LASIK SOS Is There a Doctor in the House ?

Introduction
Legal Statement
LASIK Complications
Problems without Solutions
Informed Consent
Worst-Case Outcome
"VIP" LASIK Surgeons
Other Websites
Asking for Help
Author's Symptoms
HOME/EMAIL
Asking for Help - Nice and Loud.
One of the people I've met credits LASIK with saving her life.  She used to trust doctors.  Her experience with LASIK shattered that trust.  Subsequently, a lump was discovered in her breast.  Her doctor told her not to worry about it.  She decided that she needed second, third, and fourth opinions.  It was found that the lump was, in fact, malignant - she had cancer.  The lump was removed, and, thank God, she is alive.  She says that, before LASIK, she would have just followed the advice of the first doctor.  In which case, God knows, what would have happened.

Personally, I have accepted that, at the age of 44, because of the limitations imposed by my eyes, and the corneal disease to which I was introduced by "Doctor" Michael Gordon, I will no longer do any of the following things:
1.  Read for Pleasure.  (I now listen to Books on Tape).  Before LASIK, I read voluminously, with decent comprehension.
2.  Go for a long bike ride.  (When your eyes hurt, the wind rushing past is not good.)
3.  Make jewelry, for a hobby.  (In order to make jewelry for a hobby, you need to be able to see without eye-strain.)

I could go on, but I'll stop there.  I understand that I made a huge mistake - I trusted San Diego LASIK Surgeon "Doctor" Michael Gordon.

Now, given that A) I made a mistake, and B) medicine has little to offer me, to fix the mistake -- what's the right thing to do ?

My own answer to this question is as follows:
A)  Provide other human beings with the gift of informed consent which I lacked when I consulted with  "Doctor" Gordon.
B)  Work to increase the motivation of the medical community to develop solutions for refractive surgery complications.

To quote a fortune cookie fortune I once received, "The important thing is to express yourself."

At this juncture, I need assistance in the area of diagnostics.  I want a corneal confocal microscope exam, to shed light on the etiology of the ocular surface disease which onset at the time of my own LASIK surgery.

At the age of 45, it is not particularly appetizing to contemplate a future with escalating chronic eye pain.  I certainly do need the assistance of competent, committed ophthalmologists in this regard.

Is there a DOCTOR in the house ?

Sincerely,

~ Roger ~

Roger E. Bratt

email address:
rodgerebratt@yahoo.com

NOTE: To email me, please remove the "d" from "rodgerebratt"

Copyright 2002, 2003 Roger E. Bratt