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Thought I'd just give a run down of what the last year has been like, bear with me this could be a long post!
August 17th last year I had LASIK it was something I had thought about for 6 years and not a decision I took lightly. I was assured I was an excellent candidate and the chances of me getting dry eye were next to none. I asked lots of questions about dry eye as I had read it was the most common side effect of LASIK. I was told that even if by some small chance I was to get dry eye it would be little more than a very minor inconvenience.
A couple of days after surgery I had a gritty burning feeling in my right eye and my dry eye journey began. I'd never had dry eye before and that combined with my vision taking two months to settle down left me in a very dark place. I remember walking into some woods near where I lived and to be honest at that stage I wasn't sure if I would be walking back out. I sat against a tree for hours wondering how I could go on.
I blamed myself for months afterwords until December when I went into my LASIK clinic to see one of their surgeons. The surgeon I saw was very rude and made out that I was a hypochondriac. I went back two days later to complain and when the manager brought up my notes I could tell by the look on her face something was on that computer screen that shouldn't be. It said that I was Bi-Polar and always exaggerated my symptoms. I was fuming I'm not Bi-Polar and made a formal complaint. The LASIK company eventually offered a half hearted apology. From that moment on I no longer blamed myself for what happened.
I think LASIK companies are far too quick to dismiss dry eye patients as hypochondriacs. The laser surgery industry worldwide is in dire need of government legislation as far too many patients are being damaged and not told the full facts before surgery. They have shown on far too many occasions that profit comes before patient care. The constant spam advertising on goggle sickens me, 80% discounts on eye surgery- seriously?!?!?
My right eye took a turn for the worse in December which was when I first discovered this forum and joined in January. I can not express enough how much this site has helped me and 90% of what I know about dry eye has come from here. If I were to rely on my LASIK company for info I would still believe that preservative drops were good for my eyes!
Just being able to talk to people who understand my condition has helped my mental state improve greatly. I still have my down days when my eyes are really bad but can cope a lot better now. Around the end of April my right eye improved quite a bit and though it's since taken a bit of a downward turn it's still far better than in January. Unfortunately my left eye has got a bit worse but it's only mild dryness and nothing that worries me.
To all those LASIK patients blaming themselves one word DON'T! It gets you nowhere and if you want to blame someone blame the person/company that performed the surgery. Also I know this has been said before but don't read the LASIK/LASEK horror stories as I did this and ended up having full blown panic attacks last year.
Dry eye has effected my life greatly as I am unable to use a PC 40 hours a week and currently just work when I need money far from ideal but I have realised that I hated working in an office. I was your classic clock watcher running in 30 seconds before work started and running out the door at 5.30 exactly. I spent most of my time playing practical jokes and trying to chat up the girls in the office, I was a bit like Jim in the US Office but not as good looking! I'm planning to retrain in some form of engineering and it took dry eye for me to realise I was wasting my life doing something I hated.
Overall I'm in a far better place than I was 11 months ago and I know my eyes probably won't get back to pre-surgery levels but I'm confident they can get to a point where I will hardly think about them. The main thing that annoys me now is not the dryness but the fact that when my right eye gets quite dry the vision becomes a tiny bit cloudy. I no longer feel any guilt, haven't had a panic attack in 9 months and have discovered Yoga which I would never have done without dry eye. I love Yoga and it is a major part of my life so another positive. I would be lieing if I said that my eyes weren't the thing I think about most, it's just that it doesn't upset me like it used to. I was dreading the one year anniversary but I've been absolutely fine today. I've realised that dry eye is not the end of my life just a hurdle to overcome and even if my eyes don't improve I'm still going on with life.
Almost finished. I just want to give a shout out to some people on this forum, some who I'm in contact with and others who probably haven't got a clue who I am.
Littlemermaid - An unbelievably helpful person who has answered many of my questions and unselfishly helps others. Can't say enough good things about her.
ColinP - Great sense of humour(uniquely British) and his posts often make me laugh.
RobLIC - Excellent knowledge of MGD treatemtns appreciate your advice.
Sazy123 - When I first came onto this forum trawling the archives for info on NHS and UK treatments her posts kept coming up and were very helpful.
SAAG - Brutally honest(in a good way) and straight forward advice when responding to threads
Last but not least:
Rebecca - I can't express how grateful I am for this forum and the time and care you put into it. Unlike other forums I have been on that claim to help patients and then have LASIK banner adds this forum is purely here to help people. This forum has helped me so much and the positive community you have created here is truly amazing. You have helped me more than you know and I can't thank you enough for that.
August 17th last year I had LASIK it was something I had thought about for 6 years and not a decision I took lightly. I was assured I was an excellent candidate and the chances of me getting dry eye were next to none. I asked lots of questions about dry eye as I had read it was the most common side effect of LASIK. I was told that even if by some small chance I was to get dry eye it would be little more than a very minor inconvenience.
A couple of days after surgery I had a gritty burning feeling in my right eye and my dry eye journey began. I'd never had dry eye before and that combined with my vision taking two months to settle down left me in a very dark place. I remember walking into some woods near where I lived and to be honest at that stage I wasn't sure if I would be walking back out. I sat against a tree for hours wondering how I could go on.
I blamed myself for months afterwords until December when I went into my LASIK clinic to see one of their surgeons. The surgeon I saw was very rude and made out that I was a hypochondriac. I went back two days later to complain and when the manager brought up my notes I could tell by the look on her face something was on that computer screen that shouldn't be. It said that I was Bi-Polar and always exaggerated my symptoms. I was fuming I'm not Bi-Polar and made a formal complaint. The LASIK company eventually offered a half hearted apology. From that moment on I no longer blamed myself for what happened.
I think LASIK companies are far too quick to dismiss dry eye patients as hypochondriacs. The laser surgery industry worldwide is in dire need of government legislation as far too many patients are being damaged and not told the full facts before surgery. They have shown on far too many occasions that profit comes before patient care. The constant spam advertising on goggle sickens me, 80% discounts on eye surgery- seriously?!?!?
My right eye took a turn for the worse in December which was when I first discovered this forum and joined in January. I can not express enough how much this site has helped me and 90% of what I know about dry eye has come from here. If I were to rely on my LASIK company for info I would still believe that preservative drops were good for my eyes!
Just being able to talk to people who understand my condition has helped my mental state improve greatly. I still have my down days when my eyes are really bad but can cope a lot better now. Around the end of April my right eye improved quite a bit and though it's since taken a bit of a downward turn it's still far better than in January. Unfortunately my left eye has got a bit worse but it's only mild dryness and nothing that worries me.
To all those LASIK patients blaming themselves one word DON'T! It gets you nowhere and if you want to blame someone blame the person/company that performed the surgery. Also I know this has been said before but don't read the LASIK/LASEK horror stories as I did this and ended up having full blown panic attacks last year.
Dry eye has effected my life greatly as I am unable to use a PC 40 hours a week and currently just work when I need money far from ideal but I have realised that I hated working in an office. I was your classic clock watcher running in 30 seconds before work started and running out the door at 5.30 exactly. I spent most of my time playing practical jokes and trying to chat up the girls in the office, I was a bit like Jim in the US Office but not as good looking! I'm planning to retrain in some form of engineering and it took dry eye for me to realise I was wasting my life doing something I hated.
Overall I'm in a far better place than I was 11 months ago and I know my eyes probably won't get back to pre-surgery levels but I'm confident they can get to a point where I will hardly think about them. The main thing that annoys me now is not the dryness but the fact that when my right eye gets quite dry the vision becomes a tiny bit cloudy. I no longer feel any guilt, haven't had a panic attack in 9 months and have discovered Yoga which I would never have done without dry eye. I love Yoga and it is a major part of my life so another positive. I would be lieing if I said that my eyes weren't the thing I think about most, it's just that it doesn't upset me like it used to. I was dreading the one year anniversary but I've been absolutely fine today. I've realised that dry eye is not the end of my life just a hurdle to overcome and even if my eyes don't improve I'm still going on with life.
Almost finished. I just want to give a shout out to some people on this forum, some who I'm in contact with and others who probably haven't got a clue who I am.
Littlemermaid - An unbelievably helpful person who has answered many of my questions and unselfishly helps others. Can't say enough good things about her.
ColinP - Great sense of humour(uniquely British) and his posts often make me laugh.
RobLIC - Excellent knowledge of MGD treatemtns appreciate your advice.
Sazy123 - When I first came onto this forum trawling the archives for info on NHS and UK treatments her posts kept coming up and were very helpful.
SAAG - Brutally honest(in a good way) and straight forward advice when responding to threads
Last but not least:
Rebecca - I can't express how grateful I am for this forum and the time and care you put into it. Unlike other forums I have been on that claim to help patients and then have LASIK banner adds this forum is purely here to help people. This forum has helped me so much and the positive community you have created here is truly amazing. You have helped me more than you know and I can't thank you enough for that.
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