Strongly considering doing an on-camera interview... your thoughts?

[Guest]

Well, the interview's a done deal... did it tonight - they were here for 4 hours in total between set-up, interviews, filming stuff, etc. I think it went well...

Wore my custom moisture chambers for pretty much the whole thing...but did agree to be filmed briefly in my hideous clear-lens Wiley'X's that I wear around the house as I figured people should know what kind of stuff people like us truly have to do for our eyes to feel better... they also filmed me outside in my sunglasses Wiley X's.

The whole thing was definitely an interesting experience... soooo, now I wait to see how it all turns out... hopefully I was able to articulate what people like us go through well enough for the average person to understand what this is like...

[SimpsonDesert]

Congratulations on your interview SAAG. It's not an easy thing to do, but if you save just one person from post-Lasik hell then it is so worthwhile. Could you post a link if it eventually becomes available online, or as a downloadable file from the broadcaster?

I have become tirelessly evangelical about the dry-eye risks of any surgery, especially the entirely optional and wickedly touted Lasik, and have a nice potted spiel on tap for any occasion. People do listen with interest, and I have yet to encounter the hostility or dismissiveness others have experienced. Perhaps the industry propoganda is less pervasive in Australia? Goodness knows, the advertisements are common enough.

Our efforts seem puny but they do add up. Pat yourself on the back and celebrate with a nice meal or something.

Regards, Simpson Desert

[Guest]

Trying to just forget about it mostly now... Although I felt fine DURING the whole interview process, when they left, I just felt emotionally drained - it hit me like ton of bricks. I guess focusing on how bad this whole post-lasik dry eye thing has been for me for FOUR hours is not exactly good for one's state of mind... brings back all the fear for what my future will be like, the difficulties of everyday life with this etc... felt MORTIFIED wearing those hideous clear lens Wiley's on camera (albeit for only a very short time), but WANTED to do it so people can see the reality of this... it's rather depressing... but if it helps anyone, it's worth it. I tried to keep it real - since I no longer wear makeup due to my eyes, I didn't do my makeup for the camera either. Wanted people to see the before-LASIK and after-LASIK as it truly is.

Anyhow, since I'm always looking for a reason to celebrate with FOOD, I think I'll do as you suggest SimpsonDessert - will have to celebrate with a fantastic meal! And a fabulous dessert too!

Anyhow, feeling much more like myself this morning

re: linking to the interview... it apparently won't go on the air until May - they'll e-mail me when they know the show date etc.

I'm kind of wishing I hadn't told my parents that I was doing this interview - I don't really want them to see it since I held nothing back about how bad this dry eye thing has been - with my parents, I don't want them to worry, so I usually try not to update them too much on things... just thinking watching me go on and on about how bad it is won't be good for them, know what I mean?

All in all though, if any of my fellow freakishly-dry-eyes people are ever approached to do an extensive interview, I highly recommend it, particularly if the story will be part of a longer program that will do the topic justice (as opposed to a 30 second sound bit for the local news... as IF we could possibly get across what we go through in such a short time!)

[YGB]

Thank you for doing the interview and providing a voice for so many post-LASIK victims.

You must be the change you wish to see in the world. ~Mahatma Ghandi

[sarahcoles28]

Gud Luck for that

[Guest]

Well, the interview aired, so it's done. It's a huge weight off my shoulders to see it on air - I was worried about how it would look on air... how I would come across etc... but I think it turned out well, so I'm still glad I did it.

Morris Waxler was also interviewed - I think his segment came across VERY well. I particularly loved the part where he asked something along the lines of "How many eyes are you going to ruin to make a living?"

To be fair, I like to think that most LASIK surgeons really do believe the incidents of permanent complications is almost nil... not trying to bash anyone... but hopefully that statement will make them look harder to see if their complication rates really are as low as they think they are (ie. maybe some of their so-called success patients are not really doing so great, and they just don't know about it because the patient gave up and switched docs)

They also showed a segment where post-lasik people were using forums like this one to talk about this stuff... I couldn't tell if any of those people were from here or not, as they were shown anonymously...

WAS it anyone from here? Don't mind me... I'm just curious...

[YGB]

SAAG - your interview was excellent! It's the best news piece that I've seen on post-LASIK dry eye. Also, I liked how Dr. Waxler correctly stated that the high rate of adverse events continues, even with "new" technology (as shown in FDA clinical study data). It was also great to see a LASIK surgeon step out from the shadows and answer tough questions. For example, does the surgeon's practice tell patients about the true risks of LASIK?

This news segment proves beyond a reasonable doubt that the FDA cannot continue to entrust the health of the public's eyes on profit-minded LASIK surgeons. The FDA must step forward and do more as Dr. Waxler has requested.

You can view Part I and Part II of "20/20 Hindsight", which aired Saturday, May 28 on GlobalTV. Just go to the home page of LasikComplications.com

http://lasikcomplications.com/

Matt

[Rebecca Petris]

Brilliant. Well done SAAG. Credible and effective to the max. You've done a huge service to our community and to people considering getting LASIK.

Absolutely damning undercover videos.

Heartbreaking story.

I love that Health Canada's statement says that 10-20 PERCENT get dry eye, halos etc. I've rarely heard anybody official admit that.

Most effective piece I've seen on post LASIK.

[Guest]

Thanks guys! Glad you liked it!

Absolutely damning undercover videos.... Most effective piece I've seen on post LASIK.

I know... those undercover videos were fantastic. I thought it was particularly good that they went to multiple clinics in the same city, and all were guilty of telling people there are no permanent complications from LASIK. No-one can say now that it's just one "bad" clinic doing this - it's an industry-wide problem (at least that's what I suspect).

Global did a really good job on this piece for sure!

I love that Health Canada's statement says that 10-20 PERCENT get dry eye, halos etc. I've rarely heard anybody official admit that.

You know what really bugs me still though? If I recall correctly, prior to my own LASIK procedure, I found studies showing 6 mo. post-op, up to 20% had dry eyes still... BUT, it didn't say how bad those dry eyes were. After being reassured by my surgeon that there's no way anything like that could be serious or life-altering, that in his experience it clears up quickly, I wasn't too worried about it - figured worst case scenario, even if my surgeon was wrong, maybe I'd be using drops once or twice per day, but otherwise my life would be perfectly normal. I was lead to believe that there was zero risk of me ending up like this.

Why in the heck hasn't anyone done a good study that not only evaluates how many patients end up with dry eye, for example... but then attempts to break it down into how many still have a satisfactory quality of life vs. those who don't. With some of these surgeons claiming to have done 40000+ procedures, surely at least ONE of them would be interested in finding out this information. They have access to it, yet no-one (that I know of) is looking into this. (Mind you, I haven't looked for that info since doing all my pre-LASIK research years ago...maybe there's something out there now?)

[zoso967]

Nice job! How do you stay so positive? DE makes me want to jump off a bridge .....

post-lasik (2006)

[fiddle]

Saag, this reply is a bit late but I was so impressed by that interview (and the whole show). It was what inspired me to report my case to Health Canada. You were great in it and I thought it really brought some attention to the hidden dangers of this surgery and the complications that can and DO arise with it.
Thanks for stepping up.
fiddle

[Guest]

Nice job! How do you stay so positive? DE makes me want to jump off a bridge .....

post-lasik (2006)

If I jumped off a bridge, I"d be scared that it would really frigging hurt! Plus, if it ended things, I wouldn't get to see my kids grow up, I'd miss out on time with my hubby, I'd never get to see real monkeys in the wild... never get to see gorillas in the wild... never get to go on a safari in Africa... never get to see castles in Europe... never get to swim with sea turtles, never get to move to a tropical place for retirement (I can dream, can't I?)... I'd never get to see if my hubby and I will figure out a way to earn a decent living working from home (and therefore be free to move wherever in the world we want) and the list goes on... I have too much to do still... and besides all that, I still haven't tried absolutely every single treatment out there... you never know when something might help you... (granted, I think I'm screwed... but it can't hurt to try... maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised some day)

I think the key to being positive is changing your expectations for how life should be right now... focus on what's good (even if it's not much at the moment), focus on what you can do to make NOW tolerable, learn to live on less (if you need to work less because of your eyes), then, once you've gotten settled and everything seems manageable (granted, far from perfect, but at least manageable), you start to come up with a plan to live your life as it is in way that you don't mind too much.

I'm sure you have a "bucket list"... I'm sure you haven't done all of it yet... mind you, when you're really down and out even the BEST of bucket lists no longer seems all that appealing sometimes... but if you can get things settled down, you'll want to carry on again... you'll see...

[Guest]

Saag, this reply is a bit late but I was so impressed by that interview (and the whole show). It was what inspired me to report my case to Health Canada. You were great in it and I thought it really brought some attention to the hidden dangers of this surgery and the complications that can and DO arise with it.
Thanks for stepping up.
fiddle

Thanks fiddle!

[jads]

A guy I work with has just had Lasik done and his eyes are not great 2-3 months post op, so will be interested to see how he progresses. I look over quite a bit and see him using drops and so on.

I tend to agree that the number of lasik patients that have chronic DES longer than just a month or 3 after the op is played down by the industry. There's a vested interest to protect of course :-)

I think it's a good thing to create awareness around the risks!

[zoso967]

Thank you ...