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 am writing this letter to thank Janet Hawes (see her testimonial on “Patient Perspectives”) for sending me on the path to find Dr Maller. And to tell anyone who is reading this of the kindness, expertise, and tireless attention to detail given to me in his clinic.
On November 26, 2002, the day before Thanksgiving, I had Lasik surgery on both eyes. I was 51 years old. This was the worst decision regarding my health that I had ever made. It was not just the blurry vision, it was the criminal way I was treated by the surgeons in Denver Colorado. Over the following year, the doctor who did the initial surgery “enhanced” my left eye twice and then lifted the flap to scrape epithelial cells twice, all the while assuring me that “a little more tweaking” and I would be really, really happy. Finally, he cavalierly announced that since I was having trouble with that flap, he was going to remove it, as it was just there for convenience anyway. I finally realized he hadn’t a clue about how to fix my vision and told him I needed a second opinion. Over the next few years, as I went from doctor to doctor; no one would explain to me what was wrong. They acted as though I was making it up. I came to hate the eye chart that stubbornly said I could see 20/20 but did not account for fact that I COULDN’T SEE! Each doctor definitely recommended that I not let my doctor lift the flap again, but they would not or could not say why I couldn’t see! One surgeon recommended that I seek psychiatric help. I did eventually get glasses but they didn’t help much. Then I tried RGP contact lenses, I could see pretty darn good with them, but couldn’t leave them in long enough to get out the door.
I began to doubt myself, I beat myself with up with remorse and became depressed. I no longer felt sharp mentally. Somehow, I didn’t feel I could hear clearly without being able to see faces clearly. I felt in a fog. My world began to shrink. I spent more and more hours at my desk where I could control lighting and font on my computer, all the time wondering what was wrong with me.
Thank goodness for the Internet where I found that I wasn’t alone with problems from Lasik surgery. I learned that there were names for what I was experiencing, words like “ghosting, double vision, halos”—the litany that anyone reading this letter is familiar with. One day, I came across a letter written by a woman in much worse shape than me. After years of serious visual impairment, she found a doctor in Florida who was able to fit her with contact lenses that gave her back her life. I didn’t really think I would have the opportunity to see this doctor, but I filed away his name in the back of my mind.
In 2007, my husband was diagnosed with cancer. We sold our business, got through his cancer surgeries successfully, sold our house, and bought a travel trailer. We headed south looking for warm weather and a respite to figure out what our new future would be. We eventually ended up in Florida. I remembered the story of the doctor who helped the lady get her life back with contacts. I looked on the internet and found Dr Ken Maller in Fort Lauderdale. I e-mailed him and got a call back the next day! He patiently listened to my problems and seemed to understand that I wasn’t making them up. He made no promises, just “I may be able to help you, c’mon in and let’s have a look”.
When I walked into his office, he took one look at me and asked me why I wasn’t taking care of my Blepharitis. I had no idea what he was talking about. It seemed that I had an infection of the eyelids that had taken years to grow. No doctors of the dozen I had seen had even noticed it. Part of the pain I had was due to this condition and was easily remedied with antibiotics and a cleansing regimen! He fitted me with lens within the week and I was so happy to be able to read. I went back to my trailer and devoured a book for the first time in years. The lenses were reasonably comfortable, I wore them for 12 hours the very first day. I was so happy. But the doc wasn’t satisfied. He worked over the next couple of weeks to improve the fit on the left eye that had had all those “enhancements”.
We spent the winter in Florida and over the course of 3 months he continued to attempt to get the best possible fit and correction in that eye. Since I was getting older and problems with loss of near vision were compounding things, he worked on bifocal contacts and we even attempted a scleral lens. Sadly, it seems that I have redundant conjunctiva which kept the scleral lens from seating correctly. I loved that lens because it lofted over all that painful scarring and kept my cornea moist. But hey, when the lens didn’t fit properly, Dr Maller told me why it didn’t fit well. He didn’t just look at me as if to say, “There’s nothing wrong, so stop whining.” Thank you so much for that, Doc.
I ended up choosing lenses for distance vision and have resumed skiing, bicycling, hiking, and even birdwatching. I am no longer a prisoner in my house. I still get by with the old glasses for indoors, but am considering going back for a reading lens on that left eye.
I guess I didn’t completely realize how far I have come since the winter in Florida. Although my vision is not what it was before Lasik, I no longer think about my eyes constantly. Last week, I lost my right lens down the sink, (oh brother). I wrote to Dr Maller for a new lens and when I visited his web site, I reread all the testimonials posted there. I realized that I had actually not thought about the pain, the depression, the limitations, the endless eye examinations, the tear duct plugs, the worry over the expense of failed treatments for quite some time. The details of that trying time have receded into the past.
The main thing I want to say here is, that facing a disability is a difficult task. Trying to do so with doctors who deny that the disability exists is really miserable. Dr. Maller gave me validation, gave me tools to manage the disability, and gave me the courage to use them.
I would be happy to speak with anyone who is going through this difficulty. I know I sure needed someone to talk to about it.
Sincerely,
Linda Knight
Colorado
lindaknight10@yahoo.com
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