My grandmother has been dealing with ongoing complications since her cataract surgery for nearly TWO YEARS. She constantly feels like there is something stuck in her eye every single day. This is not a minor inconvenience. It affects her quality of life all day, every day.
She has told the exact same consistent story to every doctor she has seen. This is not confusion. This is not an exaggeration. This is a persistent, lived physical experience.
At her recent appointment with Dr. Eddie Harris, she hoped to feel heard. Instead, she was completely dismissed.
He told her there was "nothing wrong" and instructed her to stop seeing other eye doctors and just go back to her primary care physician. A primary care physician...for an eye issue following cataract surgery. That suggestion alone was confusing and felt like a way to brush her off.
What was worse than the words was the tone. The dismissiveness. The implication that she was imagining it. When an elderly patient expresses ongoing discomfort that has lasted for years, the bare minimum expectation is compassion and curiosity, not condescension.
There are few things more defeating than knowing something is wrong with your body and being made to feel like you're crazy for saying it.
If you are looking for an ophthalmologist who listens carefully, takes persistent symptoms seriously, and treats patients with empathy, I would strongly encourage you to consider your options carefully.
No patient, especially not an elderly one, deserves to leave a medical appointment feeling unheard, minimized, and embarrassed. read more