Fw: Anti-Cancer Recipe & LASIK Dangers

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Lasik Surgery: When the Fine Print Applies to You

By Abby Ellin on March 15, 2008

Health Warnings

I WAS vain.

That’s the only way I can explain why I willingly let a doctor cut my corneas

with a laser: vanity.

Little did I know when I chose Lasik surgery that I would not end up satisfied

like the friends and acquaintances who raved about their post-glasses existence.

Instead, my days are complicated, since I am dealing with side effects that are

far more bothersome than being unfashionably four-eyed.

I had been wearing eyeglasses since I was 8, and I was tired of never seeing the

stars without glare, of not being able to go rock-climbing unless I secured my

glasses. Not to mention the horn-rimmed barrier between me and a date.

I had trouble figuring out which side of a contact lens to stick onto my eye, so

I never really gave contacts a chance.

I had been considering Lasik — short for laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis,

which entails cutting and reshaping the cornea — since the Food and Drug

Administration approved it in the late ’90s. Because I was not too nearsighted

and not too old, ophthalmologists told me I was an excellent candidate. But I

wanted to wait until more people had gone under the laser.

Roughly 800,000 patients have had Lasik annually since 2000, spending about $2.5

billion on the procedure every year, said David Harmon, the president of Market

Scope, a research company for the ophthalmic industry in Manchester, Mo.

The American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery reports a 95.4-percent

patient satisfaction rate for Lasik, based on a recent analysis of research

worldwide. The researchers found 19 studies specifically addressing patient

satisfaction from the last decade, encompassing roughly 2,022 patients. (Some

had been post-op for a month; others for a decade).

Most ophthalmologists are confident about the efficacy of Lasik, as well as

another popular procedure — photorefractive keratectomy, or P.R.K. Both are

designed to correct nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism.

“It’s very few people who don’t have a superb outcome, especially with the new

technology,” said Dr. Marguerite McDonald, the president of the International

Society of Refractive Surgery of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

About five of my friends had undergone the surgery. “Life-changing,” they cooed.

“Miraculous!” Because my 40th birthday was looming, my parents offered me either

a cello or Lasik. I chose Lasik. But first, I looked up studies online and

consulted three doctors. Each did a spate of tests and pronounced me an

excellent candidate.

I asked about the risks, and they explained that some people come away with dry

eye, double vision, decreased contrast sensitivity and decreased night vision.

Some see halos around lights. I was assured these side effects were rare, and

usually fleeting.

Ultimately, I chose Dr. Sandra Belmont, the founding director of the Laser

Vision Correction Center at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical

Center. Dr. Belmont also runs a corneal fellowship program at Manhattan Eye, Ear

and Throat Hospital.

A doctor who was a patient of hers recommended her. She charges between $4,500

and $5,500; I paid $4,500, nearly $1,000 less than other quotes I had received,

a consideration since my insurance, like most, does not cover elective surgery.

I signed a consent form confirming that I understood the risks. I thought I did

understand them. I did not know then that 5 to 10 percent of patients need to

have their vision fine-tuned — or in industry parlance, “enhanced” — after

surgery because of an under- or over-correction, according to John Ciccone, a

spokesman for the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery.

Nor had I spoken to any individuals who wished they had never had the procedure

— of which, I have since learned, there are plenty.

On April 13, 2007, I had the surgery. Dr. Belmont’s colleague examined me the

next day. My vision was a little blurry, but apparently that was normal. Dr.

Belmont said that everything looked good on subsequent visits, too. But the

blurriness never went away.

At night, I saw halos around streetlights; neon signs bled; the moon had two

rings around it like Saturn. My eyes felt sore, a result of dry eye, which also

causes sporadic blurriness.

Dr. Belmont told me that sometimes women of a certain age who are undergoing

hormonal changes or who take certain medications get dry eye. It would have been

nice if I’d known my advanced age (39) might be problematic before I sat in the

chair.

I cut out all prescription and nonprescription pills. Didn’t help. The doctor

told me to use Refresh Plus, over-the-counter drops that temporarily help dry

eye. The drops cost around $12 a box; I go through two boxes a week. She also

prescribed Restasis eye drops, which can help increase tear production. They

didn’t for me.

True, I no longer wear glasses. But the 20/20 line on the eye chart is blurry. I

can make it out only if I squint, and it takes about a minute to read. My doctor

views this as proof of the surgery’s success.

“I do see it as a success,” Dr. Belmont told me in a recent interview. She also

has said repeatedly that these troubles will pass. “In 18 years of practice,

I’ve never had a patient whose symptoms don’t go away. Most patients take three

to six months to heal.”

But I see my slow-squint reading as a sign of failure. I thought I’d be able to

decipher words in the real world at a glance. My consent form said: “The patient

understands that the benefit of the Lasik/P.R.K. procedure is to have an

improved uncorrected visual acuity.” I took that to mean that my eyesight would

be 20/20. Most doctors, on the other hand, focus on the words “improved

uncorrected visual acuity.”

“Not every patient has the potential to see 20/20,” Dr. Belmont told me this

month. So, if your eye can see 20/20 with glasses or contacts, the doctors try

to replicate that, but there are no guarantees. Dr. Belmont said, “You do the

best that you can.”

On its Web site (www.fda.gov/cdrh/lasik/risks.htm), the F.D.A. cautions patients

to “Be wary of eye centers that advertise ‘20/20 vision or your money back’ or

‘package deals.’ ” (Still, some refractive eye surgeons’ phone numbers end in

2020.)

Nearly a year later, my problems remain. Still, I’m not mad at my doctor. I’m

mad at myself. No one forced me to do it. In our quick-fix culture, we forget

that there are risks with any surgery, elective or not.

Between 1998 and 2006 the F.D.A. received 140 negative reports relating to

Lasik, including double vision, dry eye and halos, said Mary Long, a

spokeswoman. Granted, this is not that many, but Ms. Long said, “If this many

people are responding to an adverse event, there are probably others who are

not.”

After concluding that too few well-designed studies have examined quality of

life after Lasik, the F.D.A. put together a task force in 2006 to design a

clinical trial to explore the subject. A pilot study is now under way at the

National Eye Institute in Bethesda, Md.

LOOKING back, I do not think my doctor and the other experts I consulted

adequately represented the pitfalls. It’s one thing to say that dry eye is

“annoying,” as Dr. Belmont did; it’s another to explain how feeling as if your

eyes are coated in Vaseline may make every waking moment a chore.

Perhaps it depends on what your definition of success is.

 

You May Also Want to Read:

TeenageWaistland.com

Potential Long Term Dangers Of LASIK Surgery

How To Reduce Eyestrain And Promote Optimal Vision

Why Frequent Blinking Is Essential For Healthy Eyes And Optimal Vision

“People say, ‘Well, you don’t wear glasses anymore,’ ” said Barbara Berney, 53,

of Rockford, Ill., who had the surgery in 2001 and now reports dry eye, night

blindness, dimmed vision, halos and starbursts. “Unless you see what I see, you

have no frame of reference.”

Unhappy Lasik patients, some with worse experiences than mine (one man I spoke

to needed a corneal transplant), have created about a dozen Web sites. The 12

patients I talked with all reported feeling as I did, gaslighted. They said they

kept telling their doctors that they couldn’t see, and that their doctors kept

telling them that they could.

A few doctors have told me that they think they can help my dry eye, but I worry

they will suggest more surgery, and I haven’t gone to see them. A few

optometrists said they could fit me with special lenses to moisten my eyes, and

I may have to go that route.

Meanwhile, I walk by eyeglass shops and wish I needed to go inside.

***

Note from Ben Kim:

This article was originally published on March 13, 2008 in The New York Times.

Many thanks to Abby Ellin for graciously allowing us to share her article with

our readers. To learn more about Abby's work, including her book on childhood

obesity, please visit: TeenageWaistland.com.

For information on the potential long term dangers of Lasik surgery, please feel

free to view:

Potential Long Term Dangers of LASIK Surgery

To discover simple eye exercises that you can begin using immediately to promote

better vision naturally, please feel free to view the following articles:

How to Reduce Eyestrain and Promote Optimal Vision

Why Frequent Blinking is Essential for Healthy Eyes and Optimal Vision

 

 

 

Muhammad Ahmad Al-Masry

64, Muhammad Korayem Street,

Gomrok, Alexandria, Egypt

Tel: 0020-03-4800555

Fax: 0020-03-3082667

Web: massrii

massrii

 

 

 

----- Forwarded Message ----

Dr. Ben Kim's Newsletter <info

massrii

Tuesday, March 18, 2008 2:59:06 AM

Anti-Cancer Recipe & LASIK Dangers

 

Dr. Ben Kim's Natural Health Newsletter

March 18, 2008

 

Dear Reader,

 

Koreans eat a ton of the food that I discuss in

today's featured health article, and I believe that

the health-promoting properties of this inexpensive

and powerful anti-cancer food is what has bestowed

older generations of Koreans with notable longevity

and low rates of cancer.

 

To discover which food I'm referring to, view the

following page:

 

http://drbenkim.com/anti-cancer-soup-recipe.html

 

***

 

If you know anyone who is thinking about undergoing

LASIK surgery, please be sure to have him or her read

the following article before signing on the dotted

line:

 

http://drbenkim.com/lasik-surgery-side-effects.html

 

You'll find more information on the potential long

term dangers of LASIK surgery here:

 

http://snipurl.com/21zhp

 

And you'll find simple eye exercises that can help you

experience your best vision in the following articles:

 

http://drbenkim.com/reduce-eyestrain-improve-vision.html

 

http://drbenkim.com/blinking-healthy-eyes-vision.html

 

***

 

From Our Mailbag:

 

Dear Dr. Ben,

 

Last January, I decided to try your apple cleanse

program along with a few other ladies at work. I

thought that I would try it for about a week to lose a

few pounds and see if I could get rid of a nagging

headache that had been around for a few months.

 

It's been more than ten months now since I started

your program, and I'm still on it! I vary the apple

part from day to day...sometimes, I eat just lettuce

and tomatoes all day until dinner time, sometimes I

eat another fruit like pears or honeydew.

 

I have lost a total of 23 pounds, my headache went

away after the first couple of weeks, and my knees and

hips feel like they did when I was in university.

People are always asking me what I'm doing, and I tell

them about your apple cleanse diet.

 

I also take your greens and cod liver oil during the

evenings, and I'm certain that both have helped me a

lot. My bowel movements have never been more

comfortable, my skin is better than I can ever

remember, and I actually feel good while I'm awake!

It's amazing how before I began the program, I had

learned to live with aches and pains and low energy.

 

Thanks for all the work that you do to help people

like me with our health - I'm not exaggerating when I

say that you have changed my life in a big way.

 

Sincerely,

 

J. Kim

Toronto, Ontario

 

---

 

The apple cleanse diet that J. Kim referred to is a

simple and highly effective cleansing routine that I

typically recommend to people who want to fast but are

not able to get away from their everyday routines to

experience an optimal fast.

 

If you haven't come across the apple cleanse diet on

our site and would like to see what it's all about,

view the following page:

 

http://drbenkim.com/articles-detoxification-routine.htm

 

For a close look at our organic green food formula,

good to include in the evening meal of this program

for its cleansing properties and nutrient-density,

view:

 

http://drbenkim.com/greens.html

 

***

 

For those of you who have been following our

fund-raising efforts for Operation Shanti, an

organization that is helping the poorest and neediest

children and families in Mysore, India, please feel

free to view the following update (including a video)

here:

 

http://drbenkim.com/goonda-operation-shanti-reel-youth.html

 

***

 

I'll leave you this week with a Chinese proverb that I

have by my desk on a sticky:

 

" If you are in a hurry you will never get there. "

 

I know that there are many instances of " there " where

this proverb is not true, as the world is full of

people who have rushed to acquire and accomplish

tangible things.

 

I like to think that the person who originally came up

with this proverb was referring only to things that

are lasting, meaningful, and intangible.

 

" If you are in a hurry you will never get there. "

 

Makes you want to take a deep breath, no?

 

Wishing you a peaceful and healthy week,

 

Ben Kim

 

http://drbenkim.com

Box 20185, Barrie, ON L4M 6E9, CANADA

 

To or change r options visit:

http://www.aweber.com/z/r/?TKzsjMzMtMxsjMxMbCxMtEa0zIycLJwszA==

 

 

______________________________\

____

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