UK Keratoconus Self-Help and Support Association

I am a new member to the Forum but my son has had KC for 5 years. At our last appointment his KC has become advanced and they have suggested he should have surgery in his right eye and cross linking in his left eye. He is 17 just started an apprenticeship and races karts. He is saying at this point he does not want surgery and is going to find it ompossible to wear the lens(he tried a few years ago but could not put them in and found them too painful) I just wondered if there are any other teenagers that he have been through this that he could talk too and maybe share his thoughts.

jackie

Welcome to the forum. I am not a teenager, although I used to be That said, it is not very common, but equally not unknown for people in their teens to require surgery for Keratoconus. There are several members of the forum who faced surgery while they were in their teens. I am sure that one or more of them will be along in a moment.

Andrew

Hi Jackie

I was in a similar position to your son a few years back. The idea of getting surgery to your eye at a young age is quite daunting, I can understand why he seems a bit apprehensive! I thought I'd just share with you my experience at least.

I too was diagnosed with KC at the age of 12, and was managed with contact lenses for around 5-6 years (I'm 22 now!). Getting a good result from the lenses started getting more difficult, and I was advised to have a corneal transplant by my ophthalmologist. I had just started university at this point, so was worried about missing time at uni, and how much it would affect my studies. Luckily I was able to have my transplant done over the summer, which meant I had plenty of time to recover. I know this can't be the case for everyone though! All in all though, I am glad I had it done. I was able to recover over the summer with no disruption to my work, and the only time I have really had any bother is when stitches have burst from the cornea (sounds awful, but can be dealt with easily and quickly without much pain!). I am now at the stage where I am being managed with contact lenses on my new cornea too, and it has given me really good vision, its a whole new world again!

I'm not really sure what stage your son is at with his KC, and whether or not surgery could be held off for a while. Ultimately, I think it is down to your son, and how he feels he would cope. If he feels his vision is sufficiently corrected at the moment, perhaps he could wait? However, my reasoning for going ahead with the surgery at an early stage was so that I didn't have to go through it further on in my studies, where it would have been more difficult to find time to recover. If he has just started an apprenticeship, maybe he would have more time just now rather than later. I would suggest maybe speaking to his ophthalmologist again (which I'm sure you have already done), raise your concerns and see what advice you get!

Feel free to send me a message at any time if you/your son would like to know anything else about my experience, or any other advice I could offer!!