Quicktopic posts: Dec 2003

[JohnOwen]

Just visited a private contact lens practitioner about alternatives to a corneal graft. With great enthusiasm he has recommended that I try a Scleral lens before undertaking the knife with a corneal transplant. At present I have a Rose K lens for my right eye, and my left is so degenerated that there is no lens. He recommends that I have a scleral in my left and a Rose k in my right eye. My initially reaction was that his opinion would be bias as his establishment makes money from lenses. Would scerals be more suited to me, as I am a terrible lens wearer at present. They cost £400 each, is that expensive, would the NHS pay towards these or do I need to have them made and fitted by the Hospital. Or should I just follow Dr Dua’s expertise and have the graft? Any info or suggestion would be appreciatedÂ…

[sarah marsh]

for andrew
glad all went well for u . best of luck with ur recovery.
i havent posted anything for a while but always read message at least 3 times a week .
hope all of you are well and happy christmas .
sarah x

[Christine]

John
Contact lenses fitted under the NHS in a hospital are a fixed price of £45.70 per lens. This is like prescription charges for drugs - it's a fixed price whatever the true cost to the NHS. The professional time of the Optometrist is paid for by the NHS.So - for sclerals it's a very good deal!
Private Optometrists have to charge for their time and overheads, plus the true cost of the lenses.
Hope this helps....

[Janet Manning]

Feel like I'm on some kind of mission here - always suggesting scleral lenses. If I had been offered them, I might never have needed grafts, so if I can save someone else from the knife it's worth the risk of being boring. Sclerals are BRILLIANT! Do try them before agreeing to surgery. They are available to KC patients on the NHS at £47.50 per lens. Not sure if you have to be fitted at a hospital to get this rate. I bought an additional set through the hospital for £200 per lens.

Wonderful to hear that there's a contact lens practitioner out there, apart from Ken, recommending sclerals.

Sclerals are also brilliant post graft. I get much better correction with them than I did with softperms and twice the wearing time. They changed my life from feeling disabled on 6 hours wearing time per day to feeling like a normal person again. What more can I say - TRY SCLERALS!

[JohnOwen]

I feel encouraged with the positive replies. The contact lens practitioner is David Bennett, his fees seem excessive, but as mentioned the costs are just as much for his time. I hope my consultant Prof Dua will give me a chance with the scleral lens on the NHS. I am annoyed that I have never been offered the opportunity to have them in the past. My consultants have always been aware that I have lacked tolerance with the Rose K lens. Thanks for the replies.

[Jane Webb]

Paul Bines

I too had to wait 2 and a half hours to see Mr McAllister. When I heard your name called no-one came forward so you must have been in a different corridor otherwise I would have said hello.

Good news for you then? He also said if things continued to improve, I can stop the drops in maybe 4-6 months time.

Talk soon.

Jane Webb
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[KateF]

john
yes try sclerals, painless and they work...
we're down to 2 mins insertion time and up to 9 hrs trouble free wear...with vision!
go for it
Kate & Dale

[KateF]

happy christmas everyone !

[steven]

Birgit I am getting Lasik at moorfields after Grafted eyes, you can contact me at stevencomyns@yahoo.co.uk

[Christine]

John
Prof Dua's at Queen's Medical Centre Nottingham, isn't he? The Optometrists there definitely do sclerals. If you're a patient of the Eye Dept, why not ring or write to the Optometry department and ask? (They'll need to look at your notes before giving a definite answer.)
Good luck!
Christine