UK Keratoconus Self-Help and Support Association

Hello everyone and a very Merry Christmas to you all.

My name's Christine I live in Lancashire and I was diagnosed with KC 20 years ago when I was 18. I've worn contact lenses ever since, and can honestly say it doesn't really have many negative impacts on my life.

I think it must have started when I was at school. When we had eye tests, I would sneak into the medical room beforehand and memorise the chart, and during lessons I would always sit at the front and squint !

It all came to a head though, when I decided to join the Police, all the checks etc went through fine, but when they asked me to read the bottom line of the site chart - I couldn't even read the TOP line !

The day I was fitted with contacts was mindblowing - the optician told me to go and have a quick walk around, to see if I was ok with them. Next door to the Opticians was a carpet shop, and I was overwhelmed by the bright colours that I hadn't seen for years.

The only problem I have is that when I take my contacts out I'm absolutely useless ! I can't read or watch TV etc. I've tried VERY strong glasses, but they don't give me any improvement in vision.

Looking forward to getting to know you all.

Chris

Christine!

Welcome to the happy band. It is always good to meet somebody else who lives with Keratoconus, and seems to be getting on just fine.

Have a great Christmas, and don't be shy about pitching in!

Andrew[/url]

Hi Christine

Happy Christmas to you too.

Getting on so well with your lenses for so long is great. I never did get on with mine and ended up having both eyes grafted. Even though it's now the better part of eleven years since my last graft to be able to just pop my glasses on and see well still feels a wonderful thing to be able to do. I really feel for lens wearers such as yourself who can't do that. It's like you're never allowed to forget for a moment that you have KC.

For you it was a carpet shop, for me it was a supermarket. I still sometimes get the 'wow' effect when I get new glasses. It never gets old does it?

Hi Christine, and welcome to the forum. I'm glad that you managed to find a way to see all those years ago. Did the police let you become one of them though, or was the poor uncorrected vision the end of that?

And as Alison says, that feeling of bliss when all of a sudden you can see better than before certainly never gets old.

Welcome to the forum.

It took me three months to get properly used to going without visiosn. Basically because the hospital told me to chuck my glasses because theyw ere bnext to useless and wait for my lenses.

In that period I laid a patio, taught my daughter to bake cakes and discoverd the joys of radio or just listening to the TV. Pitty I could not find any progs on satelite that had audio description which some have now.

With all the help and support of the people here lenses or no lenses make no difference to my life unless I want to drive. It takes very little to plan life around vision so is problem free too.

hi christine,

what kind of contacts do u use? i have KC in my right eye, but i cannot tolerate hard lenses! my eye gets red and hurts...so my dr fitted me with these thick soft lenses and i am able to wear them...

Welcome Christine

I think you deserve a pat on the back. I could not tolerated lenses at all and glasses made no improvement to my vision. I have recently had a graft to my left eye.
I do keep everyone up to speed on my progress.

Best wishes

i couldnt tolerate lenses at all at first..especially the hard little ones they were painful but now i kinda got used to it...now i have 2 types: 1 is a synergeyes and the other is soft one i kinda wear them both whenever i feel like one or the other...

Thank yo all for your very warm welcome - Apologies for not replying sooner - but with Christmas etc.....

Andrew - Thanks, I've had it all my adult life, so have just got used to it now !

Alison - I tried glasses, but they irritated me so much as they were so strong and I kept falling over !

John - Sadly that was the end of my Police career ! I went on to do a law degree and ended up as a journalist. Apparantly the Police allow contacts now, but being older and wiser I realise I wouldn't have lasted a week in the force (i'm too squeemish)

Gareth - I agree you have to make adjustments to your life, but having recently lost two schoolfriends in their 30's with breast cancer - it puts not being able to see the telly without your lenses out into perspective.

Serge - I started off with hard lenses which were ok for me - then moved on to gas permeable ones which are fabulous. Although when I first started wearing lenses it felt like I had bricks in my eyes, and I was forever looking at the sky in case they fell out !

Diane - hope your recovery is continuing - It's heartening to know there are other options available for us all.

Hope I havent missed anybody out - and a very Happy New Year to you all.

Chris xx

I remember when I first developed KC and the "top" KC specialist at my county hospital could not get a lens to be comfy in my left eye, which only has very mild KC. His professional advice was to leave it out!

After getting annoyed, I went to my GP and he got me transferred to Nottingham where I have been ever since. They got a lens to fit with just one visit and the difference was amazing. At a guess it's the same as between SD and HDTV, but I will never afford one so I don't know!

I'm hoping my right eye will have the same effect when the graft settles down over the next year.