I can see, i can see, i can see!

[Sweet]

Oh well, after four days of seeing very little i have finally been brave and put my lens back in! Wow, what a difference a little piece of plastic makes!!! I can now see to make food properly without burning myself which i did yesterday and i was able to watch Holby!! Well i obviously don't get enough of emergencies and medicine at work!!!

I am still in pain, well more discomfort really which tells me that this lens is really no good and i shouldn't be wearing it, but i wanted to try it out just to see. I am planning on going back to work tomorrow, i can't be off sick any longer, sitting around the house nearly blind is driving me insane!!!

The Systane drops i think are helping somewhat, though it is early days yet as i only got them today. But the optician is only ten minutes away so i know i can always go back for more if needed, and i bought two bottles just to be on the safe side!!

Hope everyone is ok, it is nice to come here and not strain to see to read and post!!! Just hoping that this carries on!

Be back soon,

Claire X

[Lynn White]

hehe....

Good on you Claire... and I do understand how you feel...

I am quite shortsighted myself and when I was a student I caught a very nasty viral infection from a patient in the hospital.... I couldn't wear contacts, I couldn't see through specs - in fact I couldn't stand any light at all and I remember a particularly silly period where the only relief from boredom was to watch the TV in complete darkness hiding behind the sofa and peeking between the fingers of my hands...

If this sounds peculiar... I could actually open my eyes in the dark behind the sofa - as soon as I looked at the TV, my eyes felt as if they were being burned by acid...!!

I used to sneak my lenses in on occasion though under strict instructions not to... but you have to see something sometimes don't you?? So I do understand...!!

Luckily it has been some years since I had a re-occurence (touch wood, cross fingers - where's the lucky black cat?) but the memory is burned in my mind!

Hope the Systane works!

Lynn

[Sweet]

Glad to know that it isn't just me who puts in my lenses when i shouldn't!!! Thanks for your reply, it made me smile

My lens isn't doing too badly though i take it out as soon as i can. The systane is better though and i find my eye doesn't dry out as much so thanks for that. Just hoping to have scleral lenses soon!

Take care, Claire X

[madmish]

glad to hear you are getting better sweet.
just one question on this topic, is it common for KC sufferers to temporarily lose sight? and why does it happen? is it due to infections or something?
ok that was a few questions, but someone once advised me that if i am unsure of anything ..just ask!! (thanks sajeev!)

[Sweet]

Hehe i think someone might have said that along the way! Thanks for your well wishes! I don't really know all the reasons and i am sure that someone qualified can tell you better than me, but i know that i lose sight because i take my lens out! As simple as that really!! Apart from that, without the pain and so long as i don't wear it too long i am ok.

Claire X

[madmish]

so you took your lens out because it hurts you when you wear it? i thoght your eye was sore and therefore you couldn't wear your lens! have i got it right now or am i off the plot completely?

[Lynn White]

madmish...

okay you and Claire are at odds here... she is saying that she loses vision totally when she does not wear the lens. She wears it when she can but sometimes her eye is too sore to wear it - so then she is completely at sea vision wise...yes?

What you are asking about is something called hydrops...

KC corneas are VERY thin... so sometimes the back surface ruptures and fluid from the inside of the eye penetrates the cornea, disrupting its structure.

Actually, you may be interested to know the white of your eye and the cornea - the clear part - is exactly the same tissue - just a different percentage of water content. The cornea is transparent because the tissue is arranged in a precise latttice... like those garden trellises you see. When fluid seeps in... this lattice becomes disorganised..all scrambled up.. and reflects light rather than transmitting it. This is why the cornea looks white in hydrops... just like the "white" of your eye.

So when this happens, people with KC lose vision totally for about 8 weeks...after which it usually heals itself... However, this episode usually leads to scarring...

Now... this only happens to a small proportion of KC'ers...many corneas never even get to this stage... many people with KC only advance a biut and then stop.. Why??

We really don't know and this is why more research is needed!

Lynn

[Sweet]

Lynn thanks for explaining i don't think i came across that well!

I have pain whether i wear my lens or not, but it gets worse when i wear it and then i have to take it out and have a break. I think without the pain lenses are not so bad, though i would rather have 20 20 vision and not wear them!!!!!!!!!! But then wouldn't we all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Claire X x X

[Lynn White]

Claire..

I am still frustrated by your problems... the beaurocracy get me totally riled...

You see - I have been working within the NHS all my professional life.. and for example...patients who have cataracts have always had to wait at least one year for ops.. until now.

Now.. the new PCT's have ordained that we optoms can suddenly directly refer cataract patients... and my patients are being operated on within months,... its fantastic! Yet until this year... it was a total impossibility to get anyone seen so fast.... (OK cynical me is thinking will this change after the election?)

So.... its not impossible to generate change! And in the way of things in the NHS... KC'ers are generally productive workers.. not OAP's......so why do you have to put up with waiting 11 months for an appointment??

I am not knocking NHS staff here.. just the beaurocracy.. I do not see at ALL why KC 'ers cannot be seen sooner.. or in fact contracted out to optoms in private practice..

I know not that many optometrists have experience in KC... but that is because the hospitals hog them!

When I first started out in practice...we contracted out to the NHS for specialised contact lenses and provided any CL that was necessary and even did scleral adjustments on site... then the hospitals took it all back.

I see absolutely no reason why we cannot go back to contracting out! Patients can go where they want.. its nearer home, they can be seen straight away and they can turn up any time there is a problem..

Sorry to vent (my turn!) but it really frustrates me that we seem to have gone backward in the last 20 years!

Give me the good ole' days.....

Lynn

[madmish]

thanks lynn and sweet for the explanations!! wow lynn, you certainly seem to know your stuff!! i think what you have/are doing is great and i really appreciate all the info you have supplied me since joining this forum. thank you thank you thank you!!