Recovery Dillema

[Gareth2]

Hi, I hope all goes well for your operation and most of the points have been covered by other members but I will add something, my consultent told me before my operation, you can do what ever you want except knock the eye once graft is done. the drops are most inportant and its your job to look after it from now on. which has always stuck with me so far.

[irishproduce]

Hello all,

Im back at my computer at home having a glass of white wine

I will be attending the wedding tomorrow with bells on.
I feel fantastic. The op was a success, I am on Maxitrol drops 6 times a day and also some anti-inflamatory tabs.
The discomfort is very frustrating but its something I can deal with.
The main gripe I have is that I did not get one continous stitch, there are many of them.

I am wearing a patch over my eye right now although I shouldn't be.

The sunlinght penetration is something I can deal with
The groginess of the first few days was hell but I am fine now and actually feeling on top of the world.
The strange thing is they kept me in until this morning.
Thanks again for all the support and question answering.
I will be happy to anser any questions and I will stay around a while.

[John Smith]

Congratulations that it's all over. Wearing the patch when you're not told to won't be a problem.

Getting knocked (even slightly) near the eye will hurt without the patch though; so make sure you wear it to bed, and if you're around children.

Don't worry about the interrupted stiches. The jury is out on which is better. A continuous stitch requires more effort to put in, and often has more even tension. It cannot be adjusted though. Individual stitches can be removed individually to help reduce astygmatism. It's basically the surgeon's choice.

Please keep us all updated on your progress, and have fun at the wedding

[irishproduce]

Ya, the patch was something I picked up in the pharmacist.
I will certainly be careful though. There is definitely an improvement in my vision, although it is only a slight improvement. I hope maybe it improves alot more.
During the op, the surgeon appears to have cut a piece at the front of my eye (So say the nurses) and once this heals the vision should improve even more.

Can anyone tell me, am I being complacent??
I mean the op seems to have gone fine, they advised me before I left of tell tale signs of infection and rejection but I fell this is alot better than I had anticipated.

[GarethB]

Congrats on the graft.

Do you know if you had Full Penetrating Keratoplasty or DALK graft?

Rejection is not that common but something to be aware of.

Infections is pretty easy to avoid if you follow good hygiene practice, wash your hands before using your medicines, make sure the eye dropper does not touch your eye or your fingers. Carefull clean round your eye, common sense stuff.

A good mental positive attitude is important part of the recovery process. You need to be aware of rejection and infection, however dwelling on the subject and worrying can be damaging to recovery.

That's my view anyway and it got me through two grafts, never had an infection and no signs of rejection nearly 20 years post graft.

[Andrew MacLean]

irishproduce

Enjoy your day! And congratulations on the graft.

All the best, and happy birthday.

Stay positive!

Andrew

[Alison Fisher]

Congratulations on your graft.

I've had both a continuous stitch and individual ones. Personally I've found no difference apart from when it came to taking them out. As, obviously, the continous one was taken out in one go my eye was far more sore than when one or two individual stitches were taken out at a time.

Hope you have a good day today.

[irishproduce]

The vision has improved a little more.
I went to the wedding and then to the dinner and then partied until 5.30 this morning. It was a great night.
I wore the black patch all night so light was not a problem. I wore sunglasses att the ceremony.
I am going to meet some of my friends again tonight for a chat a a couple of drinks.
I feel great. I have little headaces and sometimes feel slightly weak but again nothing major.

I have no idea what kind of graft it was, sorry. I asked but never actually found out. I will be meeting him next week so I will ask again.

The blood inside my eye is starting to clear away now. The only thing is sitting at the computer is annoying. Also I tend to sleep at least once during the day as i get quite tired for some reason but thats prob because of all the medication.

I still cant fully open the eye most of the time but I can open it enough.
Im surprised at how ell the whole thing went, I thought I would be still lying in bed at deaths door.

I would sya to anyone who is going to have a graft, in my opinion and from my experience, do not be over worried about it,embrace the graft, look at the possitive and its not as bad as you might think.

How long should I get out of this graft and what happens if I need another. Do you go on a list again and just wait without sight in that eye??

[jayuk]

Irish

Like you, I also found the whole thing a little underwhelming and was like "is that it!".......and its a good feeling to have

How long should I get out of this graft

NOONE CAN ANSWER THAT; AS THERE ARE TOO MANY VARIABLES INVOLVED. IT MAY LAST; AND I HOPE NT; 6 MONTHS OR MAY LAST 40 YEARS OR TO YOUR GRAVE!

and what happens if I need another. Do you go on a list again and just wait without sight in that eye??

YOU GO ON A LIST DEPENDING ON IF YOU HAVE GONE PRIVATE / NHS; BUT GENERALLY IF ITS PRIORITY CASE THEY DO SPEED THINGS UP

HTH

Jay

[GarethB]

Irish

Getting tierd is quite normal after any operation as you probably have some anathetic in your system working its way out and the way you have been partying too I think it is to be expected.

From those here that have needed a regraft it has been due to rejection which is not that common according to the medical practitioners. An extremely high percentage cope perfectly well with glasses or contact lenses (some no correction at all) for the rest of their lives which is why there is so little research on grafts 10, 20 yeras or more post op as people move and contact is lost from the hospital. As I said most have correction with glasses so get discharged out of the hospital system and just visit the highstreet optom every couple years for a glasses eye check and sometimes a prescription update.

I disappeared out of the system for nearly 16 years because my sight post graft was so good in that it was easily corrected.