Above are topo/tomo maps of my corneas, as measured in 2023 by Dr. Tooma, 25 years after first surgery.

In 2004, before social media became widespread, a distraught LASIK sufferer wrote to me, reporting complications similar to mine.  So I sent her this:

"I have been where you are.  It's lonely because others don't see what you're seeing, and feeling.  But you can find some peace in knowing we're luckier than others (e.g. blind people).  Remember that we're all born with (and unconsciously learned to live with) our limited five senses.  For example, we hear only 20Hz-20kHz of the sound spectrum, and we see only 400nm-700nm of an otherwise-vast spectrum of light.   You must consciously adapt to your new limitation.  You can do it.  It's tough because we're all hard-wired to protect (and fix) ourselves to survive and prosper.  So our brain clings to problems it finds.  Let go, focus elsewhere, and you might feel less frustrated.  Keep yourself distracted.  I'm not apologizing for imperfect medical or legal systems.  In fact, I was angry for three years and fought to understand and prosecute those who wronged me.  But eventually we learn that we must spend our time/resources elsewhere, to maintain mental health."

Pre-Surgery History

At age 10, I developed increasing myopia and astigmatism, stabilizing around age 28.  Four years later...

Pre-operative prescription (September 1998):

OD: -8.50D spherical, -2.50D cylindrical
OS: -8.00D spherical, -2.25D cylindrical
Using corrective lenses (glasses or contacts) I had roughly 20/25 of clear vision in both eyes
My pupils widen to 9mm in dark conditions
I had no other visual problems.

Surgeries

At age 32, after several inquiries with optometrists in Pasadena, CA and Manhattan Beach, CA, I chose to have LASIK on both eyes.

Surgery #1:

Performed: Friday, October 2, 1998 9:00am (Both eyes)
Surgeon: Dr. Douglas Steel and Advanced Sight Medical Group, Los Angeles, California
Laser: Summit
Goal: Routine LASIK procedure to correct vision and reduce dependence on corrective lenses
Result:  See "Complications" below

Surgery #2:

Performed: Tuesday, April 20, 1999 at 11:00am (Right eye)
Surgeon: Dr. Douglas Steel and Advanced Sight Medical Group, Los Angeles, California
Laser: Summit
Goal: To correct new polyopia (caused by irregular astigmatism) in R eye
Result: Introduced flap striae, R eye becomes even more far-sighted

Surgery #3:

Performed: Tuesday, July 20, 1999 7:00am (Both eyes)
Surgeon: Dr. Thomas S. Tooma, Newport Beach, California
Laser: Nidec
Goals: (1) Correct polyopia in both eyes by removing central islands and (2) Remove flap striae on R eye
Result: All original complications remain (see below)

Post-Surgery Complications and Adverse Effects 

All my complications/symptoms (see the matrix at top) were caused by the first surgery.  None was corrected during subsequent surgeries.

Condition one year after surgery (Nov 1999)

Refraction:

• OD: +1.25 spherical, -2.25 cylindrical

• OS: +0.75 spherical, -1.75 cylindrical

Comments:

• Moderate farsightedness on R eye with moderate and irregular astigmatism

• Uncorrected, I have 20/25 in the left and 20/80 in the right

• With correction (glasses) I have about 20/25 in both eyes

• I need glasses to drive

• I need glasses to read, with difficulty

• I've been told I cannot use soft contact lenses any longer due to LASIK procedure reshaping my cornea

• I continue to have all the complications listed in the above table

Condition two years after surgery (Nov 2000)

Refraction:

• OD: +1.50 spherical, -2.25 cylindrical (over-correction has worsened slightly during the past year)

• OS: +0.75 spherical, -1.75 cylindrical

Comments:

• Uncorrected, I have 20/30 in the left and 20/100 in the right

• With correction (glasses) I have about 20/30 in both eyes

• I need glasses to read for more than about 30 seconds

• I continue to have all the complications listed in the above table

Condition after three year

Refraction:

• OD: +1.25 spherical, -2.50 x 25 cylindrical

• OS: +0.75 spherical, -1.75 x 5 cylindrical (over-correction has worsened slightly during the past year)

Comments:

I was told my irregular astigmatism (which is only partially corrected by wearing glasses now) could be helped by contacts but I don't want them because:

• • Wearing contacts was what I was trying to avoid by persuing LASIK(!)

  • I'm not as irritated by it as I once was (I'm adapting mentally)

Condition after four years

Refraction:

• • OD: +1.25 spherical, -2.50 x 25 cylindrical

  • OS: +0.75 spherical, -1.75 x 5 cylindrical 

Comments:

• • From the now-defunct Surgical Eyes, I learned: "Patients with refractive errors greater than -4D and scotopic pupils 8 mm or larger are contraindicated for 6-mm-zone excimer surgery…The onus is on the surgeon to choose the right patient…Not screening for these patients preoperatively is a critical oversight on the part of the surgeon because these complications cannot be remedied with currently available refractive techniques."

  • Stephen Trokel, MD, Enlargement of the PRK Optical Zone, Journal of Cataract & Refractive Surgery, 11/96. 

  • Peter Hersh, Jack Holladay, Corneal Optical Irregularity After Excimer Laser PRK, Journal of Cataract and Refractive Surgery, 3/96. 

  • Gregory Klonos, MD, John Pallikaris, MD, A Computer Model for Predicting Image Quality after PRK, Journal of Cataract and Refractive Surgery, 2/96. 

  • Yair Alster, Anat Loewenstein, Tami Baumwald, Isaac Lipshits, Moshe Lazar, Dapiprazole for Patients with Night Haloes After Excimer Keratectomy, Graefe’s Arch. Clin. Exp. Ophthalmol, Vol. 234, 2/96, S139-S141.

Condition after five years

Refraction, as measured by Stein in Manhattan Beach:

• • OD: +1.00 spherical, -2.00 x 018 cylindrical (slightly improved from last year)

  • OS: -0.25 spherical, -1.75 x 002 cylindrical (slightly improved from last year)

Comments: 

• • Visual complications listed in above table are still present, neither worsened nor improved. 

  • Adjusting to these defects has taken time, and I'm learning to cope.

  • I've been contacted by ~6 people in 2003 who've asked me whether they should have LASIK performed and I caution them to (1) find the right surgeon and (2) only proceed if they feel they can no longer live with their current, corrected vision because it's a precious gift that cannot be restored easily.

Condition after six years

Refraction, as measured by Stein in Manhattan Beach:

• • OD: +1.00 spherical, -2.00 x 018 cylindrical (same as last year)

  • OS: -0.25 spherical, -1.75 x 002 cylindrical (same as last year)

Comments: 

• • Visual complications listed in above table are still present, neither worsened nor improved.  

  • I prefer to avoid thinking about LASIK, and my loss, and trying to move on with my life.

  • I'm learning to cope, and trying to avoid the mental and physical pain of LASIK.

Simulations of my eyesight

Demonstrated by images attached at bottom of this page

With and without glasses, I constantly see:
1. Blurriness and Ghost images (double image in my L eye, and six images in my R, dispersed across ~1 degree of angular area)
2. Glare (moderate)
3. Generalized blurriness

In low-light conditions, I constantly see:
4. Starbursts. Their radial length are covariant with dilation of my pupils.
5. Halo

Looking Ahead (written in 2004)

I hope that someday a topographically-linked laser can help me.  But even after such solutions are claimed to be effective, I'll hesitate because I have learned to distrust both the medical and legal communities.  I usually avoid thinking about my eyes, and my condition, because I then become frustrated, angry, depressed, and start thinking about killing myself.

Looking Ahead (written in 2014)

I was an amateur astronomer, but can no longer enjoy that hobby.  I was a software engineer who enjoyed writing code, but I can no longer do that either.  I listen to audiobooks and podcasts, to leverage one of my other four working senses. 

Scleral lenses (written in 2025)

After seeing 6-7 eye specialists, the best solution for me might've been custom/wavefront scleral lenses.  But a specialist in March 2025 said that custom scleral lenses cannot help my HOAs because my meridians (the lengths across my eyes: Up-Down and Left-Right) are too symmetric, whereas custom sclerals require asymmetry to "lock" onto an eyeball with correct orientation.  

Corneal thickness and Margin of error  (written in 2025)

After the three surgeries, with an attendant thinning of my corneas during each, it appears that risks of further surgery might outweigh uncertain benefits.

Epilogue

I'm dissatisfied with the outcome of all three surgical procedures, because:

• • None delivered what each surgeon indicated.

  • Each introduced complications that are impossible to correct.

  • My pupils' diameters were not measured in low light, so the small ablation zone caused HOA's which are now uncorrectable.

  • My post-operative best-corrected-vision is much worse than [pre-op with lenses].  ~1% of LASIK patients share this condition.

  • My priceless eyesight has been permanently damaged, due to voluntary surgery.

  • For 25 years the medical community has informed me "there may be solutions in the future".   All have been mirages.

  • I've had to investigate on my own, the causes of the adverse effects of the surgeries.  

The lone piece of good news is that I'm not a "horror case" needing a corneal transplant.   But I wish I'd never had these surgeries, as they were certainly the very worst decision of my life.

Need Help?

Considering refractive surgery?  Suffering complications?  Feeling suicidal?  Feel free to reach me, and I'll try to help.

Links

• All the links (references) I'd collected since 1999 are now defunct.   So here are some new ones:

• LASIK Surgery: Do the Advertising and Risk Disclosures Reflect the True Risk of Complication?

• LASIK Horror Stories Are All Over Social Media. Should You Be Worried?

• Doctors, former patients warn of LASIK eye surgery dangers: ‘Biggest scam ever put on the American public’

• Laser Refractive Surgery: From One Medical Student to Another - Complications

• Post-LASIK ectasia

• To the unethical and dismissive LASIK surgeon Dr. Steel

History of this page

• Created December 1999, and migrated from my GeoCities page (created in 1996)

• Last edit: September 2025