UK Keratoconus Self-Help and Support Association

Hi All,

I first posted on this forum 13 years ago when I was 17 and had just been diagnosed. I'm now 30 and I'm going to Moorfields tomorrow for a corneal graft in my left eye. I've rejoined the site as I found it to be so useful when I was first diagnosed.

I've set up a blog to record my experiences of the operation and my recovery, which i hope will help people who will be having the same op. I know that I've found people's first hand experiences very helpful in trying to work out what to expect.

My blog is www.emmascornealtransplant.com. http://www.emmascornealtransplant.com

I'll keep you updated about how I get on.

Best wishes,

Emma

Hi Emma and welcome back!
All the very best for tomorrow and we'll all look forward to hearing how things go. It's a bit late to offer you the DVD of our 2009 conference, which included a good talk about grafts. But if you'd like it after the event, just e-mail me your postal address anne@keratoconus-group.org.uk and I'll send it to you.
Anne

Hey Emma, yes, good luck !

Oh, your blog did bring back memories... one thing, while (hopefully ) you can still see this clearly, about having to not lie on your side whilst sleeping, check with your surgeon but I think you'll be okay. It's not easy to change a life-long sleeping position and I'm not convinced it's actually possible (once you're asleep, you don't know what you're doing). I wasn't advised to do this following my graft, so I do think it might be a little overly-cautious ! With the eye shield in place, you tend to not sleep on your "grafted eye" side anyway as it digs into you... If I'm wrong though, do let us know if the people in the hospital say different.

Best wishes, be thinking of you and sending get-well-soon thoughts...

Chris

Good luck, I will keep my fingers crossed for you!

Every good wish

Very best of luck. I sleep on my front which I was dreading after my graft. As it turns out I couldn't consciously change my sleeping position however the eye shield was effective in protecting my eye and stopping me putting pressure on my eye. Good luck with the graft and do be prepared for periods of anxiety after wards about is the discomfort, pain, redness, light sensitivity, vision etc normal. No one tells you about the psychological impact and worries - stay in touch on here and shout when you need to.
Jez

I wasn't told not to sleep on my side either, I have read somewhere that you shouldn't sleep on the side of the graft (which has been tricky for me!). Sleeping on my side hasn't caused any problems as yet. Just take one day at a time and get lots of rest!

Thanks for the posts and the good wishes

And also for the advice with sleeping. I read online that you shouldn't (must learn not to believe all I read on the internet!) and so it's great to hear from first hand experience that you were ok sleeping in your normal way. I always sleep on my front, and I agree very hard to change the habit of a lifetime!

Thanks again for all your support and I will let you know how I get one - leaving in a couple of hours to get the train in to London.

Best wishes,

Emma

www.emmascornealtransplant.com

Good evening

I just wanted to give an update about my surgery on Wednesday. Everything went well during the op, which ended up having to be full thickness rather than partial thickness due to how thin the cornea was. I've been recovering well with some ups and downs, today has been a good day, although my short walk outside earlier has left me rather tired...oh well, I will overdo it! I've added some pictures to my blog www.emmascornealtransplant.com.

Thanks again to everyone for the helpful comments! Sleeping has been no problem with the shield

I hope you're all having lovely weekends.

Emmax

Many thanks for the update, Emma. And your operated eye looks amazing so soon after the op. Mine were bloodshot for the first week after surgery - with yours, you can hardly tell you've had anything done! Feeling tired is par for the course as the anaesthetic works itself out of the body, so don't force things. All the best for continued good healing.
Anne