Graft Questions

[craigthornton]

Has anyone here had a graft under local anaesthetic? If so, is it uncomfortable and do you see what is going on? Are you sedated slightly? Do you just have the one injection or do you need topping up?

I'm not sure if I will have the choice for a local anaesthetic, but the hospital I am going to had a death last week and 4 illnesses possibly connected to the general anaesthetic machine. Although in a different dept. to the one I am going to I am now scared stiff!

Also, when you use drops afterwards, are they watery or more like ointment. I have had to use ointment drops in the past and really struggled with getting them into my eye!

[jayuk]

Craig

I am led to beleive that Local is only used for Transplants in the UK IF the patient is a) in the elder generation b) has something wrong with there heart

That is what I was told when I discussed this prior to my graft

HTH

Jay

[Gareth2]

Hi Craig, as jay has said all grafts are done under general not local, except in those sitautions stated. but also as they need to move you around on the table. I watched the operation of a full graft last year on tv before my own full graft earlier this year so to help me into as positive mind set possible. best thing is to air all concerns with your hospital team doing graft. the drops I had after graft were both a cream and a watery base but i was lucky had someone at home to put them in at start until i was comfertable to do it for myself.
hope that helps in some way. all best.
Gareth

[John Smith]

Craig,

The post-graft medication is largely consultant's preference.

After my first graft, I was on hourly unpreserved Dexamethasone drops - made up by Moorfields, and using a rather quaint eye-dropper (and chloramphenicol drops for the first week). After a while, I was on preserved steroids from a normal bottle.

After my second graft, I was on Maxitrol ointment, and chloramphenicol ointment too initially.

For both eyes, I ended up on FML (a weaker steroid) drops from a normal bottle.

I agree that the ointment is nasty to put in, but you do get used to it when yuo're doing it 6 times a day!

[craigthornton]

6 times a day?!

I hate ointment, it seems to stay stuck to the end of the tube and not in my eyelid which waters and seems to repel the ointment!

[Alison Fisher]

I know what you mean Craig as the same used to happen to me. You soon master how to get the right amount of oitment in the right place - practice does make perfect and after a graft you get plenty of practice. I found if I eased the bottom lid down a little and put the ointment there then when I let go of the lid the ointment stayed in contact with my eye and didn't get all caught up in my eye lashes.

I was unsure about the drops as well. I had visions of either missing my eye entirely or poking my eye out, but they showed me a method of laying the bottle across the bridge of my nose so I knew exactly where it was in relation to my eye.

Hope this helps.

[John Smith]

The technique I ended up with was washing my hands thoroughly and drying them on a clean kitchen towel (near enough sterile!) and then putting about a cm of ointment on my finger. I then scraped my finger over my lower eyelid, and most of the gel transferred. Then close the eye, and voila!

Still, it was made a LOT easier once the staple keeping the eye closed was removed Now, putting ointment in a stapled-shut eye... now THAT'S what I call awkward

[craigthornton]

The technique I ended up with was washing my hands thoroughly and drying them on a clean kitchen towel (near enough sterile!) and then putting about a cm of ointment on my finger. I then scraped my finger over my lower eyelid, and most of the gel transferred. Then close the eye, and voila!

Still, it was made a LOT easier once the staple keeping the eye closed was removed Now, putting ointment in a stapled-shut eye... now THAT'S what I call awkward

They staple your eye after the graft??

[John Smith]

Not usually, no.

My eye was stapled after the second graft because the surgeon's preference was to not transplant the donor epithelium. The eye is kept shut for a few days to protect it whilst a layer of my own epithelium grew to cover the graft.

More details on my mini-blog.