness when they can have it done cheaper using Lasik

It's personal choice and which method you're comfortable with. People have spent more on engine swaps and wheel upgrades. Why not on vision enhancement?

[Casa]

Originally posted by FiveFreshFish


It's personal choice and which method you're comfortable with. People have spent more on engine swaps and wheel upgrades. Why not on vision enhancement?

no kidding hey haha

[lelalong]

Originally posted by Casa
I'm very interested in this as well and i'm getting my eyes looked at by a specialist in Toronto for this.

Which specialist? I went to Toronto to get mine done (just cause my sister is out there and she's the optometrist that did my after care). I used TLC laser eye centre. They did LASIK 3 years ago on me. Everything went great! I had close to -9.00 with astigmatism and I had perfect sight afterwards. I had dry eyes before which complicated my healing process. Since Calgary is so dry I have to use an ointment in my left eye every night but its no hassle. I love being able to see without glasses.

If you have a dry eye problem, you have to be more careful so the cornea doesn't tear. Its painful as hell when that happens.

[khtm]

I don't see any reason to go to Toronto when Calgary has some excellent surgeons (mine had performed over 40,000 procedures).

[Casa]

^ i live in Toronto
Calgary has some awesome surgeons thats for sure