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I gave birth to my beautiful, healthy baby girl on Valentine's day 2007. My son had just turned 21 months. I had been wearing contacts for a couple of months, since my sight was bothering me. I could not stand glasses. I have Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and am left with peripheal double vision so glasses were very bothersome. And not very esthetic, I hated the way I looked with glasses. For years, I "lived" with seeing a little blurry (at -1 in both eyes, it wasn't THAT bad). Then, I got contacts... the best thing since sliced bread.
After having my baby, I would put in my contacts and I would get terrible halos, double vision, etc. It gave me such bad headaches and nausea too. (At that time, I did not know of dry eyes and that these symptoms I suffered were all part of it...it all seems so clear now!!!) I started thinking about laser eye surgery : many of my friends had had it and raved on how wonderful their life was now, no glasses, no fiddling with contact lenses. My my daughter turned 3 months, I went to a clinic downtown : though I was told I was an excellent candidate, I felt like a "number". I had another friend who had had intra-ocular lenses put it at the Michel Pop clinic. He told me how great everything had been, and how much support he had from the surgeon and his team of nurses. The surgery was on Montreal (2 hrs away) but there was a clinic half and hour away where I could talk to the doctor via video conference. He assured me I was an excellent candidate, that MS was not a problem - he had seen many patients with MS, and that most of his patients, like me, could no longer wear contact lenses. He was very knowledgeable and I felt trust in him.
I had the surgery in May 2007. The 1st week post-op: it was the best decision I had ever taken! I saw crystal clear, no glasses, no contacts!
But then it started... the first symptom I had was double vision. Then pain. And severe photophobia. And halos. And headaches, bad bad headaches. The surgeon said all of this had nothing to do with the surgery and that I possibly had a brain tumor (!) by coincidence. I was told be the nurse to put drops every 30 minutes to alleviate symptoms (it worked but it was such a hassle with an infant and a 2 yr old...) About 4 weeks post-op, I drove to Montreal to have plugs inserted...but when I got there, the doctor didn't want to put some in. He said my eyes would go back to normal on their own. He assured me "you will not stay like this". I was put on steroid drops. When the doctor felt he could no longer help me, I was referred to the Eye Institute of the Critical care wing of the General hospital. I saw the best of the best. I was put on Restasis, had plugs inserted, etc. My schirmer's were 2mm and 8mm. After 3 months, they had gone up to 21mm and 30mm. I also stared to have huge veins in my eyes. "But your eyes are healthy! And they produce enough tears now! I don't know why you still have symtoms!", was all the doctor could say. I then met with this doctor and the surgeon : now things had "changed" a little. Those big vessels I had were an autoimmune reaction, since I have an autoimmune disease. I felt like murdering somebody if you know what I mean...
We then tried Doxycycline : nothing changed. I was told in June 2008 to try to have a nice summer, and my next appointment is next week (September).
Well, I'm now 15 months post-op. Though my vision is 20/15 in the "right" conditions, I still suffer severe photophobia (if I open my eyes outside, I get an instand headache), bad halos and the worst of all for me, I have these HUGE unsighly veins that cross my scleras (the white part of my eye) and touch my colour. I have 2 in one eye, that form a triangle. And about 20 small ones in the other eye, with one big one that stands out. I used to have GORGEOUS eyes. Now, I hate looking at people. I am so embarassed and ashamed that I actually paid to have this done. I wish I could go back to that day and just rip that consent paper in a million pieces and RUN! Every waking moment, I think of my eyes. It is a nightmare!
After having my baby, I would put in my contacts and I would get terrible halos, double vision, etc. It gave me such bad headaches and nausea too. (At that time, I did not know of dry eyes and that these symptoms I suffered were all part of it...it all seems so clear now!!!) I started thinking about laser eye surgery : many of my friends had had it and raved on how wonderful their life was now, no glasses, no fiddling with contact lenses. My my daughter turned 3 months, I went to a clinic downtown : though I was told I was an excellent candidate, I felt like a "number". I had another friend who had had intra-ocular lenses put it at the Michel Pop clinic. He told me how great everything had been, and how much support he had from the surgeon and his team of nurses. The surgery was on Montreal (2 hrs away) but there was a clinic half and hour away where I could talk to the doctor via video conference. He assured me I was an excellent candidate, that MS was not a problem - he had seen many patients with MS, and that most of his patients, like me, could no longer wear contact lenses. He was very knowledgeable and I felt trust in him.
I had the surgery in May 2007. The 1st week post-op: it was the best decision I had ever taken! I saw crystal clear, no glasses, no contacts!
But then it started... the first symptom I had was double vision. Then pain. And severe photophobia. And halos. And headaches, bad bad headaches. The surgeon said all of this had nothing to do with the surgery and that I possibly had a brain tumor (!) by coincidence. I was told be the nurse to put drops every 30 minutes to alleviate symptoms (it worked but it was such a hassle with an infant and a 2 yr old...) About 4 weeks post-op, I drove to Montreal to have plugs inserted...but when I got there, the doctor didn't want to put some in. He said my eyes would go back to normal on their own. He assured me "you will not stay like this". I was put on steroid drops. When the doctor felt he could no longer help me, I was referred to the Eye Institute of the Critical care wing of the General hospital. I saw the best of the best. I was put on Restasis, had plugs inserted, etc. My schirmer's were 2mm and 8mm. After 3 months, they had gone up to 21mm and 30mm. I also stared to have huge veins in my eyes. "But your eyes are healthy! And they produce enough tears now! I don't know why you still have symtoms!", was all the doctor could say. I then met with this doctor and the surgeon : now things had "changed" a little. Those big vessels I had were an autoimmune reaction, since I have an autoimmune disease. I felt like murdering somebody if you know what I mean...
We then tried Doxycycline : nothing changed. I was told in June 2008 to try to have a nice summer, and my next appointment is next week (September).
Well, I'm now 15 months post-op. Though my vision is 20/15 in the "right" conditions, I still suffer severe photophobia (if I open my eyes outside, I get an instand headache), bad halos and the worst of all for me, I have these HUGE unsighly veins that cross my scleras (the white part of my eye) and touch my colour. I have 2 in one eye, that form a triangle. And about 20 small ones in the other eye, with one big one that stands out. I used to have GORGEOUS eyes. Now, I hate looking at people. I am so embarassed and ashamed that I actually paid to have this done. I wish I could go back to that day and just rip that consent paper in a million pieces and RUN! Every waking moment, I think of my eyes. It is a nightmare!
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