My story
My name is Mark, I am 38 and live in Melbourne Australia. Two years ago I had a sore eye which at a routine check with an ophthalmologist turned out to be just irritation from a dry climate. While in the surgeons office he noticed a slight scar in my right eye from LASIK I had done 15 years prior when I was 21.
He asked me if it bothered me and I mentioned a little bit at night, he mentioned there was now a quick procedure where he could brush out the scar with a special ophthalmic brush to remove the scar. I mentioned to him that the scar was because of previous LASIK where they had initially cut the flap too thin. He said it was routine and would remove it and get rid of the scar and I would have amazing vision in that eye.
Act 1
My entire corneal flap disintegrated and he had to remove it
A week later when the surgeon was performing the procedure and attempting to brush out the scar, my entire corneal flap disintegrated and he had to remove it. The surgeon immediately performed cross linking and I went from the operating theatre back to the surgeons office where the collagen cross linking was performed while the underlying cornea was exposed.
This was the beginning of my nightmare
This was the beginning of my nightmare. I had to wait a full year with no vision in that eye for him to fix the problem and get my vision back. This involved no UV exposure and daily regimen of different eye drops. That year was the lowest year of my life and I was plagued with a black cloud of depression so heavy all I wanted to do was sleep and dream, as in my dreams I could see the world and function as a normal person.
There were days where I hoped I would not have to ever wake up.
The thing that made the waiting bearable was the promise from the surgeon that the procedure he would perform would fix the problem, restore my vision and the absolute worst case scenario would require needing glasses to see. I had hope that I just needed to be strong and wait it out and everything would be OK.
Act 2
A year later after my eye had healed I had the new surgery where a mixture of PRK and PTK was performed to try and restore plano and visual acuity. The result of this was being able to semi see ok’ish in bright daylight but enduring severe high order aberrations, ghosting, irregular astigmatism, double vision, halos etc.
In any light condition I could not see any detail on anything whatsoever – could not see the lines on my hands or the details on my child’s face. Indoor under artificial lights and night time I pretty much crawl into bed and try to watch the Ipad with my good eye and avoid looking at anything. Life was pretty miserable and bleak.
I could not work like I used to, my income dropped dramatically and my deep depression returned with a vengeance. This time it was worse as it was accompanied by the absence of hope and a life filled with a permanently damaged eye. I tried to be as strong as possible for my wife and child and tried to pretend to be happy.
I did the rounds going from surgeon to surgeon and being told that nothing more surgically could be done as the cornea was now too thin to be able to perform additional surgery. They mentioned I should be able to see again with a rigid gas permeable lens and was given the contact details for a specialist optometrist to fit the lens.
I attempted to get a rigid lens and went through the trial fitting process, until I found a lens that helped a little bit, perhaps made it 20% better. I then had to wait 3-4 weeks for the lens to be ordered from the USA. When it arrived and I put it in, the vision was worse with the lens in than without it.
Act 3
It was at this point I decided to make contact with Dr. G. in Texas (Laserfit Vision) and travel there to see what he could do for me. I knew this was my best hope as research that I had done on the internet had revealed many many stories from lots of people with LASIK and cornea disasters that had amazing results with Dr. G. patented Laserfit Scleral lenses.
I made the 20 hour flight to Texas to see Dr. G. The first day the initial scleral fitting consultation involved comprehensive laser scans of the shape of the eye as well as determining how light passing through the cornea was refracted. The next afternoon I returned cautiously optimistic and hopeful, ready to try the new custom made scleral lens that had been freshly manufactured that morning. Dr. G. popped in the lens and immediately the world snapped into crisp detailed perfect focus.
Immediately the world snapped into crisp detailed perfect focus
I was overwhelmed with the quality of the vision, I don’t remember ever being able to see like this ever! The vision was incredible, I felt elated and truly happy for the first time in a very long time. The result of this lens was vision very close to 20/10 (better than perfect vision) which totally eliminated any night time issues. I sat outside that night in the parking lot of the hotel watching the cars on the highway and the aeroplanes coming in for landing with their little lights flashing under the wings. This is something I thought I would never be able to do again. I now have my life back!
This is something I thought I would never be able to do again. I now have my life back!
I can drive and go out again at night, and function in the world once again. Ironically the vision in my right eye with the lens in is actually better than the vision in my good eye with its lens in. This tells you what a dramatic difference these lenses can make. I wear the lenses the whole day, and pretty much just go to sleep at night when I take the lenses out as there is not much I can do without them.
My Conclusion
For any of you still suffering with vision problem related to laser problems or corneal issues, if you are able to, you should stop procrastinating and make a trip to Texas and go and see Dr. G. It will probably change the quality of your life. He is a wonderful dedicated man who is top of his field with his own unique patented technology which he improves upon all the time.
He is a master of his trade and can without any trial lens fittings, produce a unique lens that locks to your specific eyes surface with custom optics to match that counters every deviation or error in your cornea to allow light to reach your retina as nature intended. His scleral lenses are extremely comfortable and do not touch the cornea. They are filled with fluid which soothes the cornea while you wear them and will help alleviate dry eye issues that many people suffer from.
Thank you Dr. G. and Laserfit, the world is a much better place with people like you in it.
