Still, he admitted, doctors need to properly prepare patients for what to expect afterward, and to have realistic expectations. In his own case, he ended up having tiny silicone plugs inserted in the drainage ducts for tears, which corrected his problem. The most common side effect, Gicheru said, is dry eye, which tends to clear up with time, although some cases can be permanent. Starr’s is “a truly heartbreaking story,” he said, but “Lasik has been a critically examined procedure,” with satisfaction rates among patients of well over 95 percent. “As ophthalmologists, we make an effort to screen patients,” examining not only corneas, but medical and psychiatric histories. “All surgeries have risks,” Gicheru said. While some have had side effects, he has never seen one commit suicide as a result. But Gicheru has had Lasik surgery himself, has had typical side effects, and has performed the surgery on hundreds of patients. He only knows what he’s read in the media, he said, so he can’t talk about specifics. Sidney Gicheru, a Dallas ophthalmologist made available by the American Academy of Ophthalmology, speaks carefully about the Starr case. If Jessica Starr hadn’t put that video on Facebook, would we even know?”ĭr. Most people are private about these things. She had Lasik in 2000, an operation she deeply regrets she hasn’t been able to drive at night since then, and has “a long list” of complications, including floaters, pain and chronic dry eyes.Ĭofer said Starr’s suicide is not an isolated event. Because we’ve been through it.”Ĭofer has maintained a website documenting Lasik complications for more than a decade. “In my community of injured Lasik patients, we’re not surprised at all,” said Cofer in a phone interview from her home in Tampa, Fla. To Paula Cofer, it all seems very familiar. In another video, recorded a week previous and apparently not done for public consumption - it was shared by her husband with Fox 2 - Starr says of her recovery, “it’s been emotional.” “I wore contact lenses for 23 years, and I had a really high script,” Starr said in her video. For people who’ve worn glasses or contacts all their lives, particularly women whose livelihood is at least partially dependent on maintaining their appearance, as TV personalities are, it can be very tempting. Patient testimonials talk about vision transformed literally overnight, painlessly. Surgeons who perform surgeries like the one Starr underwent - a form of Lasik known as SMILE (Small incision lenticule extraction) – say the procedures are safe and effective. I'm not visualizing things like I used to.'" Rose said in his Fox 2 interview: “She looked at me and she said, 'Dan, it's like my eyes and my brain aren't communicating like they used to. “I’m struggling a little bit,” Starr said in a social-media video post made a month after the surgery. In interviews this week on Fox 2 and “Good Morning America,” Rose and Jessica's mother, Carol Starr, say the surgery caused a change in Jessica’s personality, due to pain, dry eye and concerns that she would never fully heal. Today, Starr’s family, including her husband, Daniel Rose, point to that surgery as a turning point. The only cloud on her horizon, at least in the public view of it, was vision-correcting Lasik surgery that was proving harder to recover from than anticipated. Please keep me in your thoughts during this challenging time.Meteorologist Jessica Starr (Photo: Fox 2) I really wanted to come back but need more time to recover. Starr's last tweet was from November 14 reading in part, "Yesterday was a struggle for me. She was living in Novi at the time of her death.Īccording to her bio on the station's website, she had two meteorology degrees from Michigan State University and Mississippi State University. Starr was a Michigan native, born in Southfield and raised in Commerce Township. Her family and friends will be in our thoughts and prayers in the coming days as we all deal with our grief." All of us here at FOX 2 are in deep shock and cannot believe that such a wonderful, bright and intelligent individual will no longer be with us. "Last night we were informed of the heartbreaking news that our friend and colleague, meteorologist Jessica Starr took her life. z4km8Tsb9K- Amy Andrews Fox 2 December 13, 2018 Keep her family in your prayers in the coming days as we all deal with our grief. Her Fox 2 family is deep shock and cannot believe such a wonderful, bright and intelligent woman is gone. Last night we were informed our Jessica Starr took her life.
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