Quicktopic posts: Mar 2003

[Sue Ingram]

Hi Louise (1523), I also think your Buddy Support System is a great idea, having spent hours and hours alone sitting in hospital waiting rooms! Hopefully see you at the Conference. Keep smiling :-) SUE

[Louise Pembroke]

Thanks Sue, yes I will be at the conference. So many of us could do with & offer each other support at the moment, I thinks it's worth discussing too

[Louise Pembroke]

John & Helen, I use Hypromellose [artificial tear drops, available across the counter and on prescription] for my eyes and the one RGP I wear. I use it for insertion and wetting when dry and for 'flooding' the eye if it's aggravated

[Louise Pembroke]

Ash, my 1st hydrops occured when I was 18, the 2nd at approx 25. I don't wear a RGP in my bad eye because the shape of it is too irregular it simply wouldn't sit on my cornea, wish I could!
I don't know why there is a higher risk of rejection with a second graft, possibly because the body has yet more 'foreign' tissue to deal with.

[Sue Ingram]

Hi Louise, Have you tried a scleral lens in your bad eye? This might be worth considering as it does not matter whether or not your eye is an irregular shape and sclerals cannot fall out!

Hi Ash, From speaking to a surgeon to find out whether or not it was time for me to have a graft in my bad eye a few years' ago, I understand that rejection is more likely the second time around due to the fact that the anti-bodies which fight against foreign tissue will have already built up in your body from the first transplant. These seem to stay in your body, are already 'armed and at the ready' so to speak and can therefore have a bigger impact more quickly the second time round. Whereas, first time round it takes a bit longer for the antibodies to start building up as they have to do it from scratch. I am assuming that this bit of extra time gives the transplant a bit more of a chance and more time to take before the body tries to reject it.

I am sure this is a very basic explanation in layman's language so if anyone can embellish this, please do! Take care. SUE
P.S. I am still graft-free and managing well with sclerals and glasses!

[Louise Pembroke]

Hi Sue, yes I did try the sceleral, but it's a handling problem for me, it was suggested I marry an optician!

[Helen Royston]

Thanks John and Louise for your advice, will definatley be looking into those! I picked up my new lenses today, took them home got them in and couldn't see a thing out of my right eye, (my good eye) my optician is excellent tho, I've taken straight back looks like they've been manufactured wrong so there're being sent back, well the right one is, it's so frustrating tho because my sight had never been as good with these 'new' lenses, now i'm having to wait again.

[Louise Pembroke]

I often think lenses are the hardest part of KC, harder than surgery, or complications. It can feel like your whole life depends on a piece of plastic..

[umbilica@umbilical.demon.]

Karen said:
I have mentioned this to various people at the clinics but I
get the impression that they don't believe me.

I do get good service at the clinics though.

Sounds a very strange pair of thoughts to put together! Good
service from people who don't believe you?! Which clinic is this?
Rosemary
--
Rosemary F. Johnson

[umbilica@umbilical.demon.]

Ian was talking about Polarising sun glasses:

I found it amazingly hard to get a pair when my old ones broke a few years ago. I finally found some - wrap-around ones with
tops and sides - via the RNIB shop. They had that make but not
polarising in the store, the polarising ones I had to order from a mail order catalogue, from a firm called Cobolt, IIRR. If you are registered, you don't pay VAT. I think they were about 12
pounds a pair, sans VAT.

Rosemary
--
Rosemary F. Johnson