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Jerry opts for surgery and the eyes have it! The Sunday Sun May 27, 1990 By Jerry Gladman Toronto Sun |
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| SUN ENTERTAINMENT writer Jerry Gladman, wearing his familiar pop-bottle glasses, was none too cheerful (above) before undergoing eye surgery. Understandably. But thanks to a delicate yet simple procedure, Jerry is smiling (opposite page) about his "whole new perspective on the world". |
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'MY GOD, I can see the clock." Those seven simple words - uttered in rapture by my wife
less than 24 hours after myopic surgery corrected her severe nearsightedness - changed my life.
And within three months, I too, could see the clock. Only people who have spent most of their lives wearing thick glasses can appreciate what it means to be able to open their eyes in the morning and see the time. Or for that matter, clearly see the person laying next to them. (Okay, my wife screamed when she saw me.) Yet most of them probably have never heard of this simple 15-minute operation - called radial keratotomy (RK) - and even if they had, they likely didn't know it was available and attainable. Or that, like my wife and I, they, too, could tell time clear as a bell each and every morning without those old pop-bottle lenses. And, hey, that's not all. |
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For the first time since I was 13, I can see myself shave without having to lean into the mirror. I can blow-dry and brush my hair from a distance. I can even get my hair cut and see what the barber is doing. I can go into a store and buy fancy sunglasses without special prescription lenses (I actually bought three pair the first week after surgery). I can shovel the snow or cut the lawn without fogging up. I can even shed a sweater without snagging my glasses. And, after 34 years, I no longer bang the bridge of my nose 5,000 times a day with my forefinger knuckle to keep my glasses from slipping down. |
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'I CAN DO all these things - and more -
thanks to a fellow named Dr. Yair
Karas, the soft- spoken wizard whose gifted hands corrected my blurry vision and gave me a whole new perspective on the world. Like most folks, I had a vague recollection of a 60 Minutes story detailing the discovery of the operation by Russian Dr. S.N. Fyodorov, whose patient's sight was corrected after a piece of broken glass lacerated his cornea, thereby reshaping it. But, I didn't know there was an operation in Canada that could get the same result until my wife, Norma, went to Karas for a solution to her problems with her contact lenses. He diagnosed dry tear ducts, a permanent condition generally caused by long use of contacts. |
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Since she's a flight attendant whose company prefers she not wear glasses, Norma was interested in RK. Karas showed her a tape on the procedure, gave her some written material and sent her home to think about it. Without getting too complicated, myopia is generally characterized by an eyeball that is too long in relation to the rest of its parts, or a cornea with more curvature than normal. Light rays come to a focal point and begin to diverge before they reach the retina. Basically, the result of either situation is that eyesight diminishes with distance. The procedure to correct myopia is performed by making four or more radial cuts in the cornea. Karas, who has been performing the operation for more than six years, likens it to cutting into 10 layers of tissue paper and leaving the last layer not only uncut but unscratched. The end result is that the cornea is flattened and begins to heal in this shape. With the reduced curvature compensating for the extra length of eye, light rays then pass through the cornea and converge on the retina rather than on front of it. In other words, you can see distances. In some cases, like Norma's, both eyes measure 20/20. In other situations, it's 20/40, which, in most North American centres, is good enough to get a driving license without glasses. KARAS, LIKE most other doctors doing the procedure (he's one of a handful in all of Canada) won't guarantee anyone's vision. "But the worst-case scenario for most patients," he says, " is that they may need glasses for some situations such as night driving or reading." It didn't take Norma long to decide to have the surgery. While I had an open mind, one factor kept me from being an immediate candidate: Fear. I was terrified of the idea of someone cutting on my eyes. I had little doubt that it worked - I was more concerned that it might hurt. Norma had her first eye done on a Friday afternoon. The result, of course, was reported above. The following Monday, she had the second eye operated on. Once again, 100% success. Four days later, she worked a flight to England. After assuring me over and over there was no pain during the operation and only minor discomfort following it, I made the big decision to have the surgery. As it turned out, I didn't have to worry at all. Whatever pain awaited me in the operating room was brushed aside beforehand by three Valium tablets. By the time I settled back in the chair, I was so relaxed he could have done the surgery with a butter knife. Since I was fairly out of it, and because of the nature of the operation, I didn't see a lot of what was going on. Primarily because of a freezing eye drop was used as a local anesthetic, I never felt any actual cutting. I looked straight into a bright light and, whenever the light expanded, I assumed Karas was making another incision. At some point I may have felt a slight twinge. But that's all. Before I knew it, I was led into a small recovery room and was given a muffin and a glass of juice while waiting for Norma to pick me up. My instructions were to sleep for at least four hours and not remove the bandage until then. Unlike Norma - and most patients as I later found out - I experienced some pain the first night. It felt like there was a piece of gravel in my eye. But the painkillers enabled me to drift off. I do recall opening my eye once and looking at the TV across the room. I could see it clearly. I was in heaven. But the next day I had trouble seeing anything. Karas wanted to know if I'd rubbed my eye since there was an abrasion on the eyeball - much like skinning your arm. I WAS READY to go into some serious depression when Karas recognized the symptoms. "It's a very uncommon occurrence, but I can recall two other patients having this," he said. "It's a reaction to the Iodine used as a disinfectant in the operation. "It cracks the eyeball." He told me it would clear up within eight hours or so, but to expect the same thing when the second eye was operated on the following Monday. It did. But this time I wasn't too concerned. Following the second surgery, I visited Karas for 10 consecutive days. As with all patients, he likes to keep a close watch on the healing process. During healing, and sometimes for months after, you're on a schedule of assorted eye drops. "Everyone heals differently," Karas said. In my case, he wanted to hasten the healing by keeping me from blinking too much. So, for the first week, I spent most of my time either sleeping or listening to music with my eyes closed. I made the time go quickly by thinking about what it would be like with no glasses. I didn't suffer any major complications as a result of the surgery - there's no record of anyone who has - but, I had some side effects that lingered. For one thing, I had trouble reading, particularly in the morning. I was already up for bifocals when I went in for the surgery and the operation wasn't expected to change that. Even people with 20/20 vision become somewhat farsighted when they hit their middle 40's. Karas' hope was that I'd be able to escape reading glasses for a few years. But this operation is designed only to correct nearsightedness. At first I had trouble reading or working on the computer in the mornings. It generally cleared up by mid-afternoon, so he gave me reading glasses - with the warning not to get used to them. Now, almost three months after the surgery, I can get by for the most of the day without reading glasses. And a bright reading light helps tons. The other thing that bothered me for a few weeks was the brightness outside, sunny or not. Karas gave me special wraparound sunglasses, but I no longer need them. THE OPERATION costs $3,200, and it's not covered by OHIP. RK is still considered as being cosmetic, although I'm not sure what seeing better has to do with cosmetics. One of the big differences is that I see better. Everything is much sharper and I can make things out long before I get to them. My latest checkup showed I had 20/15 vision in my left eye, which is better than 20/20. I'm still using corrective drops in my right eye but it's improving. A couple other things have changed in my life. Some people at work walk by without recognizing me. Those who recognize me don't know what's different. And on a regular basis, people - mostly women - will remark: "You have such beautiful blue eyes." Well, I always knew that, but I was looking out of the right side of my glasses. Oh yes, one other thing. Now when I tell someone, "I'll see you," I can add: "And I mean that." |