Moorfields Appointment

[Sweet]

Ok, just got back from Moorfields, well actually that is a little untrue considering my appointment was at two pm and it is now almost six!! LOL!! I have to say that i was seen in ten minutes, it only took an hour and then did a little Christmas shopping!! LOL!! Hehehe, so for once i was seen REALLY REALLY early!!!

Anyway, some good news and some not so good.

The good news is that i now have 6/9-3 vision which is better than 6/12 so am very excited with that! My vision was 6/9 before everything went wrong this year so everything is looking much better (pardon the pun!), and i will forget about the -3! I mean what's that between friends anyway!! The 6/9 is MORE important!! With a pinhole i see 6/6 which is even better, and is what it was two years ago, so i feel more positive about the whole thing!

I then had to phone my optometrist back home and see what lens he gave me, as they were a little concerned over using it as a piggyback system. It is a hybrid lens, which is very good to wear on it's own, and as they keep telling me is a good fit, but now that i have a soft lens underneath isn't as good. So i have paid for another one which is better to work as a piggy back system as more oxygen passes though it, so am waiting for that to be sent to me.

So basically the soft lens has done what i wanted it to, in that i don't have any dry areas anymore, my eye isn't red, and they didn't see any staining. So basically that was all good. I am keeping to a monthly soft lens as it is made from slightly different materials to the weekly one and disposables, so am told that it will be better for me as i have really dry eyes. So that is ok, it wasn't the cleaning that was the problem, with only one eye that isn't much! It was more a cloudiness, but he thinks this is due to a slight protein problem on my lens (i don't clean them with protein remover anymore after the worries i had last time). Which now i don't think was related, but was the start of six months sick leave, so i am dubious about doing it again!

Anyway, bad news. I seem to now have a blood vessel going through the edge of my cornea, which while they tell me is ok and that they just need to keep a check on it, is rather worrying to me as it wasn't there three months ago. I did kinda think that they were more of a worry if you have had a graft, (and this isn't the grafted eye), but i am still worried all the same as this is still the only eye that i can see with

Have an appointment again in three months time, and just have to see what they say, but if anyone has any advice on this it would really help me as i'm stressing anyway.

Ok, that's about it! Thanks for listening!

Love Sweet X x X

[John Smith]

Hello Claire,

Thanks for sharing your excellent news with us. Seeing that well just three months post-graft is rather good. I'm sure you'll have a happy Christmas now

As for the blood vessel, I think that their main concern is that if they need to graft you in the future, cutting a blood vessel increases the risk of rejection.

All the best,

[Sweet]

Hhmm sorry, maybe i didn't put this too well, as this isn't my grafted eye. LOL! I don't see Moorfields for my grafted one as i had it done privately, so i had a check up on my right one which gave me so much trouble this year and caused me six months off sick.

Just for the record, on my grafted eye i just make the top line with pinhole specs, which is an improvement all the same! Hehehe!

Thanks anyway!

Sweet X x X

[Ali Akay]

Hi Claire
What John was saying is that if this eye ever deteriorated to the stage of needing a graft in the future,the presence of corneal blood vessels could increase the risk of rejection which is perfectly true. However,there are other factors to take into account eg the extent of corneal infiltration, and whether they are superficial or deep blood vessels.A few superficial blood vessels 1/2-1mm long is very common and shouldnt be a problem, but if you have deep corneal vessels (unlikely),it could be more of a problem.The remedy,as you know,is to increase the oxygen supply to the cornea.When the cornea no longer needs these new vessels,they become "ghost vessels" ie the problem is reversible to some extent.My advice is dont worry, if possible reduce your wearing time, and have regular check ups.I've personally never been very keen on the piggyback idea for this reason although I realise it has made your life much easier.I guess you must now have higher oxygen transmission silicone hydrogel type soft lens which should be a lot better.
Take care.

[Sweet]

Ali, thanks for that

I have a monthly focus night and day soft lens, and am changing my hybrid RGP lens for one with better oxygen transmission in the hope that that will help. Hhmm, what it is i don't know yet as he is going to look into it and send it to me!

I know that a lot of optometrists dislike the piggy back system, my old optometrist in Wales doesn't like it either, but i get so much more comfort with it, and none of the problems with a dry eye or redness that i had before. I am a little concerned though that i didn't have this blood vessel three months ago, and so need to try this new lens to see how it goes. In fairness my old optometrist gave me this RGP, but didn't anticipate me using it on top of a soft one!

I do have to wear a lens for at least twelve hours a day due to shift work, but this only accounts for three to four a week, and i do take them out as soon as i can. I then have a break and don't wear lenses on my days off, which kinda kills me but gives my eye some time off!

Ok, am waiting now to see what this new lens is, thanks again!

Sweet X x X

[Ali Akay]

Hi Claire
I was a bit confused about your RGP lens.When you mentioned "hybrid" I assumed it was a true hybrid with rigid centre and soft skirt around it.The problem with these is that the soft part is low water and hence low oxygen transmission and I assumed this is what you have been wearing.There is a gas permeable material marketed as "hybrid" but it isn't really.In theory the lens has "soft" molecules within the matrix that are released to the surface and make the lens more comfortable. My guess is this is what you've been wearing, and ,if so, there isnt much point really as you have a soft lens underneath.The ideal material would be one with very high oxygen transmission eg Optimum Extreme.The other factor is for the lab to try to make the lens as thin as reasonably possible.Some labs turn out very chunky lenses which dont break easily, but tend to be "edgy" and the extra thickness reduces the oxygen transmission through the lens.I hope this helps.

[Sweet]

Hhmm ok, that was me! There was a post earlier about everyone calling corneal lenses RGP's and i did have to admit that i do exactly the same, even when it isn't one. Maybe because i have changed it so many times, and everyone here knows what we are talking about as in what lens it is, and not on what it is made of!

Yes the lens i am wearing is a hybrid lens, with a rigid centre and a soft edge, very nice to wear on it's own so i'm told, but not to wear over a soft lens. My old optometrist in Wales didn't know that that was what i was going to do with it, as i had it over six months ago. And neither did i at the time, as i started off wearing it on it's own, but still had problems with redness and it drying out. As he doesn't like the piggyback system he didn't mention anything else to me, and finally being able to see i came back to London.

A few months later though i went for a check up at Moorfields about scleral lenses, and had to admit that i couldn't get the hang of them or the vision, and so asked if i could try piggy backing my lens, having read about it here. I wasn't asked which type of lens i was wearing, and i didn't know if i should change it for something else, as it was still rather new to me.

Now though after another check up, Moorfields have decided that i can't keep wearing this lens i have as a piggy back system, as it isn't suitable and so are going to send me a new one.

Am leaving me lenses out for a few days until i have to work monday, so am just hoping that the new one comes soon.

Thanks for the advice, Claire X x X