UK Keratoconus Self-Help and Support Association

hi

my son who is 17 going for c3r treatment in 4 days time - his left eye is 6/6 right 6/36 (the eye he would have his treatment).
i have to travel to london and plan to stay there overnight and have another check follwing day before taking a 5 hours journey back. are there any post therapy pain or other problems which i need to be aware of .my understanding is that there would some discomfort /pain which should not be very distressing.also how is the actual treatment i e 30 minutes under the light esp for a 17 years old . i would be grateful for any suggestion .thx sami

I have had it done to both eyes. The first time was very late in the day - 3pm so I was able to sleep quite easily with the painkillers I was given . The following day I had a follow up at 10 am and more drops put in my eyes. We set off to drive home straight away 9 4 hour journey ) and about half an hour later I felt very ill - think it was all the painkillers I had taken . We had to rest at the motorway services for an hour before I felt up to travelling on. The second eye I had done earlier in the day so I didn't sleep as well overnight. After the follow up appointment the next morning we deliberately asked for a late check out from the hotel and didn't leave until 5pm so the journey was more bearable. You definitely need a good pair of sunglasses - I found the light very bright and sat at home with the curatins closed for two or three days after. The procedure itself is not too bad - just very boring sitting looking at a light for 60 minutes and the pain is bearable and only really for the first night.

Had an after thought ! One problem was eating as I actually felt very hungry about an hour after the procedure but obviously didn't feel like going anywhere - you have an eye patch on initially -( I took mine off later because your eyes water for a while and behind the patch it feels quite strange and the watering seems to pool.) Luckily we were near some very good take aways so I didn't starve.
I also found I got quite headachy and a little warm and those Cool n soothe sheets you put on your forehead were really good . I got through two packets of them !!

sami

all the best for your son's procedure. I hope all goes well for him and that he sees a good improvement to his sight.

Andrew

Hi
That was my mum who has replied to your post.Just thought I would reply as well as I have had it done. I am 24 and I had c3r treatment done on both eyes about a month ago now. There is nothing to worry about. The operation is basically you are given some tablets to calm you and some drops half an hour before. Then you lie back on a comfy chair. The most painful if anything is the first bit which I can asure you really is'nt that painful, and thats where they remove the cells on the surface, that takes two minutes,it justs feels like when you rub your eye. Then you lie back relax, you have drops put in for 30 mins, then you have 30mins with a light shining into your eye and drops being put in as well. You have a spring put on your eyelids to keep it open, that is the only bit of discomfort you will feel. Honestly you really feel like you could fall asleep and some people have done! Final bit is where you have a bandage contact lens put onto your eye (just looks like a contact lens) then you have an eye patch put on. And that really is it, really your son has nothing to worry about. The first couple of hours after the operation you just feel like you want to sleep. I would recommend that you either go by car or get a taxi to collect you as your eyesight isn't great. (and as my mum said bright light is annoying). After that you are given painkillers for the pain. Its not to bad pain, the eyepatch can be taken off if you feel it is uncomfortable its just whatever feels best. For me I took it off eventually , as the first night your eye waters alot, but dnt worry about it doing that it is a good sign that your eye is healing, if anything you just want to sleep! Next day you have the contact bandage lens removed which takes a second. Your eye will have healed quite a bit already and there is a slight discomfort but nothing to worry about. Then I recommend you wait a couple of hours before travelling back as I felt a bit faint afterwards but it wore off after a while. When I had my second eye done I had a late checkout on the room so I could go back and sleep and that was alot better. Oh yes and definately get the cool and soothe headache strips, they really helped! I wish your son goodluck. Hope this has been helpful

helen,

when you had your c3r done what was your vision before in both eyes? and after did the treatment make any difference to your vision and corneal thickness?

It was 6/36 in my worse eye ans 6/18 in the other. It isn't a full month yet since I had the second eye done so results are not consistent and I have still got some haziness