Have you ever wondered....

General forum for the UK Keratoconus and self-help group members.

Click on the forum name, General Discussion Forum, above.

Moderators: Anne Klepacz, John Smith, Sweet

User avatar
GarethB
Ambassador
Ambassador
Posts: 4916
Joined: Sat 21 Aug 2004 3:31 pm
Keratoconus: Yes, I have KC
Vision: Graft(s) and contact lenses
Location: Warwickshire

Have you ever wondered....

Postby GarethB » Tue 24 Mar 2009 10:17 pm

what a graft looks like after 20 years?

I have an today was the first time that I have ever seen my graft properly. When it was first done I could only see the stitches, but now i can see how big the graft is and that in both cases ther are biased towards my nose and slightly low which to me suggests the surgeon did his best in the days before topography to remove all the KC he could see.

Left Eye
Image

Right Eye
Image

Now i understand why everyoptom and ophthalmologists takes in a sharp breath before saying 'that's an excellent piece of surgery, you should be prod of that!' which of cours I am because of all the things I have achived since then.
Gareth

User avatar
rosemary johnson
Champion
Champion
Posts: 1478
Joined: Tue 19 Oct 2004 8:42 pm
Keratoconus: Yes, I have KC
Vision: Contact lenses
Location: East London, UK

Re: Have you ever wondered....

Postby rosemary johnson » Tue 24 Mar 2009 10:58 pm

That's interesting.... really??
You could see the stitches but not the graft?
I need a really good light to see my stitches (well, bits of stitch, you know) but can almost always see the graft itself.
It's somehow a different colour fromt he rest, like vaguely milkier, and seems to reflect the light in a way as if the gradient changes at the edge of the graft, and there's like a faint white stripe round the edge.
Even after nearly 14 months.
Is yours un-seeable in anythign like this way,then?
Rosemary
PS: sorry, can't see your pics onthis old computer.

User avatar
GarethB
Ambassador
Ambassador
Posts: 4916
Joined: Sat 21 Aug 2004 3:31 pm
Keratoconus: Yes, I have KC
Vision: Graft(s) and contact lenses
Location: Warwickshire

Re: Have you ever wondered....

Postby GarethB » Tue 24 Mar 2009 11:19 pm

Rosemary, would you be able to see the pics on your computer if I e-mailed them to you?

I've always thought there was a colour change in the iris but assumed it was normal as no consultant ever mentioned it and in the morror it looks like a gradual change not a more steped change as you describe. Now I see the pictures, to me the grafted area is clearer than the host cornea. Before I have put this down to the angle the ligt has illuminated my eye, it might be the case here.

I had individual stitches, about 20 or so in each eye and you could see a series of dashes like part spokes of a wheel which were more obvious when stitches were removed as the gaps were more apparent.

In recent years it has been commented on that the graft looks to be in better condition than the host tissue!

Then again when I was grafted all those years ago, i never thought like peple here do about how long it would last. I just wanted to see and every day I could see was a bonus and still is.
Gareth

User avatar
Lynn White
Optometrist
Optometrist
Posts: 1398
Joined: Sat 12 Mar 2005 8:00 pm
Location: Leighton Buzzard

Re: Have you ever wondered....

Postby Lynn White » Tue 24 Mar 2009 11:43 pm

If the graft is milkier, then you can see the graft better than the stitches. This does simply the graft is not totally stress free. Gareth's eyes are a good example of really clear grafts.

Lynn
Lynn White MSc FCOptom
Optometrist Contact Lens Fitter
Clinical Director, UltraVision

email: lynn.white@lwvc.co.uk

User avatar
rosemary johnson
Champion
Champion
Posts: 1478
Joined: Tue 19 Oct 2004 8:42 pm
Keratoconus: Yes, I have KC
Vision: Contact lenses
Location: East London, UK

Re: Have you ever wondered....

Postby rosemary johnson » Wed 25 Mar 2009 12:14 am

Gareth: not sure about the pics and email. Depends on format and size and whether the email programme is in a good mood.... can you pm me about how you've got them?
Lynn... errm, eh? It is not markedly white and milky, in that I don't think a casual glance from someone inthe street would spot it. I know its there and where.
It's almost what someone on the forum once said about a "fish eye" - just looks a bit different. And vaguely whiter round the edge.
It's a 16 point running stitch and I can see most of it in good summer sunlight. ell, I could last summer! I hope it will come out soon, so not be here by full summer.
the hopsital keep telling me what a good graft it is, and telling me it is very clear and very quiet.
I say "how galling!" They clearly have no idea. Nor willingness to acquire one...
Yes, I see it becaue it is that little tad milky, esp at the edges. And dont see the stitch because it is faint and black (10/0 nylon IIRR) and against the striations of the iris.
Guess I've never seen a really torublesome one for comparison.
Rosemary

User avatar
Andrew MacLean
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 7703
Joined: Thu 15 Jan 2004 8:01 pm
Keratoconus: Yes, I have KC
Vision: Other
Location: Scotland

Re: Have you ever wondered....

Postby Andrew MacLean » Wed 25 Mar 2009 7:19 am

In some lights I could see the sutures in my first graft through the sutured eye. They appeared sparkly and blue around my central vision. :D

Actually they looked rather beautiful. After the first eight came out I could no longer see the rest.

Interesting pictures Gareth. Make a note in your diary to post new pics again in another ten years then twenty ...

All the best


Andrew
Andrew MacLean

User avatar
GarethB
Ambassador
Ambassador
Posts: 4916
Joined: Sat 21 Aug 2004 3:31 pm
Keratoconus: Yes, I have KC
Vision: Graft(s) and contact lenses
Location: Warwickshire

Re: Have you ever wondered....

Postby GarethB » Wed 25 Mar 2009 8:50 am

Lynn took the pictures with her new slit lamp and we made a recording of how the K3 lens sits on the eye too which I hope to add later. Lynn was making all sorts of noises as you do when you see something inetresting and go into deep thought mode and as we discussed grafts I mentioned that out of all the poeple who have looked at my eyes that I am the only one that has not seen the grafts so Lynn obliged.

In the past we have had pictures of newly grafted eyes and a year or two post op, just thought I'd join the fun :D

Does anyone think we could add a gallery section for topographies and grafts and perhaps exhibit them as art?
Gareth

User avatar
Vic
Regular contributor
Regular contributor
Posts: 137
Joined: Sat 01 Apr 2006 8:19 pm
Keratoconus: Yes, I have KC
Vision: Graft(s) and spectacles
Location: Birmingham

Re: Have you ever wondered....

Postby Vic » Wed 25 Mar 2009 12:06 pm

I have some close-ups photos of my grafted eye too, with and without a few different lenses. Scott at Moorfields wanted to take them to use to teach about good / bad lens fitting, and I asked him if he could e-mail them to me as well, as like you I'd never really seen a close up of my graft before!
Image

User avatar
Lynn White
Optometrist
Optometrist
Posts: 1398
Joined: Sat 12 Mar 2005 8:00 pm
Location: Leighton Buzzard

Re: Have you ever wondered....

Postby Lynn White » Wed 25 Mar 2009 7:46 pm

I think a gallery is a good idea :D

Personally, I like topographies. They are in some ways as individual as fingerprints but in other ways have predictable shapes. Graft topos are always interesting because the quietest, clearest looking graft can be the most amazingly odd shape when mapped!

Sadly, most of my patients don't share my appreciation and grumble they don't want to be THAT interesting!!

(I can't imagine why.....!!!) :roll:

Lynn
Lynn White MSc FCOptom
Optometrist Contact Lens Fitter
Clinical Director, UltraVision

email: lynn.white@lwvc.co.uk

User avatar
rosemary johnson
Champion
Champion
Posts: 1478
Joined: Tue 19 Oct 2004 8:42 pm
Keratoconus: Yes, I have KC
Vision: Contact lenses
Location: East London, UK

Re: Have you ever wondered....

Postby rosemary johnson » Thu 26 Mar 2009 1:23 am

Personally, I always take great delight in being as "interesting" as possible!
I'll try to get some piccies of my eyes so people can see what I mean by the graft being a whiter colour.
Not sure about topologies - only time I've ever had one done (on anything like a "modern" machine, at least, ie. since 1975ish) was by Marina doing that research project in Pimlico. It was very difficult, as the light rings were too bright for my hypersensitive eyes. She turned it down as far as possible, and even so it was very uncomfortabble. And as soon as she pressed the "save" button, it reset itself and the brightness shot back up again - YEEEE_OUCH!
SO don't suppose a topo on the grafted eye is a starter ATM.....
Gallery would be fun....
INcidentally, did anyone hear the final outcome of that research project?
ISTR they were using the data they gathered to produce some pictures of "what the world looks like to us." Or at least, what various snellen chart letters looked like to each of us. And it was suggested we could use some of those pictures on the group leaflets to show bosses, schools, etc the sort of things we might be seeing.
Anyting come of that? (Sorry to digress)
Rosemary


Return to “General Discussion Forum”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Google [Bot] and 35 guests