Twanging stitches!
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Lisa Nixon
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Twanging stitches!
Thought that would get your attention! Seriously though, every now and again I feel like my eye has a "snapping/twanging" sensation, quite painful and happens with no warning! Any one else experienced this one? Off to Liverpool tomorrow for check up so will try to remember to ask then too, but I usually forget all my questions when I'm there! Marathon training going well, 10 miles on Sunday non stop and 1.7 road race this evening - really enjoyed the cup of tea and choc biscuit afterwards! Tubs
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Rob Armstrong
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- Location: Liverpool
I've been breaking stitches like nobodies business lately - sometimes it feels like a splinter, with a small amount of the broken stitch protuding and catching everytime I blink, which made my eye all red and feel "swollen". These can come on gradually and the last couple of times I took photos to make sure before I wrang the hospital.
The one this week was just a bit of stitch that had been left behind previously and worked it's way out enough to protude again.
BUT with the one about 2 weeks ago I actually felt a "snap" sensation like you describe and it felt like there was an eyelash in my eye constantly, which turned out to be the stitch flapping about on the surface of my eye. These are easier to remove than the type mentioned above though.
Can't complain though, you made me realise how lucky I am for a trip to my hospital to be only about 20 mins on a bus away!
I've had mixed responses when I've asked why they keep breaking, as they are meant to be able to stay in place indefinately (and it's only 3 years post-op next week) - the most insightful answer is that they are becoming transparent which means they must be dissolving - therefore weakening.
And my vision continues to improve, seemingly as the stitches are removed, I was amazed to be able to have a go at the bottom line the other day - unaided!
At this rate I should be stitch free in a few months!
Rob.
The one this week was just a bit of stitch that had been left behind previously and worked it's way out enough to protude again.
BUT with the one about 2 weeks ago I actually felt a "snap" sensation like you describe and it felt like there was an eyelash in my eye constantly, which turned out to be the stitch flapping about on the surface of my eye. These are easier to remove than the type mentioned above though.
Can't complain though, you made me realise how lucky I am for a trip to my hospital to be only about 20 mins on a bus away!
I've had mixed responses when I've asked why they keep breaking, as they are meant to be able to stay in place indefinately (and it's only 3 years post-op next week) - the most insightful answer is that they are becoming transparent which means they must be dissolving - therefore weakening.
And my vision continues to improve, seemingly as the stitches are removed, I was amazed to be able to have a go at the bottom line the other day - unaided!
At this rate I should be stitch free in a few months!
Rob.
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John Smith
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Rob Armstrong wrote:I've had mixed responses when I've asked why they keep breaking, as they are meant to be able to stay in place indefinately (and it's only 3 years post-op next week) - the most insightful answer is that they are becoming transparent which means they must be dissolving - therefore weakening.
Rob,
I was told when I had my graft that the stitches could stay in for "a long time", but that they must be removed before they are three years old as they will start to dissolve.
It does rather sound as though yours are indeed dissolving. Perhaps you need to see your consultant to consider having them removed - in case they start to cause any damage.
John
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Paul Osborne
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Louise Pembroke
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Rob Armstrong
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- Joined: Wed 17 Mar 2004 8:49 pm
- Keratoconus: Yes, I have KC
- Vision: Graft(s) and spectacles
- Location: Liverpool
Yeah, I quickly done the first 6 as I know them off by heart (they're nearly always the same - even the ones on BBC's "Doctors" I noticed the other day) then I was into the new territory and to my amazement, there I was, trying to get the bottom line!
Not saying it was clear, but it was definately letters and not just black dots, (it wasn't that long ago that I was amazed to be able to see two or three rows of black dots/smudges at the bottom of the chart!).
I still get a very pale single ghost image in my grafted eye, but it is quite far away from the "real" image so they don't clash for most things, and I only really notice it when doing things like reading signs etc. - NOT that I'm complaining, I only have to shut my good eye to remind me of what life was like, and how it (still?) could have been.
(The nurse seemed surprised when I got so far down the chart with one eye but could see nothing but a blurry yellow light with a few black smudges at the top through the left eye).
Less than a year post graft I was tried for glasses and told that it was only a weak distance prescription I needed, but that I had quite a lot of astigmatism still and that its axis keeps shifting, leaving me with glasses that can be useless after only a couple of weeks (unless I take them off and hold them rotated in front of my eye). So we gave up on the glasses thing as I wasn't coping too badly. Got some eyetrainers a few weeks back after reading a post on here, hoping to avoid the astigmatism axis problem, and they did help a little but I was disappointed by them really.
Lately I've been at the hospital quite frequently but always with a sore eye and reduced vision because of the broken stitch, so it was interesting to get an eye test when things were pretty much normal.
Jay: Tell me about it! I know, I've been very lucky - from some of the comments of my surgeon's successors it was impressive handiwork - scary to think that if I my optometrist hadn't been so determined to fit me with a lens then I could have been on the operating table almost a year earlier with a different surgeon - who knows how different things could have been.
And some factors are just out of the surgeons hands (as my family found out the hard way this time last year) - so despite the success first time round, I'm not in a hurry to get the other one done. Although it would be nice to have decent stereo vision (I still misjudge steps and stuff sometimes) - with some of the things on the horizon for us KC'ers I can't help thinking it might be wise to leave my other eye untouched for now. Not to mention that no-one knows how long my luck will last - rather go through life having good vision in a single eye at alternate intervals than have both for a while and be back to square one in later years.
John: Really? I have never been told that, I have always been told they are in place for life unless there is a problem. I have individual stitches, is that the case with you also?
I did infact ask a couple of visits ago (hmmm, that'd be about 3 weeks ago!) how many I had left and wouldn't it be easier to whip the remaining 5 (full and partial) out in one go. Was told that if they're not broken it means digging them out which would obviously be more uncomfortable and greater risk of infection. I'm assuming it'd be similar to removing loose (but unbroken/still buried) stitches which I had done within the first few months.
My frequent unexpected visits over the last 6 months has meant that my proper check-up has been pushed back, as they were otherwise very happy with my graft. I'm due to see the consultant in March, no doubt I'll be minus a couple more stitches by then!
Gareth: I guess the continuing gradual improvement is a two-sided coin. On one side obviously it's great that things are getting even better several years post-op. The flipside is the unpredictability of it all. If I'd have known about the above I wouldn't have dashed back to uni (thinking I better get it finished while I still can). I would have got a relevant job to gain experience and to save up to afford to redo my full final year, and possibly salvage a 2.1 out of the mess. Instead I went back with unstable vision, resulting in glasses that turned out to be useless after a few weeks, was affected by broken stitches and ended up narrowly avoiding slipping down to a 3rd class degree.
Even today I'm reluctant about applying for the product/graphic design jobs that I studied for knowing that my vision can be a bit up and down. That's mainly due to the stitches though, so hopefully won't be an issue for much longer.
I've been doing a sort of course for graduates 2 days a week to learn interview techniques, how to do proper CVs etc. And it keeps coming back to my KC - application forms asking about long-term medical problems, explaining why it took me 6 years to do a 3 year degree, the gap in my employment history etc.
I keep having this vision of being in an interview and someone joking "did you hear the one about the one-eyed, colourblind designer?!" I know that sounds silly but it's like I'm still trapped in limbo...
...On here (as expressed in the replies to my first post) I'm one of the lucky ones, and even feel a bit guilty for mentioning my good fortune (not that many people would describe needing major eye surgery aged only 21 lucky - as voiced on a Mac forum I frequently visit where I was advising someone asking about monitors & poor vision).
...But then on the outside world I'm still disadvantaged, for obvious reasons.
Just realised this has turned into a bit of a rant, (my posts often do - maybe that scale on the left should account for length of posts and not just quantity! Hehe) and it's taken attention away from the original post, which is a bit naughty. Sorry.
Rob.
Not saying it was clear, but it was definately letters and not just black dots, (it wasn't that long ago that I was amazed to be able to see two or three rows of black dots/smudges at the bottom of the chart!).
I still get a very pale single ghost image in my grafted eye, but it is quite far away from the "real" image so they don't clash for most things, and I only really notice it when doing things like reading signs etc. - NOT that I'm complaining, I only have to shut my good eye to remind me of what life was like, and how it (still?) could have been.
(The nurse seemed surprised when I got so far down the chart with one eye but could see nothing but a blurry yellow light with a few black smudges at the top through the left eye).
Less than a year post graft I was tried for glasses and told that it was only a weak distance prescription I needed, but that I had quite a lot of astigmatism still and that its axis keeps shifting, leaving me with glasses that can be useless after only a couple of weeks (unless I take them off and hold them rotated in front of my eye). So we gave up on the glasses thing as I wasn't coping too badly. Got some eyetrainers a few weeks back after reading a post on here, hoping to avoid the astigmatism axis problem, and they did help a little but I was disappointed by them really.
Lately I've been at the hospital quite frequently but always with a sore eye and reduced vision because of the broken stitch, so it was interesting to get an eye test when things were pretty much normal.
Jay: Tell me about it! I know, I've been very lucky - from some of the comments of my surgeon's successors it was impressive handiwork - scary to think that if I my optometrist hadn't been so determined to fit me with a lens then I could have been on the operating table almost a year earlier with a different surgeon - who knows how different things could have been.
And some factors are just out of the surgeons hands (as my family found out the hard way this time last year) - so despite the success first time round, I'm not in a hurry to get the other one done. Although it would be nice to have decent stereo vision (I still misjudge steps and stuff sometimes) - with some of the things on the horizon for us KC'ers I can't help thinking it might be wise to leave my other eye untouched for now. Not to mention that no-one knows how long my luck will last - rather go through life having good vision in a single eye at alternate intervals than have both for a while and be back to square one in later years.
John: Really? I have never been told that, I have always been told they are in place for life unless there is a problem. I have individual stitches, is that the case with you also?
I did infact ask a couple of visits ago (hmmm, that'd be about 3 weeks ago!) how many I had left and wouldn't it be easier to whip the remaining 5 (full and partial) out in one go. Was told that if they're not broken it means digging them out which would obviously be more uncomfortable and greater risk of infection. I'm assuming it'd be similar to removing loose (but unbroken/still buried) stitches which I had done within the first few months.
My frequent unexpected visits over the last 6 months has meant that my proper check-up has been pushed back, as they were otherwise very happy with my graft. I'm due to see the consultant in March, no doubt I'll be minus a couple more stitches by then!
Gareth: I guess the continuing gradual improvement is a two-sided coin. On one side obviously it's great that things are getting even better several years post-op. The flipside is the unpredictability of it all. If I'd have known about the above I wouldn't have dashed back to uni (thinking I better get it finished while I still can). I would have got a relevant job to gain experience and to save up to afford to redo my full final year, and possibly salvage a 2.1 out of the mess. Instead I went back with unstable vision, resulting in glasses that turned out to be useless after a few weeks, was affected by broken stitches and ended up narrowly avoiding slipping down to a 3rd class degree.
Even today I'm reluctant about applying for the product/graphic design jobs that I studied for knowing that my vision can be a bit up and down. That's mainly due to the stitches though, so hopefully won't be an issue for much longer.
I've been doing a sort of course for graduates 2 days a week to learn interview techniques, how to do proper CVs etc. And it keeps coming back to my KC - application forms asking about long-term medical problems, explaining why it took me 6 years to do a 3 year degree, the gap in my employment history etc.
I keep having this vision of being in an interview and someone joking "did you hear the one about the one-eyed, colourblind designer?!" I know that sounds silly but it's like I'm still trapped in limbo...
...On here (as expressed in the replies to my first post) I'm one of the lucky ones, and even feel a bit guilty for mentioning my good fortune (not that many people would describe needing major eye surgery aged only 21 lucky - as voiced on a Mac forum I frequently visit where I was advising someone asking about monitors & poor vision).
...But then on the outside world I'm still disadvantaged, for obvious reasons.
Just realised this has turned into a bit of a rant, (my posts often do - maybe that scale on the left should account for length of posts and not just quantity! Hehe) and it's taken attention away from the original post, which is a bit naughty. Sorry.
Rob.
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GarethB
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Rob,
The first eyar of my Micro Biology degree was done registered partially sighted. Year 2 I had enough sight from the first graft to allow me to catch up on year 1 practicle work. The sight in the other grafted eye was very poor.
By year 3 I did an industrial placement at a Dept Trade & Industry Labs and was legal to drive. The work I did there has only just been declassified!!!
By year 4 my sight was reasonable enough to work with no probs with help from the DTI and in addition to graduating with a good degree, just after the graduation ceremony was told I could bin the glasses.
This then allowed me to start racing again, until I got married 10 years ago. Been skint ever since.
I just like a challenge.
When I developed the problem with my right eye, started to do competitions with the car for how clean I could get it (concours delegance). Could not seee any muck, but took six First places, 2 Seconds and an overall Class Win for the year.
Guess, just because I have reduced vision, I take it as an oppertunity to prove the world wrong regarding what we can and cannot do.
Gareth
The first eyar of my Micro Biology degree was done registered partially sighted. Year 2 I had enough sight from the first graft to allow me to catch up on year 1 practicle work. The sight in the other grafted eye was very poor.
By year 3 I did an industrial placement at a Dept Trade & Industry Labs and was legal to drive. The work I did there has only just been declassified!!!
By year 4 my sight was reasonable enough to work with no probs with help from the DTI and in addition to graduating with a good degree, just after the graduation ceremony was told I could bin the glasses.
This then allowed me to start racing again, until I got married 10 years ago. Been skint ever since.
I just like a challenge.
When I developed the problem with my right eye, started to do competitions with the car for how clean I could get it (concours delegance). Could not seee any muck, but took six First places, 2 Seconds and an overall Class Win for the year.
Guess, just because I have reduced vision, I take it as an oppertunity to prove the world wrong regarding what we can and cannot do.
Gareth
Gareth
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