the evil opthamologist

[m_cncl]

The opthamologist I saw for the last three visits is a denier of the truth. this is what he said to me which I should laugh or get angry but neither I did
- I have very little dryness, he said.
- I should stop thinking about the dry eyes, if u do it will go away.
- u have 20/20 vision, u should be happy. But i mentioned to him the side effects which is worst to have than 20/20 vision.
- We need to close ur upper drain by burning it. I told him no.
- I asked him about cataracts, since i was curious what his answer is, Well, here it is; it only happens to people who are over 70 yrs old. If u have your card that was given to you from the lasik, we can then measure the eye properly.
there is more i can write but it becomes even sadder to think this guy really cares and does not care at all. I was referred by the the lasik clinic to go see him bec he is a dry eye specialist. He is associated to that clinic.
I know my facts, whatever he says, i ignore his advice bec he does not listen nor able to give me a correct answer to my questions. i do not believe and trust this doctor.
I am thinking of writing a letter to him of what i think of his arrogance, insensitive, disrespectful attitude.
I am only writing to advise all of u what u can encounter if think of going ahead with post lasik. M

[rubyslippers]

I would ABSOLUTELY find another doctor. My optometrist goes only by the symptoms and MY description of discomfort. He said the tests for dry eye are horribly inaccurate and not worth doing and he goes solely on what the patient reports. He says for some he can see very little dry eye but the patient has severe symptoms. With other people he sees severe dry eye but when he asks them they say it rarely bothers them.

Find a doctor who focuses on getting your symptoms better so that YOU are comfortable, despite his observations. I am fortunate to have such a doctor. I have been told that opthamologists are not nearly as good with dry eye as optometrists. I do not know if that is true or not, but my optometrist is amazingly good, compassionate, and even asks us to call him at home if our discomfort becomes severe.

[bernmee]

I know just what you mean, I really wanted to poke my finger in my Lasik surgeons eye when I found out I had been having Corneal Erosions for 3 weeks (another surgeon treated me for this).

They don't get it, if they did they wouldn't be doing the surgery...at least I know if it was me I would not be doing the surgery.

I have plugs in my top and bottom tear duct. There is no way I would let anyone burn them after what they did to my eye.

Have you read Dr. Robert Latkany's book that is for sale through the dry eye store. I ordered mine from the library.

He says dry eye is a result of inflammation....He says lots of things but this is one area wher I can make a diffrence.

Good luck and keep well,

bernadette

Goolge "anti inflammatary foods", note in particular the "night Shade Plants".

[m_cncl]

my first visit with this doctor 02/2008, i brought question and showed him the dry eye book from Dr. lantkany, he didnt bother to glance at the book nor bother asking what the book is all about. I said to him, he must separate lasik and other dry eye apart cause they are different treatment, well, he told me it is all the same. I disagree. At times i agree with him with the way he approaches the situation. he always want to give with me bec nothing works..m

[GinaJ]

I am sorry but can relate cause I have seen some that don't listen or seem to care. I too encourage you to find someone else. I had seen one who had told me my bleph was gone but to me my eyes felt and looked so horrible. I then went to another doc and he told me it was one of the worst cases he had seen in someone my age. My point is there are many bad docs out there. Of course there are good ones too. Good luck

[acarol]

Sorry to hear that - i know exactly how you feel, i went to a private eye specialist and she said she didn't see much wrong with my eyes, she made me feel as if i was making the whole thing up (at her prices i don't think so.. €80 for a consultation!), i asked her is there a link between contraceptive pills and dry eyes (as i has recently changed pills) and she said she never heard of it, i asked her about using more flax seed oil etc she said its better to eat healthy. I left her office feeling more confused than when i went in.


The following week i went to my local Specsavers and the guy that examined me said that there was inflammation and dryness, he seemed to be much more informed and said YES that there is a link between dry eyes and hormones cz he asked about any recent pregnancy etc. He also said to get omega 3 and 6 supplements...

One is an Optician (guy in specsavers) and the other is a Medical Eye Specialist. Need i say more.....

[Silverlady]

Run..don't walk..

To another doctor!! This man does not know his business. I have a cataract and I am only 63. My son had them at 47. People can have them at any age altho it usually is older people. It just depends on the condition of your eye.

I agree with the others about finding another doctor.

Billye

[Rebecca Petris]

I have a cataract and I am only 63.

The average age at which people in this country get cataract surgery is 63. Doctors who read the medical literature are less likely to be caught out in silly generalizations about cataracts than those who don't.

I agree with the others about finding another doctor, however, I would also advise moderating your expectations as much as possible before going to another doctor. While there are rare gems out there who combine all the general training, specialized expertise, and good 'bedside manner' that a dry eye patient could wish for, they are, well, rare.

Personally I think that a decent dry eye doctor should take both clinical signs and symptoms into consideration. Most however will pay more attention to clinical signs than anything else and we should all be prepared for this. My recommendation to ALL patients is to complete the OSDI survey before an appointment with a new doctor and take it in, show it to them and ask them to put it in their records.

I also recommend going through this article carefully to get some ideas about what to ask. It can also be extremely helpful to write up a page or so of bullet points summarizing your history, your symptoms, your concerns and your questions and faxing it to the doctor the day before your appointment. Believe it or not, doctors appreciate that, and it saves you the stress of trying to remember everything while you're there.

[brd888]

Mcmonnies

It is becoming more accepted that dry eye patients have discrepancy between clinical signs and experienced symptoms.
The better Drs use a survey like the "McMonnies dry eye questionnaire" to review how the patient feels.
This ophthalmologist is obviously not up to speed on dry eye at all.

Also here is a quote from a recent study
"Conclusions The dry eye symptoms as evaluated subjectively in a questionnaire occurred in about 21% of the adult population in China..... Measurement of the tear-film break-up time, assessment of the corneal fluorescein staining, slit-lamp-based examination of a meibomian gland dysfunction, and Schirmer's test were not significantly associated with dry eye symptoms."



Rgds.

[bernmee]

Rebecca,

That is an excellent article, three times a week at my surgeons office has taught me alot of things about my lack of assertiveness in my own health care post Lasik. But the thing I was doing wrong at the start was being rushed and not asking my questions. Now I have a notebook that I have in my lap, so he knows that I have a list of questions, and he knows there is a part two, my part of the apointment.

And my boyfriend used to come with me for support, but I had to leave him outside, sometimes in the coffee shop, as I was afraid he would be unable to control himself, and the last thing I needed was a law suit on my hands!!

Thanks for all the help in this site,

Bernadette