My surgery at Lombardi Eye Clinic

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Kazik
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Joined: Wed 31 Oct 2012 10:47 am
Keratoconus: Yes, I have KC
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My surgery at Lombardi Eye Clinic

Postby Kazik » Tue 09 Jul 2013 11:15 am

At first - I am not native, so pardon me for any mistakes :)

I have undergone a surgery at Lombardi Eye Clinic 7 days ago. As it is quite hard to find info from dr Lombardi's patients I would like to write a few words.

On the left eye:
I had a KC of I-II degree. My scores 1 month prior to surgery: sphere -4,00. Can't find exact scores of vision, but it was 100% with glasses and about 50% without them.
I got a Mini A.S.R.K. and SACL (Selective Asymmetrical CXL) on this eye.

On the right eye:
I had a corneal transplant 5 years ago - don't know exact name, but only a superficial layer was transplanted. Since graft was made I conceded this eye as stable in long-term, so I chose to have only Mini A.S.R.K. Scores 1 month prior to surgery: sphere -5,00 / cylinder -6,00. Vision was about 30% without glasses and about 50% with them.

OK, I'll write everything from the beginning:
I went to see dr. Lombardi some months ago to ensure my both eye could be operated on. As it turned out both eyes were qualified and I was literally guaranteed that I will get 100% vision on the left eye and that vision on the right eye will be better with decreased amount of artifacts. So I decided to undergo the surgery at the beginning of the vacations to have some time to recover. When the exact day of surgery was appointed (2nd of July) I was told to attend an examination one day before the surgery. My eyes were examined with the same apparatuses as earlier on normal visit but then... I got an examination of my bioelectrical field. It was quite funny, but OK. ;) Next day I came to Clinic for the surgery with my stomach empty (well, it was only 4h without eating, one can live with that. ;)) The surgery is conducted in local anaesthesia. I was afraid that during the surgery I could move my eye and ruin it - but doctor uses something to stabilise the eye, so don't worry. At first the Mini A.S.R.K. is conducted - there are several rounds of incisions for each eye, between which a map of cornea is made. Then you get a riboflavin poured in eye and SACL is performed. Since cornea is incised riboflavin penetrates 100% thickness, not only 40% as "normally" - that's what Lombardi told me. At the end there's a 30 mins (maybe more) of lying with looking at the laser. The whole surgery was supposed to last about 1,5h, but I stayed even more than 3h at the Clinic. I can think of better amenities than this operation, but it wasn't that bad. Mini A.S.R.K. hurts a little bit (I mean mostly the holding of the eye, not the incisions themselves), SACL is only a rest after. ;) The pain occured about 40 mins after the surgery. It was an intense one. Comes mostly of SACL, so only my left eye hurt much. Lombardi's secretary gave me an anaesthetic drops, but told me that using them slows down the recovery. I don't think one could cope with this pain without any drugs, but since my mother is a doctor I came prepared and got ketoprofenum and tramadolum administered (real-deal painkillers, I managed not ti use drops). The pain only got dull, but I managed to fall asleep. I felt the pain also on the second day, but it was weaker and with the help of drugs I could manage with it. The left eye was pouring tears all the time and I got photophobia - it wasn't that intense, I used sunglasses and could see in an artificially illuminated room. I started to use my right eye, but left generally remained closed. The third day was better - the pain was still getting weaker and I started to use my left eye for some periods of time even outside (with sunglasses of course). On the 4th day I felt no pain and even used computer. The vision was not sharp, but enough to do so. Then on the 6th day a quite strong pain occured as I woke up. I don't know if that happened in connection with too much using of left eye. Today - one week after surgery I also got pain in the morning, but it was rather weak and disappeared after some time. I can't still see well enough to read books, I can use computer only with "Windows magnifying glass" (or something like this) and not for long periods. So I suggest You arrange some entertainment that doesn't demand good vision if You want to operate both eyes (ex. audiobooks). I still got photophobia, but I don't have any fog in vision field, that is commonly associated with CXL.

There are 2 types of eye drops one takes after surgery - Tobral for 7-10 days and Congar for 20 days.

Effects are still to come, so I'll update my post. From what I've learned good vision will appear after 2-3 weeks and will stabilise after 2-3 months - then i will be able to choose some spectacles (I hope they will be needed only for right eye).

Kazik
Newbie
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Posts: 7
Joined: Wed 31 Oct 2012 10:47 am
Keratoconus: Yes, I have KC
Vision: Graft(s) and spectacles

Re: My surgery at Lombardi Eye Clinic

Postby Kazik » Mon 22 Jul 2013 9:04 pm

3 weeks after the surgery - I don't feel pain anymore, but I have a moderate photophobia on left eye (I use 1-3 pairs of sunglasses outside :)) and rarely this eye pours a few tears. The vision on left eye is better than before, but I believe it's not as good as it was in glasses. I can read with this eye with no problem, but the vision seems to get worse after some meters - I think some correction will be still needed, though it's to early for such statements. Right eye - vision is still shi..., but the artifacts are not that interfering with vision as they were before. This eye will need some correction too - that's for sure and was expected. Maybe this time I will be able to use a rigid eye lens on this eye.

ghamm01
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Joined: Tue 15 Oct 2013 11:48 pm
Keratoconus: Yes, I have KC

Re: My surgery at Lombardi Eye Clinic

Postby ghamm01 » Thu 17 Oct 2013 1:39 am

Kazakh,
How are you doing now? I have an appointment scheduled with Dr Lombardi in December...traveling from the U.S.
Have you experienced continued improvement with your vision post op? I would like to get an update on your current situation.

Gman031
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Re: My surgery at Lombardi Eye Clinic

Postby Gman031 » Mon 21 May 2018 11:41 pm

Hi there guys,

I may be going to Professor Lombardi this summer. How were your procedures at his clinic? Were they good?


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