Corneal Graft

[naeemkhamkar]

Hi Jay

Loooong time since i last spoke to you or even been to the site.

Alot has been happening
Jay Im over the moon that yr graft is goin well, Dipesh remember me Im the one who cancelled my graft op date which you got bck on is it 04th Apr and i took yrs on 25th Apr.

I've had a rough year with my father inlaw fallin ill and passing away within 6months. Then we had to take on the responsibility of having my mother inlaw living with us. All this brought alot of stress on to myself, which lead to problems with my graft in my right eye. As some of you might remember i had my 4th graft on thr right eye back in April. Im the one who was taking immuno-supressant etc... to try and weaken my system in order to allow the graft to survive. Well its rejected fully again and we came to a mutual agreement on stopping treatment to it. I wanted my life bck in some way, off the drugs n out of the op theatre. We have agreed to regular checkups and monitoring of the right eye over the next 5years, meanwhile my left eye has got worse with tunnel vision etc... hoping to get a lens soon. The docs have agreed on there is nothing else we can do after 4 grafts 4 rejections even though i was on immuno suppressants, steroids etc...

Jay you have brought a smile to my sad face after i read your good news keep it up mate.

Chat on msn soon

[jayuk]

Naeem

Good to hear from you mate!.....when you say you are OFF the treatment what has happened to the cornea?

J

[naeemkhamkar]

I had another epithelial rejection with vascular growth.
I had several subcon injections (steroids) my ete was so swolen it was popping out of the socket from the bottom right corner. Along with reverting to hourly dexamthazone (24hrly) and oral prednisolone. We kept going with the intense treatment for 2 months, the eye continued to reject more. It was tough hearing the doc say well Naeem theres only so much you can take and so much we can do. Your 4th graft carried 90% failure ratio so a 5th graft is not feasible. I also said yes I'm tired of being weakened (over the last 2 yrs), I can only agree and say theres no stone we left unturned. I wont be looking bck thinking only if we done or tried this.

I spent the last year thinking if this graft fails I'm quitting the game, but I found it so hard to accept in the end, still in denial alittle bit.

[jayuk]

Just thought Id give another update!

All is going well...and the cornea has settled back really well since the 14 odd suture removal 7 weeks ago!

Vision has stabilised and I have now been given the all clear to try soft lenses on the eye......with my glasses I am still seeing 6/9 - 6/12 which is brilliant for me in terms of going about and doing my job etc.

So all in all.....a very postitive journey so far!

Was told to be on the lookout as I am now going through the Peak Rejection Phase (8-11 months).

[Sweet]

Jay

Am really glad to hear that things are going well, was wondering where you had got to!!! Take it easy and keep us informed of your progress

Sweet X x X

[Susan Mason]

Jay

This is really good news for you.

Fingers still crossed that things continue to go well for you.

And wishing you and your family a happy christmas time.

best wishes

Susan

[jayuk]

Hi

Just thought Id provide a further update

Had another post op appt (8 months now). All is looking very well, I now get a constant 6/9 with my glasses for the past 2 months which is excellent for me.

Looking at having a graft on the other eye mid-year so all in all.....so far so good!

J

[John Smith]

Hi Jay,

This is excellent news, thanks for letting us know. I'm interested in you getting a second graft done though so soon - I was told that under no circumstances would the second eye be grafted whilst the first one was still with stitches and on steroid drops. Since that's still the case 4 years on, I'm still poorly served by my left eye!

Perhaps it's different when you have a DALK rather than a full-thickness (PK) graft?

[jayuk]

John

I also have that at the back of my mind.

However, after speaking with my consultant, it seems that my left eye,although has regressed with C3R, is still thin around the edges.

I personally, want to ensure that I dont have two Full Grafts in my eyes, as thats a higher risk of both rejecting (if ever). My other left eye can have a DALK on it, so long as it doesnt hydrop. So in essence we are against time....although I do have a bit...

May '06 would put my existing graft One year old, and I think with a bit of dilligence we should be ok to DALK the other eye.....

Its a risk, yes I agree......but I guess one I am prepared to take; assuming that in April/May all is still A-OKAY.

The suture element I wouldnt really take into consideration to be honest; as many have had them upto 8 years...and in all honesty I couldnt wait that long........I think that with the DALK I have faster healing, less chance of rejection, and from the C4S stats on DALK, more chances of obtaining 6/9 corrected.

However, I will re-assess as the months go by..as you know anything can happen in this game!

J

[Asif]

Thats great news Jay. How long were you post op since you were consistantly getting 6/9 with correction?