When I was treated, a 6mm diameter laser beam was used. Because my pupils are over 7mm in diameter at night, this does not treat the entire area that light can enter the eye. 
As a result, a small area in the center of my pupil has been treated to the more or less correct shape. The outer layer is untreated, which results in the halos, glare, and visual distortions I see every day. Nobody told me that there was a machine with a larger diameter laser being delivered a mere 6 months after my surgery. You don't have to just take my word for it. Watch this video from a company called Neuroptics that explains the problem in detail. Dr. Donnenfeld's own words: “You must evaluate prospective patients’ pupil size, test their corneal thickness, and make sure that they don’t have irregular corneas or wound healing problems.” -Dr Eric Donnenfeld, I was never told my large pupil size constituted an increased risk before surgery. I was never even told, before surgery, what my pupil size was estimated to be. |
My first encounter with Lasik was at the local LensCrafters store where I have been a customer since I was12. The doctor's office in that LensCrafters store was decorated with advertising posters for Lasik. Only later did I realize that the doctor in LensCrafters actually got a portion of the profits from my Lasik care. I had been wearing soft lenses quite happily, as I was moderately myopic. Sure, the contact lenses were sometimes inconvenient, but they did give me 20/20 vision, day and night.
Having trusted this family doctor with my eyesight for almost 20 years, I was confident that he would not send me in the wrong direction, and signed up immediately. I went through the usually battery of tests for glaucoma and many other things, and was pronounced a "perfect candidate" and sent to Garden City to have my surgery. The surgery was, as promised, more or less painless. I was excited to be on the cutting edge of a safe, wonderful procedure that everybody would soon enjoy. On my first day after the surgery, my vision started to improve beyond what it had been without contact lenses, but I began to notice some problems. Spotlights at night produce horrible glare. Reading became difficult, and my reading speed was drastically reduced. Sometimes objects seem to project a fuzzy haze against their backdrop. I had never experienced anything like this. Vision was very simple before lasik - fuzzy without contacts and crystal clear with contacts. Now I had a whole new world of problems. No problem, I was told. These were transitional problems that would go away in 2 weeks. Then they said 6 months.... Doctor Donnenfeld looked me in my wounded eyes, shook my hand, and told me that he would heal me six years ago. Now he won't take my calls. I was plied with legends of what some call the "miracle beam" that will cure all my ills. . Two years after that, the "mircale beam" was still two years in the future. It had some early problems in "beta testing," but it would arrive and solve all problems in time. I believed Doctor Donnenfeld at every step. That was 1999, and the problems are still here. Now, only a cynic would notice that the statute of limitations on medical malpractice in New York is two and a half years. Only a cynic would notice the coincidence that the "miracle beam" was predicted, 6 months after my operation, to be two years in the future. Adding insult to injury - quite literally Nowadays Dr. Donnenfeld doesn't even return my phone calls. He shunted them off to his assistant, and now they don't even take my calls either. So much for the "lifetime guarantee" I bought into. So if anybody is thinking about Lasik, and is curious to chat about my experience before taking the plunge, send an . Disclaimer: This website is, as the title implies, my Lasik story. It is not a scientific study. Statistically significant information cannot be determined from only one case. This website does not make any claims about the experience that other people have had with Lasik. I am not a doctor and do not to profess to give medical advise to anybody. |
My name is John Hoge and this page is the chronicle of my personal experience under the care of Dr. Eric Donnenfeld of The Laser center of Garden City, New York. 
One visit for a checkup with my family doctor, I came to see that his office was covered in advertising for something called "Lasik" that could give perfect vision for a mere five thousand dollars.