Tips for letter writing?

[MyDryEyes]

Hi everybody,

Does anybody have good tips for writing a letter to the refractive surgery doctors?

My surgery was "co-managed" (more like co-unmanaged). I had an OD that did me pre and post-op care. I had a few visits with the opthalmologist clinic director and I only saw the surgeon during my surgery (and once after I started having issues). I would like to write a letter to all three.

Here is my issue. I am having a hard time being objective given the emotional and physical suffering I have experienced. Do I include how much this as affected my life? My big issue is that they did not screen me for dryness, never brought it up as a major side effect and never warned me of my high risk because of my high Rx. I want to bring to their attention all of the problems I am having so that this does not happen to somebody else. I was also shocked at the poor after care and how thoroughly unprepared my OD was to help me through the complications.

Maybe is will be a fruitless effort and they don't really care, but at least I will now I tried to do something.

Does anybody have a good template, etc.? Rebecca, do you have any tips??

[Rebecca Petris]

Some random thoughts. Worth as much as you're paying for it as I have my biases on this kind of thing. I tend to go for the very objective detached kind of statements on paper - but who's to say a really emotional "this has ruined my life!" letter may not have MORE impact. It depends a lot on the recipients I guess.

• Identify one primary objective before you start drafting it and articulate it very clearly to yourself. Personally I'd recommending trying to keep it narrowly focused. For example... is it to get them to acknowledge the severity of what you're going through? to get them to change something specific about their pre or post op procedures for others' benefit? or?
• Consider writing two letters: In the first one, let all your feelings hang out there! Blow off all the steam - write everything you have ever fantasized about telling them. In the second one, be deliberate and measured. Send only the 2nd one. Actually, come to think of it, it might be kind of interesting to send both.
• BE BRIEF. 1.5 pages max.
• Try to get your main points into five or six fairly compact bullet points. Assume you're addressing people with extremely short attention spans.
• If your objective is to get them to change something, make sure the letter speaks clearly to their bottom $ line.
• If possible, get at least one person who is not close to your situation to review it for you and give you candid feedback before you send it. Maybe a colleague, or your GP.
• Bear in mind that the recipients will read it looking for signs indicating whether they are about to get sued. Be prepared for a phone call from somebody sounding like they are ready to bend over backwards trying to help you.
• Send a copy to the practice manager(s).
  

[YGB]

Hi MDE - there was a similar thread about contacting your physician a while back. The topic then turned to taking it one step further ... contacting your local media. Interestingly, after that thread there was an article in Australia, England, and NC all within about a two month period. If you're not up for talking to a local reporter, then please be sure to also report your poor LASIK outcome to the FDA through the FDA MedWatch program as detailed in the following link if you haven't done so yet ...

http://www.lasermyeye.org/forums/showthread.php?t=2222