Activities following graft??

[samba_elite]

I'm looking at having a graft probably in about a year and i'm wondering about activities following it,for instance,how long after can you go swimming?

Also,how often to you need to be seen by the eye clinic during the recovery period,i spend at least half the year abroad,usualy 7-9 months at a time and i'm wondering how the graft will affect this with the need to be seen and have stitches removed etc,and also being near to where i had the graft done for after-care etc.

Anyone?

Cheers

[GarethB]

With regards to post op followup frequency is dependant on many factors.

Initially you will be seen a few days or a week after the op and then every couple of weeks for the couple of months or so. Every consultant seems to do things differently so the question is best answerd by them. The graft may well have settled enough between the 3 - 6 month mark where sight correction can be done, what many consultants do is wait for three consecutive stable refractions before going ahead with trying glasses. Another factor is the level of astigmatism that might result from the graft and how it changes during the healing process. This is because if you have the single stitches, the astigmatism can be controlled to a degree by removing selected stitches.

For me post graft activities were back to normal within six months, but that was 20 years ago and again different consultants have different views on this. About 6 months post graft I think people are being told they can do activities like swimming but the advice is to have a good set of swimming goggles/masks such as the Spedo Rift which I and others have found to be really good to allow swimming while wearing lenses.

Hope this helps, but anyone undergoing or about to undergo the graft process should ask their consultant these types of questions at their next visit.

[Alison Fisher]

I've not been swimming since I had my grafts. For years and years afterwards I couldn't even go into the reception of our local pool as the chlorine fumes in the atmosphere made my eyes stream. As I was never a keen swimmer I wasn't that bothered but it meant that I missed out on watching my girls learn to swim, and later on when they swam competitively watching them was a rather uncomfortable experience for me. It's one of those things that I assumed was the same for everyone with grafts and was surprised to find it wasn't.

When it came to doing other things I was guided by how the grafts felt. I can't remember precise times but I spent the first month to six weeks very quietly and built up back to normal from there.

I had lots of visits in the first year post graft, more frequently in the first months but I spent a lot of time down at the hospital. The organising things at work each time and all the sitting waiting around soon got very old. It was great when I went to six monthly appointments, and then several years post graft went to annual visits. Like Gareth my grafts were done some time ago so things might well be very different now. It will also depend on how your graft does. If you have lots of problems you'll have lots of visits. I have only ever had one emergency visit when I thought something was going wrong with a graft but I have lost count of the number of times I've been down to eye casualty with troublesome stitches. A loose stitch for me is very painful so I need to get it sorted asap each time. It would be hard for me to put up with it for more than say twenty four hours so I wouldn't want to be spending long periods of time far from somewhere that I knew I could go to to get it removed.

Everyone's experiences are different and yours will be different again. I have never regretted having my grafts. The pluses far outweigh the negatives. I hope if you choose to have one that you will be able to say the same thing.

[samba_elite]

Here lies my main dilemma then,i have serious commitments both here in the UK and in Greece,but as far as i know need to be in the UK for any follow up treatment,so i have to no longer carry on with the part of my life that is the beiggest,that which is in greece,meaning i wil lose a livelyhood,a home and a lot of the foundations of general life it's taken me years to build,i know that's my lookout but we all need to let these things out to people that are likely to understand.

I have/do ask the right questions when i speak to the surgoen,however i feel the answers i get are next to useless and sometimes verge on patronizing,unfortunate really as he's meant to be the man to talk to.

[Alison Fisher]

Well, you can't be the first person to live in two places while managing an on going medical condition. I'm talking totally off the top of my head here as I've never lived outside of Leicester let alone the country, but when I was expecting my first daughter I was on some scheme or other where I carried around with me a copy of my entire notes, so no matter who saw me, or where, they had all the information they needed. Could you do something similar with your graft notes? What is your medical provision like in Greece when you are there? Is there an eye department you could attend? Are grafts managed the same way there as here? Unfortunately as they don't seem to be that way inclined it is going to take the co-operation of your surgeon and his team here. Do they realise how serious you are about the whole thing and that to stay in the UK for a long period of time just isn't an option for you?

[GarethB]

Samba,

On a different tact, what are the possibilities of having the graft done in Greece and so most the follow up there?

[samba_elite]

as far as i know the only way to have the graft done in Greece is to go private,the costs of which i dread to imagine,hospital wise,one of the best in the country is 10 minutes drive from where i live,it would put 90% of UK hospitals to shame,they do have an eye department also,with the resident specialist touted as being in the top 3 in the country,i've had an emergency appointment with her before,when this damn hydrops kicked in,and she was excellent.

However not being a Greek citizen,and their health service not being funded on the scale of ours seems to rule out this option.

Unfortunately spending a long time away from there and in the UK will put me financially in a very bad position,not to mention the other areas of life it would affect,plus i have no permanent home here,god the list goes on,sounds all doom and gloom!

[Andrew MacLean]

Samba

When you attend the clinic for your pre-graft clinics, tell the ophthalmologist about your circumstances. Also, take a note pad with all the questions you have to ask written down.

You want to be sure that

Post graft clinic attendances can be accommodated within your other commitments.

for my part, I have always found my surgeon to be more than willing to tailor my clinic attendances to my other commitments.

You also want to be sure that when you are in Greece you have access to an ophthalmology emergency clinic. You should be able to set up these arrangements before you have your surgery.

ann the best

Andrew

[samba_elite]

Thats probably the falling point,the emergency treatment availability,being a foreigner,i suppose i could chuck my passport in the Aegean and claim to be Iraqi so i get free preferential treatment,seems to work in the UK pretty well!

I've brought my next surgeons appointment forward as i'm sickof this hydrops not yet clearing fully,it's been 12 weeks now and i still cant wear a lens,despite the vision clearing about 80%,so i will raise the issue then,and try to be more forceful in my quest for a real answer.


Thanks everyone

[GarethB]

I understand about the Greece thing now.

Perhaps a chat with your employers after consulting the Access To Work consultant at your job centre of Action for the Blind. They might be able to offer further advice specific to your needs.

Afraid I must admit I do not know how to help further.