AfterLasik.com

Alright…. I’ve had it, seriously, I’ve been receiving TONS of emails lately basically asking me the same question over and over and over and over again, questions like, who was the surgeon who did my surgery, where , etc. It has come to a point where I feel it’s a little bit annoying, so I’ll be posting the info here.

Actually, I’ve written an angry post during Raya last year which I didn’t publish. So here you go, it has the answers to some of your questions that could probably help you to make the biggest decision of your life…

Okay folks, I’m still alive. Sorry that I haven’t been updating my blog lately. I’ve been busy. I just quit my day job in the oil and gas industry and now working full time at home. Due to the eye problems and stress, I’m actually suffering from ’something’ that nobody can explain, it’s pretty hard for me to describe so let’s just say I quit my job because I want to live a more peaceful and healthier life.

I’ve received quite a number of emails over the past few months. Some of them were comtemplating whether to go for LASIK or not and some of them were ex-patients with complications like myself. From some of the stories I heard, I can’t help but feel disgusted by the whole LASIK industry and how irresponsible some of the centers and doctors can be. Anyhow, thank you all for your concern and I really appreciate it.

To those readers out there who are wondering, well, my latest answer is - NO, my vision is not getting any better yet! If you still remember, I mentioned in my blog that I went to a lady optometrist to try fitting with RGP lenses. They didn’t work and had created more haloes, glares, multiple images and most ugly of all, starburst. I was struck by disappointment and depression. I didn’t went back to see them eversince. I don’t blame them as I knew they have tried their best to help. I appreciate it.

Most of the emails that I received sound pretty much the same and one of the most frequently asked questions was this:

“Which LASIK center you went to and Who was the doctor who performed the surgery?”

This was mainly asked by those who were deciding on a LASIK treatment. In my opinion, while a good doctor/surgeon plays an important part in a surgery’s success, it doesn’t mean that LASIK is safe (by safe here, I mean without creating side effects, complications etc). Because it is not, one thing you need to understand is that, the LASIK technology is still relatively new and still in its infancy, it has a lot of flaws and it’s statistically recorded that 1 out of 3 patients is not happy with their outcome. Yes, that means there are whopping 33% of unhappy LASIK patients living among us. I’ve received complaints from patients with only -4.00 in both eyes pre-op. You think I’m kidding? go and do a search in Google and see for yourself. Almost every patient will eventually experience some kind of HOAs like glare/haloes, the question is to what sort of degree? and when..

My point is, it doesn’t really matter which LASIK center I went to because they are all the same. It’s still risky even you had the best doctor and the best LASERs. My doctor claimed to be the best at that time and he was one of the LASIK lecturer in Singapore. So what?

Now if you think I sounded like I’m trying to protect the LASIK center I’m NOT, I have had issues with them. If you want to know, FINE, I’m going to spit it all out. I really hate to mention their names as I’m trying hard to forgive them and forget about the whole thing, I feel pain everytime I think about it, but I feel this is NOT something that I should hide as what I’m saying is 100% legitimate and of my truest words.

The LASIK center I went to was EYETECH LASER CENTER (eyetechlaser.com.my) located near Sunway Pyramid and the doctor who performed my surgery was DR. CHING WING SENG. (I think he is one of the eye specialist in Pantai Medical Center).

I have to admit that part of the reason why I’m suffering from all these is my own stupidity and me being too naive and gullible to fall for their shitty marketing scheme without doing more research (Anyway, back in 2001, I didn’t know there was such thing called the INTERNET). You may think I’m stupid but you don’t have any idea what kind of shits I’ve been through.

BUT nobody can DENY the fact that my prescription was too high for any kind of refractive surgery and I wasn’t a good candidate at all. They should have warned me and rejected my case in the first place! They didn’t tell me anything about HOAs like permanent Haloes, Glares and double vision.

What really pissed me off was how they were trying to avoid me and kept tossing the responsibilities around. I’ve been to the centers for God knows how many times and I’m SICK and TIRED of talking to them. You see, the doctor that performed my surgery ‘Dr. Ching’ had quit from the center and opened his own LASIK clinic - (suneyelaser.com - I would avoid this if I were you). So the LASIK center is trying put all the blame on the doctor. And the doctor on the other hand, was asking me to deal with the LASIK center. I can understand that nobody would want to get involved in this kind of situation. But please, this is a responsibility that you must take. How can you do this? I’m a human being, I have a life to live too, how can people be so cold-blooded. Just because of money??? My life is half destroyed because of you, fuc- kers!

Now this is another great one. In early 2006 I gave a call to Dr.Ching a few times and he refused to see me, giving me excuses like the machine was broken and needed to be fixed yada yada yada. Fine. And I called them again several weeks after and he finally agreed to see me in his own LASIK clinic. So, my parents drove me there (why? because I can’t drive obviously) and waited for him. The appointment was at 2.00pm. I reached there early at 1.30pm, and we waited until 2.00pm and went into the clinic and the assistant told us to wait. So we waited, we wait, wait and wait until 4.30pm. And he still didn’t turn up. And then his assistant told us that he was not able to make it. WHAT ??? We’ve waited there for 3 freaking hours and she told us that he’s not able to come???? Yup that’s right. But what really got into my nerves was the fact that they didn’t apologize. Not even a single word of ’sorry’. MAN I WAS PISSED!! Who wouldn’t??? I mean how hard is it to apologize? Oh, so you think you are some sort of bigshot doctor and could just walk away like that? I mean come on, where are you balls doc? what kind of ethics is this, if you can’t make it let us know earlier!! You made my family and I waited for you for 3 hours. And I would not be so mad if you could just gave us a phone call .

Dear Dr.Ching, if you are reading this, I think you owe me an apology. If you can’t simply pick up the phone and do so, then, shame on you and you don’t deserve to be a doctor, really ….

Okay, I apologize if I sounded a bit angry above, I just can’t help it.

Here’s the deal, IF you are still deciding whether to go for LASIK or not, please, please, please do yourself a favor by finding 2 other lasik patients that had their surgery done for over 3 years and ASK for their opinions, see if they are really satisfied with their outcomes, then only decide. (you really need to ask those that have done lasik for a few years because our cornea will change in time, asking new patients would not help much as they will probably tell you LASIK is a miracle and it’s the best thing that ever happened in their life, trust me, I know, I’ve been there.)

Bottomline is, DON’T TAKE THE RISK WHEN YOU DON’T HAVE TO, IT’S NOT WORTH IT!

Here are the two forums that you might want to check out - www.lasermyeye.org and www.lasik-flap.com

All The Best!

Here’s another story that I received today, the author had given me the permission to post this, so here you go:-

My name is Patrick Sheahan. I had lasik eye surgery at the age of 23. When I went in for a consultation at Lasik Plus they said I was a perfect candidate. I was only -1.25 in each eye and could almost make due without glasses. After the lasik surgery my left eye slowly started to deteriorate. I was getting dizzy spells and migraine headaches daily. I started taking pain killers. I went to my optometrist to see if I could get a pair of glasses because all I could see out of my left eye was light. She told me that my left cornea was severely damaged and it was shaped like a football. I immediately made an appointment to see Dr Gerald Horn of Lasik Plus, the man who performed my lasik surgery. He made me and my grandfather wait for 5 hours in the waiting room. When I finally got in to see him he admitted there was a major complication and blamed the laser not himself. Dr Horn said that there may have been a malfunction in the laser and there was nothing he could do for me. Dr Horn was very rude to me and my grandfather. He rushed us out of his office before answering all of our questions. He told us he had a meeting to go and if we had any other questions we had to make another appointment. In the following weeks I consulted many corneal experts who came up with the same conclusion that I needed a corneal transplant. After a proper donor was found I had had my transplant done on July 10, 2003. A corneal transplant is not a pleasant procedure. They cut the cornea out of your eye, replace it with a donor’s cornea and in my case it took over 30 stitches in my eye. The removal of the stitches is done a few at a time, only when the stitch loosens with a needle like instrument while you are conscious, which resulted in numerous doctor visits. I had to pay 18,000 dollars for that surgery. I also paid 4,000 for a lens implant procedure done on October 14, 2005. My doctor has told me to prepare for many other future procedures and that my cornea can reject at any time. So far I have lost almost 2 years of income as a police officer and have depleted my entire savings including my 401K. I have since been able to return to work, however had to be assigned to a different division (because of my eyesight) with a lesser rate of pay. I will never be able to work the street again. I consulted a lawyer who paid experts to look over my files. In Illinois I was told you need an expert witness to testify on your behalf. After further investigation I found out that all of these experts were lasik eye doctors themselves and were very reluctant to testify against each other. I am not trying to scare people with my story I just don’t want this to happen to anyone else. My story is also on lasiksucks4u.com If anyone wants to contact me or has any other questions feel free to email me at Psheahan12@yahoo.com

Don’t worry Patrick, I’m sure there will be a solution for us soon…

By Salma Khalik, Health Correspondent

THE Ministry of Health (MOH), concerned over misleading advertisements by some Lasik clinics, wants to meet eye surgeons tomorrow to discuss what can or cannot go into their ads.
A letter from MOH to all ophthalmologists doing Lasik said it has received feedback that some print and online advertisements have given the public ‘unrealistic expectations’ about what the procedure can fix.

Results are oversold, while the risks and possible side-effects are downplayed.

And some ads cite success rates for Lasik done elsewhere, said an MOH spokesman.

Several ophthalmologists in private practice told The Straits Times that they felt the ministry’s warning was a matter of time in coming.

After all, the market for the surgical treatment of myopia or near-sightedness is red hot. Thousands of people from here and overseas have been flocking to eye surgeons for the procedure.

e flap turned back. A laser beam is then used to reshape the cornea, before the flap is put back in place.

With Lasik surgery being ‘cosmetic’, these patients do not get government subsidies; neither can they draw down on their Medisave funds for the operation, so people often go to ophthalmologists in private practice.

But even so, public sector hospitals have done more than 6,000 Lasik operations in the past year.

Private clinics and hospitals do not reveal their patient numbers, but one private clinic claims to do 1,600 Lasik procedures every month.

Competition is so stiff that some clinics offer ‘discounts’ to patients who sign up immediately or who are willing to do both eyes at the same time.

Some in medical circles are concerned that, in the race for the patient’s dollar, proper ‘before’ and ‘after’ care may be compromised, or that patients are not briefed on the risk of post-surgery complications. Worse, they fear some surgeons are taking on patients not suited for the treatment.

Dr Jerry Tan, an ophthalmologist in private practice, has been seeing more patients from other clinics who need ‘repair jobs’ - five to six such patients a week, up from three to four a year ago.

‘Most come because of poor night vision and over- or under-correction,’ he said. Some have more serious complications, like the one patient he has seen whose sight in one eye has been permanently damaged.

Dr Gerard Chuah, another private practitioner, says that on average, he tends to three complaints a month, mainly related to the side effects of Lasik.

Women in their 40s and up, for example, have a higher risk of getting permanently dry eyes.

One patient Dr Chuah came across now sees four of everything - the result of his previous surgeon not letting a badly-cut cornea flap heal first before going ahead with the Lasik procedure proper.

While doctors agree that Lasik is generally a very safe procedure, patients should know there are risks.

Precision is key in Lasik, he said, adding: ‘The distance between a good outcome and a mediocre or disastrous one is a fraction of a millimetre.’

The Singapore National Eye Centre has seen at least one patient who needed a corneal transplant after a botched Lasik job.

Dr Lee Hung Ming, the medical director of Parkway Eye Centre, had this piece of advice for patients: ‘Avoid the centre that hard-sells you the procedure or the surgeon who does not have time to see you for your most important pre-operative and post-operative consultations.’

salma@sph.com.sg

Props to Miss Salma Khalik & The StraitsTimes ! It’s great to see that the folks in Singapore are finally looking into this serious problem.

News source -
http://www.straitstimes.com/Free/Story/STIStory_179131.html

Below are the records of my corneal topographies:-

Orbscans and Zywave Scans

Before LASIK

Date : 5th February 2001
Left Eye (OS)
Right Eye (OD)

After LASIK

Date: 26th May 2004
Left Eye (OS)
Right Eye (OD)

Date: 25th November 2004
Left Eye (OS)
Right Eye (OD)

Date: 26th April 2005 - Orbscans
Left Eye (OS)
Right Eye (OD)

Date: 26th April 2005 - Zywave scans
Left Eye (OS) - undilated
Right Eye (OD) - undilated
Left Eye (OS) - dilated
Right Eye (OD) - dilated

Date: 15th October 2005 - Orbscans
Left Eye (OS)
Right Eye (OD)

Date: 5th August 2006 - Zywave scans
Left Eye (OS) - undilated
Right Eye (OD) - undilated
Left Eye (OS) - dilated
Right Eye (OD) - dilated

toposcans.rar Click to download everything

Well, I give up. I went to see BL and she kept on telling me to wear them for another few weeks. I’m sorry I just can’t take it anymore.

Sad to say but they really didn’t help much during the day and night time vision is total crap. I’ve decided to remove the lens and let my eyes return back to the original state.

Since the lenses were giving me so many problems, I’ve sent another email to BL …. And she asked me to go and see her tomorrow for eye check up.

“Hi

Read the rest of this entry »

I made a post at Lasermyeye forums. It goes something like this..

I’m currently trying out WAVE Technology RGP lens after several unsuccessful attemps with normal Reverse Geometry RGP. This new lens is supposed to give a better fitting, I’m not that sure about the details, perhaps someone can explain more about this?

I’ve been wearing them for almost two weeks (8 or more hours per day), they do fit better than the previous lenses that I’d tried but still not perfect. Both left and right lens tend to move/stay slightly towards the upper eye lids, resulting some ghosting effects (and double vision) that appear at the top of any bright objects.

There are several things that I’ve noticed and made me worried, I was wondering whether this is normal for RGP lens wearer (especially those who have tried WAVE lens before).

1. Haloes & Glares around sharp strong yellow lightings, I’m seeing a big halo around lights especially spotlights from vehicles & street lamps. The halo is big enough to cover the vehicles number plate which is very disturbing. On top of that , I’m seeing some funny patterns (a lot of tiny dots/spots aligned in a square inside the halo). A bit hard to explain, I’ll try to create some images to describe better. I don’t remember seeing these when I’m wearing normal RPG though. Maybe this is due to the nature of the WAVE technology lens?

2. Night vision is still a problem, especially traffic lights. When I look at the normal ‘green arrow light’ maybe 50 meters away, I will see one big patch of green color light instead of a nice green color arrow. I cannot make out the sign until I’m very near to it.

3. Strangely, when I look at the Snellen Chart, I can see ‘almost’ 20/20, but when I’m outside, I still need to wear my glasses (-1.00 for both eyes) in order to see clearly. My OD insisted that I don’t need glasses at all, the truth is, I really need them. why?

4. Post lens bad vision. This worries me the most, when I take off my lens, I become very hopeless, I can’t even make out words at very near distance, everything is blurry. My OD told me that this effect will last only for a few hours. Well, that’s not very true. My experience tells me (based on previous lens try) that my eyes won’t return to normal state until the 4th day without RGP lens on.

I’ve been told to wear them everyday for more than 8 hours.Therefore, I never had the chance to let my cornea to return to its original state. Left eye post lens vision is terrible, it’s always blurry (double/triple effects), meaning I have to wear the lens all the time. According to them, after one month of wearing they will fit well and the lens will fit on the center by itself.
Is that true?? Any opinions and experience is very much appreciated.

Thanks

Wong

Read More , Replies and Opinions…

Yup the wait is over. I went to collect my lenses today. And as usual, I’ll be wearing them straight after I got them. She told me that these new lens is called the WAVE lens. She said it’s using some kind of free form fitting and would definately fit better than the lenses that I’ve tried previously.

I was happy of course, tried them on and gee, it really does feel like this is the right pair. As usual, doubles will go away right after I put them on. I don’t see glare nor starburst inside the room. But when I was on my way home (taking the cab as always) I noticed a big glare/ halo around street lights. Especially on my right eye.

I also noticed some cross-like patterns whenever I look at the lights. It’s kinda disturbing.

I received an SMS from BL saying that my lenses have arrived at about 7.05pm today (After work). I was having dinner with an old pal of mine at KLCC, and I couldn’t make it to the shop. So I planned to get the lenses tomorrow.