I'm Officially Grafted!

[Andrew MacLean]

shaznay

Welcome to the forum.

I understand that, in some places, there can be a bit of a wait for NHS referrals, although I have to say I have never found this to be a problem.

Andrew

[GarethB]

Waiting time is dependent on your area and severity of the condition. I am in the Coventry area and the wait was only a couple of months but I was considered low priority.

Birmingham hospital is huge so try and find out the waiting times before going private as it can be hard transferring back in to the NHS system.

[shaznay]

Thanks Gareth nd Andrew.

We have booked a consultation at Accuvistion on Wednesday next week with a suregeon (£150.00 for hour) and this gets deducted if you have da treatment with them)1!!

See how it goes!! thanks Shaz

[red-eye]

My modem decided to die on me which has kept me from coming online, have had to wait for a replacement!

How is everyone doing? Appreciate the info guys, Johnny and Lucy thanks. Andrew, Gareth and Anne -

Three weeks will have passed this Thursday...

Had another consultation since I was last on here and I'm pleased to report all seems to be well (so far). Eye sight is pretty much the same, I just about read the top letter of the chart, it was the letter 'A'. If it was something like an E/F, C/O or any other letter that can be confused with another then I wouldn't have been able to make it out for definite. Consultant was happy with the eye, the dry area is looking better, stitches are well albeit slightly tight but that's how he prefers them. He also mentioned that I don't have a bandage lens in, he generally doesn't use them and double checked, I guess that's good news. Pressure is stable, has gone up but within the safety zone.

Regarding the drops, I will continue to take Dexamethasone 4x a day, Chloramphenicol is now 2x a day for two weeks and then they will stop. Celluvisc 4x daily and finally Lumigan 1x before bed. Johnny are you still taking the Chlora and how did you manage to crack your shield?

Next appointment is in 4 weeks. I forgot to mention cardio to him but never mind, will start lightly in the next couple of weeks. I've been walking the dog daily for a week now and driving the car, not had too much difficulty, just the slight double vision. It's kinda fun driving along a narrow street The eye does start to go red when I'm out and about for too long, that's probably the dryness kicking in. Light sensitivity has improved a great deal, although its not really been sunny down here.

Been getting merry with the old red wine too, bottle a day does wonders for the boredom

Lucy, sorry to hear about your right eye getting worse. Noticed your back at work, hows that going this week? I also had a couple of students in when I went for my consultation, I swear there are more and more people looking through the scope at my eye each time I visit.

Let us know how your bro is getting on Shaznay.

[Andrew MacLean]

Um ... I don't want to rain on your parade, but I wonder whether it is entirely legal for you to be driving?

There are medical rules for drivers, and these include sight limits. You are supposed to have told the DVLA that you have keratoconus. If you have not already done so, I'd get onto that right away. If you have an accident while your sight is below the minimum limit you will find that your insurance is nul and void and that the police process your rta as a criminal offense.

For more information about driving conditions try this link

http://www.dvla.gov.uk/medical.aspx

All the best.

Andrew

[red-eye]

Your concern has been noted mate.

Yes they are aware of my KC and I can read a number plate at 20m with aid of contact in left eye. I believe they have been in touch with the hospital regarding my vision.

[lcogrady]

Hi red-eye

Good to see you back online. Excellent news that your graft is going well and pressure has sorted itself out

Bit of a bummer that my right eye has got worse but at least it can be corrected with a lens. Having an RGP fitted on Saturday morning.

Left eye graft is great though. It'll be 6 weeks on Thursday (also my 4th wedding anniversary) and all is well, yay!!!! I have started doing yoga again but when I saw my consultant he said no cardio until 8 week mark so take it easy if you do anything Work is going OK and I am back part-time mornings for this week then full-time as from Monday. It's quite nice getting back to normal after 5 weeks off! How are you doing? Are you still off work?

Lucy xx

[red-eye]

Hi Lucy,

Am I right in thinking you have not previously worn a lens for KC on your right eye? Great news about your graft as well, your 3 weeks ahead of me.

I'm pretty much back to doing what I previously was pre graft. I work from home as a part-time freelancer, taking it at a steady pace and have not managed to strain the eye too much.

Oh and happy anniversary Hope the other half spoilt you, although it was valentines day last week so maybe you did something then instead.

It's been a nice day today with the sun shining away, went down the beach with the dog to chill out, completely slipped my mind that it was half term so it was pretty busy!

Let me know how the fitting goes.

x

[crakerjacker]

HI red eye

Great to hear things going well.

I am sill on chlora 4x a day and dexa 6x a day. Not taking anything else but got the cerlluvisc for when eye gets dry.

I cracked my shield whilst trying to clean it. Each time you peel the tape off it leaves a bit of glue from the tape on it. Got to the point where I thought i better clean it but it cracked as I was doing it.

I've been back at work 4 days now and is going ok. Get bit of headache and having to make sure I have breaks between looking at the screen and stuff. The artificial lights in the office don't help either.

[GarethB]

Crackerjacker; try and get an updated VDU assessment, this will held determine if you need anything extra to make work more comfortable during the recovery period.

I have set up on my computer a reminder to take a break every 30 minutes. There is a dummy meeting in my diary for firt thing and the reminder is set for 30 minutes. It block things on my screen forcing me to take a quick break of at least a couple minutes and don't get eye strain from the PC anymore.

When I was light sensitive in the office I found sunglasses witha very light tint helped but for me the best was being able to sit near a window. The natural light seemed to take the harshness out of the office lights.