Help! Off Work and Desperately Need to Get Back!

[Michael P]

Hi Em. My daughter's an Em too .

Regarding piggybacking, as you know Clair piggybacks, I think in one eye, with great success as do I in both.

I don't think piggybacking is an ideal solution and care is needed to ensure the lenses are not over-worn.

However, in my current situation I would not be able to wear lenses if I wasn't piggybacking and unless someone come up with a better solution, I have no choice but to stick with it.

If it is along term fix you need and pb does the job then I would be interested in hearing arguments against it. Lack of oxygen is one possible argument hence my comment above.

Your mates in the band must have a high regard for you.

[sweetieoftwo]

Thanks Michael,

It is the lack of oxygen he is worried about as he does not think it will help any of my other conditions...I have shed loads of allergies, suffer from really dry eyes and blepharitis. I have another appointment tomorrow though with another consultant and will see (ha ha!!) how that goes.

Unfortunately I need to find a long-term solution quite soon as I am still off work and am also doing a 14 hour a week course on top of my full time job, which resumes in 2 weeks, so every spare minute I am either glued to a computer screen or a book...really not an ideal solution for any contact lens wearers!

Em x

[Andrew MacLean]

Em

Back to the suggestion that you get and use some of the software that lets your computer read things for you. Seriously, this kept me at work even when I had become legally blind in both eyes.

Andrew

[Michael P]

As you say Em, the lack of oxygen is the thing that worries me about piggybacking and from what you say, I can see why this could cause you a problem.

I know what you mean about the computer screen; I have been on now for about 30 minutes and my eyes are really quite sore.

Good luck with your appointment tomorrow. Let us know how you get on.

[sweetieoftwo]

Hi all,

Ok, went to my appointment today. Was a little annoyed as I did not get to see the person I wanted to who I should have seen, who is the top KC bloke, but I saw a really nice lady who has explained that any infections and swelling have gone and after completing the course of steriods at the end of next week, I can put my lenses back in - hooray, only a week and a half to go!!

Really wanted to see the other guy though, but not to worry. I wanted to discuss long-term options as, despite the infection and then keratitus concerns, I was experiencing periods of time when my contacts were unwearable, but I will have to do this at another appointment. All I hope is that I do not put them back in and within hours they are red and sore again

Actually, does anyone think that there may be a connection between the environment and these factors? I moved job (my work sold us to another company), do exactly the same job now, same amount of time on the computer, have the same computer and monitor as they were all taken with us and yet only since moving have I had problems with contact wear. Could allergies, possibly from the air con be a consideration? Seems a real coincidence and one bloke in our office is always sneezing but doesn't at home! What I am going to do is put my contacts in on the Saturday and Sunday before resuming work and if all fine and then problems on Monday...well!

Have also checked out the Sight and Sounds website in more detail. I have a scanner, so I am thinking I only need to get read aloud software that is compatible with my laptop? The Kurzweil 1000 does look really good Amarpal...when are you getting this? Am I right in thinking it will read aloud anything which is on my laptop like Word, Excel etc., the internet and also other packages like PDF? I can also scan pages from books etc. in and this will also be read back to me? If so, that would be perfect for me at home studying, as I could then be contact-lens free at home and still continue my course and cut down my amount of wear so can have a full days wear at work.

If this is the case, how do I go about getting it? Am I able to get some support? I don't think I would need it in work, as (touchwood) I am normally fine and it has been a bad case of infections which have left me contact-lens free. Also my main problem would be making it into work, so all the software there wouldn't really help! My course is paid for entirely through work who are sponsoring me and I then have a tie-in year with them when I (hopefully!) qualify. It would therefore be to their advantage as I can then get more wear out of my lens during the working day. Also, if I ended up off again for a period, I would be able to do a lot more work at home than I can at the moment, with very limited amounts of time on the laptop. Would I be able to get money off the £695 price tag in this scenario? Would I have to pay the balance? Or does it have to strictly be equipment I only use in work?

Feeling a little more positive about things though today. I think the software would be excellent as this course is another 2 years to go and extremely intense hours-wise...would, as always, welcome any thoughts!

Thanks all,

Em x

[Andrew MacLean]

In my case it was the jobcentre plus that arranged for a workplace assessment and my employer along with the jobcentre plus team that met the cost of installing all special hardware requirements.

Mac users will recognize that the universal access protocols that are embedded in OSX work with all applications, but if we boot to OS9 we still need special software. I think I have "Outspoken" mounted on my classic platform, but as the overwhelming majority of my computer time is spent on OSX I am afraid that I only occasionally use Outspoken.

The main thing here is that whichever of the operating systems we use, there will be either embedded software or applications that can be added that will enable the computer to be an "eyes free" tool.

Andrew

[Lynn White]

Hi Em

Really glad to hear the band is supporting you. Its really amazing sometimes how people respond and its sounds like they really have the right ideas on how to help you participate. Good to hear, especially as many times the posts on here are of how others DON'T understand and help!

Glasses: The problem here is RGP wear. If you wear them most of the time, then they tend to reshape your eye. The glasses are made from a prescription measured when you have just taken your lenses out. This, for general life, is the most sensible way to do it, since you are most likely to wear your glasses when you have just taken your lenses out or in the morning after sleeping.

However, if you leave your lenses out for a few days, then your eye starts to go back to its usual shape. This will alter the prescription and therefore your glasses don't work. Actually I know exactly what this is like as although I don't have KC, I am very short sighted and when I was young had the old fashioned hard lenses. When I myself got a bout of keratitis, I had to leave them out with exactly the same problems you are having now.

As I said, for short periods of time, the pinhole glasses can provide useful vision for looking at TV and general walking around. Someone asked me about the use of them for curing eyesight after seeing my last post. Let me be clear. The help a pinhole gives is due entirely to an optical effect, as it cuts out peripheral rays. It doesn't help to cure anything! You could get the same effect by pushing a pin through a piece of cardboard and looking through that. Optometrists actually have a "pinhole" in their trial sets - it gives an idea of what vision you should be able to achieve with glasses very quickly.

I do hope things settle down soon. But do be prepared - sometimes keratitis takes a while to subside or comes back as soon as you start to wear lenses again.

Keep us posted!

[Anne Klepacz]

Sweetie - have you downloaded the Keratoconus At Work leaflet? Access to Work (through Jobcentre Plus) will pay 80% of the costs of any specialist equipment recommended through the workplace assessment. As your study is an integral part of your work, I would have thought that would apply for any help needed with your studying.
Re the air con - it'll be interesting to see how you get on back at work. The air con at the office I used to work in was remarkably efficient at circulating all the bugs round the office!
Good luck
Anne

[sweetieoftwo]

Hi all,

Thanks for the posts and suggestions. I have returned from a fantastic weekend away with my band so feeling a lot more positive about things. Was weird as had to be chapperoned all weekend and helped on and off stage to compete, but we managed to get away with it, despite me not being able to see the condutor and got 13th place out of 24 which was great given the steep competition we were up against!

Currently, I am looking into the Access at Work route and also the Student Disability Allowance, as I am a post-grad student, although it is not sure yet whether my course, which is entirely distance-learning is covered.

I have a meeting with work tomorrow, as the last one was cancelled and need to discuss everything with my boss and a HR representative. Little worrying as I am not entirely sure what to say!

Sounds mad but I am still convinced that the air con is a major factor in all this and one of the main things I need to stress tomorrow is that I need to move desks, as I sit below an air con unit which blows straight over me. I am about to start another thread though to see if anyone else can offer some advice for office working, as to mention it now at the discussion stage would be more beneficial than trying to get things changed later when I have returned to work. I am also facing a window, which is causing me a lot of headaches and eye-strain with the contrast between that and my monitor?? Work have had a copy of the Keratoconus at Work leaflet though, so hopefully they will know something about it all!

Am also still a little confused on the Access to Work things. HR have said that when I return to work they will do a workplace assessment, which is carried out by the Health and Safety representative at work. Problem is that then I will (hopefully!) be fine as will have my contacts back in. How can they assess what I then can or can't do? And then if they say yes, some software support would be good, then what happens? Do we get a Jobcentre representative then to come visit? Is this a long process?

Basically the software which people are mentioning which reads things out to me would still be more beneficial at home for my studying, as when I return from work I generally have around 3/4 hours of further studying to do in front of my pc. That is when I really need to take my lens out, ready for the next day. Having the software in work doesn't really help through a non-contact lens wearing period, as how do I get to work?? Andrew, how did you manage with this?

Oh well, as usual lots of questions and a nerve-wracking meeting tomorrow!

[Andrew MacLean]

Em, Let the work place assessment see you both with and without your lenses. That way they will be able properly to assess your needs.

Andrew