"It's like taking a little blue pill where you wake up the next morning and everything will be OK; Lasik is sold to the public like that by some doctors and we are greatly misinformed," says Dean Kantis.
Lasik - Laser-Assisted In Situ Keratomileusis - is the most commonly performed eye surgery that purportedly eliminates the need for glasses or contact lenses. The procedure's popularity is mainly due to its claims that there is relatively no pain afterward and better vision is achieved, usually within 24 hours.
Briefly, Lasik permanently changes the shape of the cornea - which is the clear covering of the front of the eye. A small instrument is used by the surgeon to cut a flap in the cornea which is folded back to reveal the stroma, or middlesection of the cornea. Next, pulses from a computer-controlled laser vaporize a portion of the stroma and the flap is replaced.
But Lasik is not for everyone. On its website, the FDA explains who may NOT be a good candidate. Unfortunately, some eye surgeons do not take the time to screen patients, to their detriment. Dean Kantis was sold a bill of goods by his doctor; he should never have had Lasik surgery in the first place.
"So many things can go wrong during a procedure, some of these doctors want to get people through like cattle, " says Kantis, who is so furious with Lasik and the doctor who performed the procedure that he has his own [website]explaining Lasik's dangers and detrimental effects.
Kantis was told by his doctor that he would have 20/20 vision the day after Lasik surgery. Instead, his vision is permanently blurred.
"This guy lied to me," says Kantis. "I said to him before the procedure that if there is even a one percent chance that I am not a candidate for Lasik, I will fly home today." Seven years ago, Kantis flew from his home in Fort Lauderdale to Chicago for Lasik surgery. He had tests the day before and next day had surgery in Dr. Nick Caro's clinic.
"Oh my God it hurt so much! When I came out of his operating room, my eyes felt like needles were sticking in them, and this went on for about 15 minutes. Caro put drops in my eyes and wanted me out of his office because I was making a bit of a scene and other people were waiting to have the procedure.
"Finally I went back to my hotel, and returned the next day for more tests, one of which was a color map of my eyes. I went back home. My left eye was OK, but my right eye was absolutely destroyed. It was 2200; I could barely make out the top E on the vision chart. I could drive but didn't have any night vision.
"I couldn't just throw on a pair of glasses or contacts because my eyes were still changing. I will never have the visual the acuity that I once had - in other words my eye has been permanently altered for the worse.
"I was told by another doctor, (who has stopped doing Lasik procedures) that Nick Caro cut the flaps too short. He should never have done the procedure after he made the flaps too short on both my eyes.
"I was supposed to have laser surgery this week but they cancelled the procedure after finding out that I cannot be a candidate for this kind of surgery. It is due to the fact that I have 9mm pupils and their laser machine only goes up to 6.5 mm. In other words, there is an outer ring of my eye that cannot be treated - my pupil size is too big. Obviously, my pupils didn't grow. Knowing my pupils were this large, Nick Caro should never have done this to me."
According to Kantis, countless people who have undergone Lasik surgery have so much pain with their eyes they can't sleep at night. Elvira Galindo
can't even take naps, her eyes continuously hurt. She is suicidal.
Elvira's testimony:
"I had Lasik surgery to both eyes in June of 2004, with disastrous complications. Prior to surgery, my vision was correcting to 20/15 in both eyes (which I was not told) and I had (stilll have) trace cataracts in both eyes. After surgery, I immediately lost my close-up and intermediate vision. My right eye corrected to 20/20 and my left eye was overcorrected and I could see nothing near or far, everything was fuzzy.
Four days after Lasik, my vision started regressing and the doctor told me that it appeared that both my eyes had over-reacted to the laser. Within three months my eyes started burning terribly and I could not sleep without Ambien. A year later I had to retire. I can no longer work because I am unable to sleep even with sleeping pills: I only sleep one to three hours a night and am unable to drive due to my lack of sleep and loss of vision. I do not want to endanger anyone's life if I were to get behind the wheel of the car.
My eyes are extremely dry. I have lost most of my eyelashes because my tear glands are clogged and I no longer have normal tears. I have constant headaches, which no amount of pain medication helps. I had torn shoulder rotator cuff surgery about five months before my Lasik and I am told that this is the most painful surgery you can have. NO! Lasik burning eyes are worse. Since the surgery, I have now found out that I was not a good candidate; unfortunately I trusted my doctor and he did not tell me the truth.
There were at least six red flags that the doctor should have caught and told me about.
1. trace cataracts in both eyes
2. very dry eyes
3. instability of prescription (mine changed about 3 or 4 times in 9 months)
4. high prescription in my left eye
5. large pupils
6. my age put me in a higher risk factor.
According to the FDA web site (above), large pupils, dry eyes and unstable prescription are contraindications for Lasik surgery. I did not know that the FDA had a web site prior to my Lasik. And of course, my eye doctor did not tell me. The doctor did not provide me with the FDA mandated Manufacturer's Patient Information Booklet.
The doctor never told me that I would also lose intermediate vision, never told me about loss of contrast sensitivity. When I asked about the complications of droopy eyelids, he answered that it had never ever happened before. When I asked if the flap would heal, he answered "eventually". I now know that the flap never heals.
I now know that all the possible complications and possible side effects have happened to others, otherwise how did the doctors know how to list these complications? But some doctors do not want people to know this. There are very easily thousands of people who have had bad results, but do not know what to do.