My first pair of glasses was when I was about 13 years old. I was fine until I began having headaches and not being able to see well. My dad took me to an optometrist. He promptly decided to correct my vision with glasses. It did for a while, but the headaches remained and the vision got worse as I continued to at least try to wear the glasses. I actually felt better without the #$%# things.
My dad then took me to an ophthalmologist in Natchez, Mississippi (big city) and the doctor's first words were, "Who put glasses on this boy?" Angerly, he explained that my vision problem was due to an infection that caused my eye to swell. He said he could treat the infection, but now I would probably have to wear glasses for the rest of my life.
That was the first time I experienced serious eye problems but it would not be the last.
Eventually, I had pretty much gotten used to wearing glasses, but I had to wear a bulky eye protection device while playing basketball in High School. So my dad decided to see if I could wear the new contact lens that was becoming popular. $300 and months later it became obvious that I could not wear them. I had astigmatism. Contacts could not be worn by people with astigmatism back in the early-1950's. So back to glasses. By then they were thick and heavy. I hated them.
I spent time in the Army and Navy and went to college never realizing that one day I may not have to wear glasses. And sometime around 1989, I learned about RK Surgery and I had it done by Doctor Stephen Slade in Houston. He was one of the pioneers in the RK Surgery field and was said to be "The Doctor's Doctor" when it came to eye care.
Doctor Slade said the RK Surgery correction would only last maybe six years and then I would have to return to wearing glasses. The scar tissue on my eye surface prevented me from ever wearing a contact lens again.
Then, just like he said it would, I had to go back to wearing glasses. It was worth it to see well for a few years without glasses. Plus, it allowed me to wear fashion sunglasses.
But a few years later, I learned that I had a cataract forming and went back to Dr. Slade since he knew my eyes inside and out: literally. And he told me about a new procedure using a newly developed lens called the Crystal Lens, and that it would give me perfectly clear vision for the rest of my life. He said he participated in studies of using the lens in South America. And unlike traditional cataract lens, it had 'feelers' that eventually attached to the eye-focusing muscles, thereby giving me both close-up and distant vision in both eyes automatically, just like my real eyes. I would never need eye surgery again. But they were not covered by insurance and were $2,000 for each eye.
I said let's do it! And paid my $2,000 for the first eye.
The surgery was performed on a Friday in my right eye. I went home wearing a big patch which I had to keep on overnight. I woke up and took the patch off and couldn't see anything. It was just one big grey mass. I was very frightened as to what it meant.
Of course, it was the weekend, so I waited until Monday. My neighbor drove me to the doctor's office, arriving just as they opened the doors. They took one look and told my neighbor to take me directly to a specialist in the Texas Medical Center. He did, and I was seen immediately by Dr. Kim, but not in a traditional exam room because all were occupied. She examined me in a hall closet that had a spare gurney in it.
One look and she brought out a syringe and told me "this is going to hurt." She injected anti-biotics directly into my eyeball in seven different places. I heard her say, "I'm trying to save as much of your vision as possible." Then I was sent home.
From that day over the next few weeks, I saw many specialists, some of whom were medical teachers in the vision field. Each doctor's exam or treatment or surgery or medication usually made matters worse. It was as if I were a guinea pig for their various opinions and ideas.
Dr. Slade himself admitted that during the initial surgery that "he nicked' one of the RK Surgery scar tissues, opening it up to infection."
I thought about a lawsuit, but I didn't. It was an unfortunate accident. I was, however, greatly disappointed that I never got my $2,000 back for the Crystal Lens, which is still in my eye, but of no use whatsoever.
Then everything kind of tapered off to only seeing Dr. Kim, the highest regarded specialist at the Texas Medical Center. The visits were mostly to monitor my progress or changes. But then one day she said my retina had detached and that she would have to insert a gas bubble into my eyeball to push the retina back into place. And that I would have to keep my face and eye pointed down at least 23 hours a day for three months.
I could not get excited or angry, or read, or watch TV, or use a computer, or even ride in a vehicle except to come to her office only about two miles from my home so she could check my progress. All I could do was listen to books on tape, and sleep. It was pure agony. My newly started business had to close, so I made the decision to retire.
Then after completing the three months she said, I'm sorry but we have to do it again for three more months. I all but gave up fighting it by that time. Even suicide was entering my mind. But with my wife's help, I stuck it out and the retina returned to its position. Even so, there was more damage to contend with. and my right eye no longer looked straightforward. It looked 3° to 5° to the right. It was not fixable.
That was pretty much all they could do for my right eye. But Dr. Slade, the original doctor, offered to correct my remaining good eye with Lasik surgery, for free. Which he did, and until my cataract surgery almost three years ago, I got by with only one eye and not wearing glasses. Now I'm being treated for glaucoma in that eye, and have been for well over a year. Not only am I seeing my ophthalmologist, Dr. Emmett C. McComissky (God love him for his patience) but also a glaucoma specialist, Dr. Edward P. Langlow, and in early December, a retina specialist, Dr. John T. Convillion.
Yesterday, I purchased a temporary pair of glasses just so I can see to write, cook and do housework. I hope to drive again when my new progressive power lenses is ready. The temporary ones look almost like my first pair of glasses back in 1953.
