Hydrops help needed

[Jessy]

Hi to all , new member ,brief history , i am 49 male and have been diagnosed with KC approx 10 years ago, for the last eight years i have used a variety of hard lenses and in the latter years have worn softperms for which i make hospital visits approx every 6 months for check ups under the nhs at my local eye clinic at Bury st Eds in suffolk ,my left eye has always been worse than my right but i have not seen anybody other than the contact lens specialist for the past eight years until approx 5 weeks ago from just before then this situation has arison
Approx 6 weeks ago i awoke with a white out hydrops scenario in my left eye , with a little persusiveness i managed to get an appointment at the cornea clinic the following thursday where the hydrops was confirmed and i was told my condition was rather rare and infact variuos 2nd and third persons were summoned to have a look. I was given a four drops four times a day of Dexamethasone sodium phosphate 0.1% and asked to return in 4 weeks which takes us to last thursday,which i did.
On my recent visit my condition got worse with a pronounced swelling at the front of my cornea , again others were summoned and the two consultnts openly discussed the next course of action,and this is where i need help! ,just some of the things said were , A consultant of 8 years said he had never seen anything like it in his time , a statement they made to each other was a double chamber or maybe cavity , a graft could not be perfomed while the swelling was up (something i had read). The final decision was halve the drops and we 'll send you an appoint to come and have it burst with a needle ,which i am now set for this monday 15 .
I have read alot about grafts etc but my main ? is has anbody else had this burst with a needle thing ?

[Andrew MacLean]

I guess you know that a hydrops is a tear or rupture in the endothelium of the cornea that allows fluid to seep from the inside of the eye into the corneal tissue.

It is probably right that they will not offer a graft while you have inflammation of the eye.

I have never heard of the procedure you describe, but with two consultant ophthalmologists on your case you seem to be in good hands.

Every good wish

Andrew

[Jessy]

Hi Andrew thanks for your thoughts , im sure your right I'm in good hands , I'd just love to hear from somebody who knows a little about this procedure , thanks to all very informative site

[rosemary johnson]

Hi Jessy,
Well, I thought I knew a fair bit about hydrops, being a veteran of 4 (at least) of them. But I've necer heard of the double chamber or cavity variety, nor the popping with a needle.
Good luck with the needle-popping process on Monday - do let us know how it goes.
Gld to hear your various consultants and others called in do not want to start offering a graft while you still have an active hydrops - far batter, even if the hydrops does result in scarrng and graft gets recommended, to wait till the tear has healed and the waterlogging cleared out, then the graft is likely to work far better. SOme people seem to want to rush into grafts at the first sign of hydrops, which always worries me.
Hope they sort it out for you, anyway. It sounds weird to me. I'm guessing that the fluid that leaks through the tear in the memrane that's ruptured has somehow formed a little "pool" or reservoir, by finding itself a nice little space between two layers of cornea - the cavity or chamber they were talking of.
So you're looking at the world through a little lake..... very strange.
Rosemary

[Jessy]

Hi Rosemary , thanks for your interest and discussion on my condition , How long do your hydrops go on for? ,is it a complete white out i have been in this state since about 1st of feb,it followed the worst cold ive had for years ,is there a known link to maybe sneezing or similar as im suspicius there may be ? any way thats my curiosity,now for yesterdays expierience !
Went to hospital for two pm only to be greeted by a volunteer offering to take my coat and tea and bisquits ,this was reely calming and i must thank the staff at Bury for a calming wellcome , brilliant! Anyway i was there with 12 elderly persons for the catarac clinic ,so 2.15 whisked away by the mian man for a photo session of the hydrops (hope to get a disc copy of the pictures and if so maybe i can download one to this site ?) Anyway 4.15 after all catarac patients been done was fully gowned and prepared and taken down to theatre , drops for anesthetic and eye fully covered and then the needle a couple of times i think .15 mins later out and eye full of coloured swirls ,green mainly , another cup of tea left with post op antibiotics and went home . good expierience however was a bit of a white knuckle ride on the table but then i am one of those terrified people in th dentist. No change in hydrops so far tues 16.30 not quite what i was expecting but hopefully the condition will improve , any comments wellcome thankyou

[melissa]

well done jessy- sounds like a tough experience... hope the hydrops clears!

[Andrew MacLean]

Jessy

I am not the veteran of as many hydrops episodes as Rosemary, but I have had one. I think it took several months before it was completely clear; perhaps as many as six months. (it was a long time ago and I know I was beginning to see a bit better before the cloudiness had completely dispersed).

Every good wish.

Andrew

[Jessy]

Hi to all, poss 8 weeks now since my hydrops appeared and following last weeks mini op i have zero improvement on a complete white out , can anybody tell me is recovery an overnight thing as it came or is it a slow gradual clearing over a period of days weeks or months? ,how long can this fluid path take to heal ? once it does clear is the graft the only option or is there a chance i can just go bact to my lenses and carry on as before ? look forward to any advice ,next appt at the cornea clinic is 8th april ,thanks to all