Oh my goodness!!! I found this and I think LASIK is really not as safe as it sounds. Who knows am I the lucky one who will go blind?!!! I have been doing a lot of researches on LASIK recently. They kept emphasising that each individual has different result after the surgery. Some people will experience dry eyes and halos for 1 - 3 months. While others will experience it 3 - 6 months. All these are acceptable. But there are still quite a number of people who have dry eyes and halos after a year. -_-'''
LIKE thousands of others, Mrs Jasmine Koh went in pursuit of perfect eyesight, but she ended up going blind in one eye.
Doctors say the condition of the 42-year-old, who is undergoing treatment for it, may be reversed. However, there is a chance she may never be able to see with that eye again.
The regional manager of a multinational corporation had had Lasik surgery in both eyes to correct her short-sightedness 'only after my friends and colleagues had gone for it and were successful'.LASIK: A MATTER OF LUCK? The prospect of perfect vision draws many to correct their eyesight with Lasik surgery. But, eager eyes skip the fine print that warns of the potential dangers, such as seeing double or even going blind after the operation.
The procedure to correct short-sightedness by having lasers reshape the cornea is done commonly here. About 6,000 people have gone for it at two government eye centres in the last year or so.
The success rate in the last three years has been between 95 and 97 per cent, but when the operation does go wrong, it can result in double vision, or the patient seeing halos or starbursts of light.
He could also lose his vision, be unable to see as well as before, or end up with painfully dry eyes.
Mrs Koh, who paid $3,000 for the surgery, came out of it with abrasions on her left cornea and a bacterial infection in that eye.
She had her operations at the Singapore National Eye Centre on the morning of Feb 23. The next day, she could make out the letters on the eye chart with her right eye, but saw a white blur with her left.
By the following day, she had such a sharp pain in her left eye that she sought help at the Singapore General Hospital.'
I'd expected a little discomfort, but certainly not the degree of pain I went through,' she said.'
I'm not putting blame on anyone. No one can foresee the infection setting in. What I want is to let the public know that though the promise of perfect eyesight may be attractive, there is still a risk involved. I wouldn't want to wish those few days of pain I went through on anyone.'
A spokesman for the eye centre said patients are told of the many side effects and complications that may occur with Lasik, and that these are listed in brochures and on the consent forms they have to sign before they have the operation.
A thorough examination and a series of tests are also performed before the procedure, to determine if the patient is suitable for it, and the reasons for all this are usually explained to him.
Unfortunately, Mrs Koh fell into that small category of patients where the operation goes terribly wrong. The eye centre's head of cataract and comprehensive ophthalmology service, Dr Peter Tseng, said her case is unfortunate.'
When I saw her a day after the surgery, her corneal flaps were clear and her eyes were healing well. And when she developed pain and her left eye watered, she was immediately treated for an infection, even though there was no obvious sign of one yet.'
Her infection became evident only on the fourth day, he said, adding that the type of bacteria she caught is of an uncommon strain and very virulent.'
This is a very rare occurrence,' he said. 'It's the first time in my 10 years of experience in refractive surgery that I've seen this.'
Mrs Koh was warded for 11 days, which cost her about $3,000. She was discharged on March 9, when doctors saw some improvement, but Dr Tseng will not say if she is out of the woods yet. 'We have to give it a few more weeks.'
He stressed that it is important for the public to know that there are inherent risks involved in Lasik surgery. 'You can't treat it like a day at a spa. It's an operation.'
Article from: http://forums.cozycot.com/health/21366-lasik-eye-surgery-32.html
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