Been thinking

[Sweet]

Yes i know this is really bad for me with only one brain cell!

Just had some time to think over everything that happened yesterday and what my surgeon said on him being able to cut the bottom of the graft as it is lifting off and restitching it. Just wanted to know has anyone had this done before?

Also, why are all these stitches dam well breaking anyway, i'm so careful. I haven't been poked in the eye, although i'm sure that my surgeon thinks i'm secretly getting beaten up! I don't lift or carry anything heavy so what's wrong? You can't lose as many stitches as i have in one day for goodness sake, or maybe it is because i left it too long in pain and it pulled out the deeper ones, maybe?

Am just dam scared of the whole thing now and don't want to move or breathe for fear of losing anymore. Am stopping wearing make up to see if that helps, so if i see anyone soon i hope i don't frighten you!! LOL!!

Sweet X x X

[jayuk]

Sweet

I think something has happened somewhere along the line which you may be forgetting or didnt assume would have had an impact on the eye. Could be aything from getting up all of a sudden, bending over, jumping steps, a whole host of thing!......

Try and trace back to earlier in the week?

J

[jayboi2005]

sorry to hear it, but i just don't know what to say. Im daunted myself im sure you will be alright.

[Sweet]

Oh sugar something just came to me reading that. I went out for the works do last December got really drunk (sadly) and don't remember anything about it except for waking up with some bruises the next day.

Hhmm if this is the reason then i guess this is a good thing as i am definately going to be more careful now and it's not just because it happened, as nothing happens for no reason.

Thanks, Sweet X x X

[GarethB]

I must say, after my grafts I did not take any extra care about my eyes except wearing safety glasses and full race visor once I started racing again.

My ops were between rugby seasons, ops in April and July, but soon got going again.

Those who know me the types of jobs I have and that I have exposed myself to all sorts of nasties. Mye personal view is that we take too many medicines and too many post op precautions that we are not as tuff as we could be.

Not much help to you Sweet, just my two peneth worth.

[Sweet]

Hehe it is ok! I was exactly the same, just now that i have had so much trouble with loose stitches am thinking that i should take more care!! LOL!!

Great to hear that you have done so well though, have fun!!

Sweet X x X

[Per]

As I remeber from my first graft the stitches broke on one place after a few days when I was still in the hospital. They fixed it the same day. Later it broke again, and then it was so late in the healing process that they put on a bandage lens to prevent the stitches to loosen more and cause further irritation in the eye. That eye has now a crystal clear cornea, some say you have to be trained to even see it is a graft! So don´t worry Sweet. It will be perfect. You just have to wait for it to heal.

[Andrew MacLean]

Sweet

I think that there were two parts to the question with which you started this string. The first was about some possible trauma that may have damaged your sutures, and the second was about the 'fit' of your graft.

Going in to surgery I was told that it sometimes happened that the surgeon would fit the graft with a slight overlap. I was told that this was occasionally necessary if the host tissue was showing signs of distress during the operation.

They said that, if necessary, it would always be possible for them to 'trim' the graft later so that it would be made a perfect fit. In my case this was, thankfully, not required. do you think that this may be what's going on in your eye?

As to your sutures breaking, I'm afraid that I'm as much in the dark as you. I think many of us (myself included) did silly things after the first six weeks had passed. I can't think why you should have to pay such a heavy price while I got off scott free.

How many stitches did you have, and how many of them are now broken? Is there any talk of them re-suturing your eye (perhaps in tandem with the little trim that they have suggested)?

All the best

Andrew

[Louise Pembroke]

As far as I'm aware, there doesn't have to be a specific trauma such as a knock to the head for sutures to become loose. I had 4 stitiches become loose shortly after surgery with one graft which they had to replace, I was craeful to the point of immobility! Contrast that with my first graft where I experienced direct eye trauma immediately after surgery - whilst I was recovering from the anaesthetic I kept poking my eye! I wasn't aware of this of course, but a nurse had to sit beside me until I was conscious to stop me from poking my eye [I felt so guilty], and the surgeon took the dressing off to check there was no damage. It was fine. I reckon loose stitches are just one of those things and you have been unlucky.
I wear make-up too, and staff have never asked me to stop doing so [through lens solution reactions/hydrops/grafts/rejection episodes]. I just make sure I always take it off at night, use a good waterproof mascara, and use cotton buds to 'roll' it off, resting the lashes on a finger so there is no pressure on the eye itself. I then as an extra precaution flush out the eyes with hypromellose.

[Per]

You girls sleep without eye shield, use make up and go to perform in marathon a few weeks post op. No wonder the new cornea complains!!