UK Keratoconus Self-Help and Support Association

Just wondering if anyone else is affected by KC in just one eye and a I'd love to know your experiences. At a routine eye test 4 years ago I had severe astigmatism in my right eye, which was worsening at every check up. I soon had the DX of Kerataconus, which was scary to say the least. I've tried RGP lenses to no effect, and the vision in my right eye is now so bad that I can't read the top line of a typical eye test chart.

Here's the interesting thing - my left eye (also my dominant eye) is showing no signs of KC at all - the vision in it is very close to perfect. And when looking through both eyes things seen crystal clear, other than haloing around points of light. If I cover my left eye then I go to not being able to make out anything.

My ophthalmologist told me in 99% of cases both eyes are affected, but at different rates of progression and severity. If, or perhaps when, my left eye worsens then my life will be turned upside down. I'm a software developer and Dad to a 1 year old so my sight is important to both my career and my life. I'm actually booked in for a cornea transplant on my right eye this Monday, and I have no idea what to expect things to be like in the future. I'm hoping that my right eye will gain sufficient vision that if my left eye gets bad, I'll be able to work and live fairly normally.

But once I have it done and my vision in the right eye improves, how's the world going to look? I've essentially seen through one eye for so long that I don't know it what I'm seeing is 'normal' or not. I guess depth perception will improve?

Just want to know anyone's experiences

Hi James and welcome!
And all the very best for your op tomorrow. It's great that your other eye is unaffected by KC. And even if it does eventually appear in that eye, there's a good chance that it will be mild and stay that way. People who end up needing a transplant in both eyes are in the minority. There's also now a procedure called collagen crosslinking (CXL) which is designed to stop progression of KC. So even if you do develop KC in your good eye at some point, you should be able to have CXL to keep it mild. As for the effect of the transplant, the degree to which that improves vision tends to vary from person to person, so only time will tell. And don't expect the effects to be instant - the vision in the grafted eye usually changes slowly over months. But yes, your depth perception should certainly improve.
Don't hesitate to come back with more questions over the next weeks and months - there's quite a few of us here who have had grafts and will be able to share experiences. Meantime, all the very best for tomorrow and do let us know how you get on.

Hey James,

Your post really caught my attention, since my experience with kerataconus seems almost identical to yours, except I have kerataconus in my left eye. My condition has been very successfully treated with collagen cross-linking. CXL halted the progression of the disease and in flattening my cornea, removed about 90 percent of my astigmatism. If you can get CXL, I highly recommend it. I developed astigmatism in my early teens in both eyes, which kept getting worse, but at twice the rate with my left eye. I finally in my early 40’s tried LASIK, which worked remarkably well with my right eye, but failed repeated with my left eye through three attempts at correction, finally producing the kerataconus symptoms - ghost images, terrible astigmatism, halos at night. CXL has improved my corrected vision to 20/40.