Is not wanting to wear glasses or contact lenses a compelling reason to have eye surgery?
TV weather reporter Jessica Starr thought so; and now, unable to live with the complications following the surgery, she is dead: by suicide (https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6492233/Fox-meteorologist-mother-two-35-kills-herself.html).
Lasik eye surgery is fairly safe, but not 100% safe. Statistically unlikely, but still possible, complications may ensue, ranging from blurred vision to constant pain.
So I think we have to ask–is wearing glasses so terrible? Is the 1% risk of personal catastrophe acceptable?
I mean, people get this surgery every day, lots of people get it, and almost everybody’s happy with the outcome. So maybe you’ll have dry eyes for a month or so, recovering from the surgery. No big deal.
But Jessica–only 35 years old, married, with two children–said her recovery was “brutal,” and it reached a point where she couldn’t take it anymore. The same thing has happened to other Lasik patients: not many of them, but the disastrous aftermath is not quite a zero probability. It can happen, and does.
How small a risk is too small to consider? I’ve worn glasses since I was a little kid. I don’t hate them enough to subject myself to surgery. It’s not like having cataracts, which, if left alone, will eventually leave you unable to see it all. That’s a lot worse than having to wear glasses. Which is why my wife, Patty, chose to have cataract surgery a few years ago and has not for one minute regretted it. Fifteen minutes in the doctor’s chair, and she could see again. Cool!
But just to get rid of your glasses–no, not worth it.
Oh, how sad. My son has had cataract surgery in one eye, and now has an appointment for the second in a few days. He is delighted with the outcome of the first, but I do hear an occasional disaster like this and it gives one pause to say the least.
How incredibly tragic! :,( Her husband is now left to raise two small children without their mother. Their lives are forever altered and not at someone else’s hands. It’s bad enough when that happens and there is no control. I’m so sorry that she was suffering from am elective surgery, but she selfishly took her life and now her children have no mommy. There could very well have been a correction to her vision issues, but if not, she may have been able learn to live with this just as many other people who were once “normal” learn to live with disabilities every single day. She didn’t give it very much time. Look at combat veterans. They come home sometimes missing limbs (I can’t imagine anything more painful physically or emotionally than that), but they carry on with those incredibly difficult struggles and live their lives for themselves and their children. I know this is very judgmental, but I can’t help but feel the heartbreak for those children. And then you have to wonder, is there more to this story?? Was this really the only thing that would cause a young mother to end her life?? We may never really know, but what we can do is pray. Lord, please have mercy on Jessica’s soul. I pray that Jesus wraps those babies in his loving embrace and gives the entire family the strength and comfort that they need to endure such a heartbreaking loss. May He watch over and carry those little ones through their lives and that they look to Him for the guidance, comfort, peace and strength that they will need in the coming days, months and years. Amen
The news reports I read seemed to leave out a lot of information that would have helped us to evaluate this story better.
Any surgery no matter how minor will have potential risk. Even crossing the street is not risk free. I’ve read it takes 2 to 3 months to heal from laser surgery. I’m thinking she just didn’t give it enough time, especially with complications.
I had a laser treatment for glaucoma in my right eye, a few years ago. Recovery was rather uncomfortable, but it took only an hour at the most, with no problems afterward.
My left eye is treated with one drop of medicine at bedtime, every night, and my doctor sees no reason to change it–which is just fine by me.
She was our newscaster in our area. She was very well loved, and this is extremely tragic. I pray for her family, friends and community.
I couldn’t get a sense of what actually happened to her, from the reports I read. I’m sure she believed her operation was perfectly safe, just routine, and everything was going to turn out just fine. All of us here should join in your prayers.
It’s hard to say. I have mixed feelings regarding this. A lot of people have surgery to correct their vision and I’d venture that it helps many of them. I had laser surgery about five years ago because of an injury which damaged one eye and I’ve had some problems since then. It’s hard to imagine this being bad enough to drive her to suicide, but no one knows what she was experiencing.
This is so sad…she’s my age with young kids. SMH…
This reminds me of the government (CDC) saying we should take flu shots, and have our children take a barrage of inoculations because they are perfectly safe. Then the Hulk has a pneumonia prevention shot and is rushed to the hospital critically sick. I know, I know, inoculations of small children has nothing to do with the current epidemic of autism – it is settled science.
Settled Science used to say eat and drink radium, it’s good for you!
It’s part of the secular humanist gospel that there will be no more disease, no more poverty, no more nothin’ bad, if only we listen to Science and obey our Leaders. So they vaccinate against *everything*.
What crap.
I never take flu shots because of the complications. Still remember seeing folks that were perfectly healthy before, and afterwards they were a mess & needed assistance with about everything. No thanks, I would rather have a flu (but never had it).
Flu shots don’t work anyway, are greatly exaggerated and are nothing but trouble