After speaking with many patients, several requested that I set up a place where they could tell their stories. I have set aside this area so that their stories, in their own words would be relayed to the world. The following are the patients' unedited comments. In addition, several of these patients have included their email address so that should you have questions/concerns/etc. and would like to get their perspectives and experiences, you can send these requests directly to them. They truly understand what it is like to be in a similar position as yourself and are eager to help in any way they can. I hope that you find this patient perspectives area useful.
I had Lasik surgery on both eyes early in 2001. The results were not good. Although the doctor who did my surgery told me that my vision was in the 20/30 range, it was clear to me that something was wrong. My vision fluctuated and nothing was clear. Even when I could read something, the characters looked very blurry. There was also a problem with a difference between my eyes. I felt like my head was being torn in half. My eyes just did not want to work with each other. The doctor who did my surgery was not helpful at all. He told me that my vision was fine. He did not recommend further surgery. I now realize that this was a blessing. Further surgery would most likely only have complicated the problem.
My eye problems did not prevent me from functioning for the most part. I could still drive and I could usually read things, although sometimes with great difficulty. The big issue was that my vision was driving me crazy. It is only a small exaggeration to say that there were many times when I wanted to poke my eyes out with a sharp stick. I thought about my visual problems almost constantly for years. My quality of life was very poor during that period. I was not able to explain what I was experiencing to other people. Their attitude was that I could drive and work so everything must be okay. I think that they thought that I was imagining the problem.
Over the course of the next couple of years, I saw three more ophthalmologists to see if anyone could help me with my problems. None of them was much help at all. One of them prescribed glasses. The glasses did help a little bit in my left eye but actually made the vision in my right eye worse. The doctor kept insisting that the glasses were correct even though I told him that they were not working correctly. Overall, it was clear that the doctors did not understand my problem at all. I also got the impression that they did not really believe that I had a problem. This was very frustrating. I think that many doctors who perform laser surgery don’t want to admit that the results of surgery are bad a significant percentage of the time. They are making too much money doing the procedure so they don’t want to upset the apple cart.
I searched for information on the internet to see if I could find anything that would help. I found some recommendations for Dr. Maller and decided to contact him. After looking at topographical maps of my eyes, he said that he thought he could fix my refractive problems with contact lens but he was concerned that I might not be able to tolerate contact lens due to problems with dry eyes. This was in part due to the fact that I live in Colorado where the air is very dry. I also have a condition called rosacea which contributes to dry eye problems. He was pretty blunt that my odds of success were not great but thought it was worth a try.
I traveled to Florida to see Dr. Maller. Dr. Maller spent a lot of time with me on the first visit. He explained what my problem was, which was something that no other doctor had been able to do up to that point. He said that different parts of the surface of my eye had different curvatures. Some parts of my eye were focusing at 20/20 but other parts were off by up to nine diopters. That was why I could read most letters, even though they were extremely blurred. Some parts of my eye were contributing a clear image of the letter but other parts were overlaying a bunch of smeared images on top of the correct image. This did not explain why my vision was fluctuating but it was still a big step forward. It was very comforting that someone actually understood at least part of what was wrong with me.
Dr. Maller ordered a set of lens that arrived in two days. The left lens was perfect the first try, both in terms of fit and vision correction. The right lens needed further work. Due to various problems, it took three more attempts to get a lens for the right eye that worked correctly. The final test was whether I would be able to wear the lenses in Colorado. I have now been wearing them for several months. I do have very small problems with visual quality and comfort late in the day but this is a very minor problem relative to what I was experiencing previously. Overall, the lenses are a HUGE success. Dr. Maller measured my vision with contacts at 20/15 but this significantly understates the improvement in my vision. Everything is clear now. No more blurry, smeared view of the world. I no longer think about my vision constantly. It is hard to put into words how much this has improved my life. The lenses even solved the problem of my fluctuating vision. I have no idea why this happened but I don’t really care.
One result of the contact lens is that I now need to wear reading glasses for close up work. Dr. Maller had warned me that this would probably happen. It is such a delight to be able to see clearly that it does not bother me at all to wear glasses part of the time.
Mark Rolfs
Mark Rolfs
Colorado
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