PK Graft Next Week, Few Questions Please...

[red-eye]

Hi everyone,

As the title says, I'm booked in for a penetrating corneal graft next week and have a few questions if I may.

I'm a 26 yr old male and have KC currently in only one eye (right). I believe I was diagnosed 6 yrs ago and am worried about my left eye being effected. Right eye has advanced KC with apical scarring, vision has been poor for years and have developed a squint. So basically my brain is not using my KC eye at all for vision. Contact lenses of different sizes and shapes have been tried with either no aid to vision and/or not been able to stay in place.

The operation is taking place at the hospital close to where I live. I've been looking through this forum and people often mention they have had their surgery done at either Moorfield or East Grinstead. Not sure how good my eye hospital is.

I do feel nervous which has been putting doubt into my head this past week, am I doing the right thing? Left eye is short sighted, pretty poorly I'd say but with the aid of a hard lens, I have perfect vision. If I am going to have the graft, this moment in my life would be the best as I am living at home with parents and work as a freelancer so can have as much time off as I want... lol I think I've just anwsered my own question!

Since yesterday I have developed a cold which often stays for a week due to my asthma, would the graft need to be placed on hold? In november I did have a flu vacination which is worring me due to possible higher risk of rejection?

Many thanks,
Red

[GarethB]

Generally we advise people not to mention the cunsultant that is giving the treatment or the actual hospital name. This is because unfortunatly some people diagree with others and then we run the risk of liable if a hospital or consultant feels their repuation has been damaged.

We have peopel who have had grafts all over the place.

Your questions regarding a cold and the flu vaccination are best discussed with your consultant.

Bottom line is you can back out of the operation right up until you are unconceous.

I can only share my experience of a flu jab post graft and I have suffered no ill effects from the jab and the grafts are still nice and healthy and the grafts are now 20 years old.

Hope all goes well for you.

[red-eye]

Hi mate, thanks for your reply and congrats on the 20 yr old grafts We all hope for similar outcomes.

Mods feel free to delete the paragraph mentioning the hospital and consultant, I cant seem to edit the post?

I rang the hospital earlier in the week and asked to speak to the person carrying out the graft about my queries, but he is on leave and due back on tuesday so I will try again then. Others didn't seem to know a definite answer.

[lcogrady]

Hi Red

One thing I asked my consultant is how many grafts he did a year and how long he had been performing OP etc. I had my PK two weks ago and all is good so far. Like you, I have had no sight in left eye for many years due to scarring and advanced KC. KC has got worse in right eye so decided to go for graft. I have also had flu jab before the Op back at start of December but as Gareth says check with consultant.

The main question I asked myself was what have I got to loose? and the truth is nothing as I hadnt seen out of it for so long.

I have been writing a blog for the last couple of weeks that might help and so has Johnny (crackerjacker) http://lucyscorneatransplant.blogspot.com/ and http://mycorneatransplant.blogspot.com/

Good luck with everything and if you want any moral support PM me

Lucy x

[rosemary johnson]

Hi Redeye!
Never heard of your consultant, and don't know anything about the eye department of the hospital, sorry.
As regards flu jabs - I too have asthma, had a flu jab in autumn before my graft an dhad another this autumn. I too have asthma and reckon the possible effects on the asthma more than outweigh any putative risk. I can't see a jab a while BEFORE the op as a problem - after all, you'd have flu antibodies if you'd had the flu!
As for a cold - it would depend on how bad it is, and how it affects you, and also what sort of anaesthetic they want to give you. If you are coughing madly and might cough at the wrong moment, that could be disastrous. The hospital staff - and the anaesthetist(s) in particular - would be best to advise.
You didn't say whether you were having a local or a general.
As got whether to go ahead or not...... only you can decide on that, and having had a graft op go disastrously wrong, I'm not the best person to reassure you! I think most people do get the pre-graft jitters so you are not alone. But if you are in serious dout, then, if you decide you need to think about it further, you can always reschedule it later, but if you go ahead, it can never be un-done.
GOod luck, whatever you decide.
Rosemary

[red-eye]

Oh wow, thanks Lucy (and Johnny) with the blog links, I'll be reading them after my dinner and no doubts will give me an insight on what to expect pre and post op

Now that you mention it, when you are using your computer after the op, are you covering your operated eye due to light sensitivity or are you finding things okay?

According to my consultants secretary (thats who I believe I spoke to earlier as mentioned on my previous post), he has done 'about 5-6 grafts in a period of 18 months, many more previous to that'... not sure how to rate that?

I feel more at ease regarding the flu jab issue.

Good luck with your recovery.

[red-eye]

Hey Rosemary, I appreciate your comments and am sorry to hear about your bad experiences with one of your grafts. I hope all is on good track now?

I will be under a gerneral anaesthetic so I should be fine I think. Though asthma gets somewhat worse than normal as you probably know.

Theres nothing to say that my left eye wont get KC down the road. Meaning that I guess its better to have good vision with one eye while the other is having and recovering from surgery.

Thanks

[lcogrady]

I have to say am using the computer with grafted eye closed! I find using computer in short doses is the best way but I did give my eye a week off post op before using Laptop again.

With regards to consultant I think you need to meet ASAP and make sure you feel comfortable with him. My consultant is a bit abrupt but I had no doubt that I wanted him to perform my PK as I felt reassured and I have to say he has done an excellent job. As Rosemary says, if you are unsure you can always postpone until you are happy. For me, the op has been a success and a lot less stressful than I thought it would be but I am aware it is very early days still.

Enjoy your after dinner reading, I had a PK under a general and Johnny has had a DALK under local but recovery for both is quite similar. Lots of rest!

Lucy x

[rosemary johnson]

Hi and thanks for the kind words.
I only had the one graft - I was offered then for both eyes, but had such a bad reaction to the drugs used it is unlikely grafting the other one will ever be possible.
Gallinglly enough, the eye has been doing OK - the others things are still in chaos. Actually, the eye is itching madly, a combination of the anti-glaucoma drops and getting a bit of hay in it at the stables yesterday. The horse in question would doubtless think it was very silly of me to waste his supper by putting it in my eye....!
The anaesthetist will undoubtedly have to pronounce on the state of your cold vis a vis a general - but you could always go to talk to your GP first, say you're due for a transplant op under GA and is there anything they could suggest? - the hospital told me to do that so i duly did got a dose of antibiotics which predictably did nothing! FOrgot to say earlier, one of the risk s of a cough would be if you were coughing madly for the few days AFTER the op and did something nasty to the eye as a result - they may tell you to postpone on that basis, apart from the actual op procedure itself.
Rosemary

[GarethB]

Things were easy back when I were a lad

Back then we only had 4 chanels to choose from and the hight of computer technology as the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, Amstrad and the Atari Comodor computers.

Still got the Spectrum which was the high spec one with 48K RAM

Many people spend the first couple weeks or so wearing sunglasses, for me that was the best thing I took into hospital. The second best was the Rubiks gift set my best friend gave me which the nurses confiscated beacuse evry 10 minutes I'dd call the nurse in to see if I had many any progress