JUST HAD A GRAFT

[mohammed]

Hi

Just had a full corneal graft here in Birmingham about 2 weeks ago. Ist 2 week follow up consultant said all is well and come back in 6 weeks and slowly get back to doin suff.


eye can be a red and sore first thing am and I am having some sleepless nights

is that usual and also when is the grafted eyes vision settled and from peoples experiences do u go back to RGP's or glasses which I would prefer or neither.

Also any contributors from the West Midlands/Birmingham area on here?

[GarethB]

Hi Mohammed,

Welcome, eye can be red in the morning if you move a lot in the night. To help, an eye shield can be taped on just to stop the pillows and sheets rubbing against the eye lids which then rub on the stitches.

Once the graft has settled most people go to glasses if they can. It is only if the astigmatism remaining is quite large that they go back to RGP lenses. However there have been great developments in softer lenses which some are now using.

My grafts are 18 years old and I have only just gone back to RGP's. I had 5 years post graft without the need for sight correction. The rest of the time I used glasses for mild astigmatism. The situation I am in now is quite unique according to the hospital which is why when I go back I am seen by the doctor, professors and students because these people amy never see a case like mine again!

Most specialists prefer glasses if at all possible.

Let us know how the post graft recovery goes.

Regards

Gareth

[Andrew MacLean]

mohammed

Welcome! I agree witih eveything gareth says.

Be prepard for a long period of recovery from surgery. It took my graft nearly 2 years to settle down.

All the best

Andrew

[Asif]

Hi Mohammed

I had my PK graft at the end of June 05 at Nottingham QMC. My vision was slightly better than before the graft. My VA was checked the day after the graft where I got 6/60 and the day before the graft I got 1/60, but there was a lot of cloudiness and light sensitivity that went away after 2-3 weeks. The ghosting/ multiple imaging effect had reduced but was still present.

For the first 6 weeks I avoided any type of physical exercise (lifting, bending, stretching, running etc) and would not over strain my eyes my watching too much TV, PS2, reading or sitting in front of a computer. I eventually got back to some normal activities but still did not do any strenuous physical exercise.

I would advise you to wear an eye sheild when sleeping, as mentioned by Gareth, for the first 8 weeks. This will prevent anything touching you eyelids, which would then touch your grafted cornea.

My eye was red after the graft, mainly the nasal side of the sclera (white bit). This went away after about 3-4 weeks. My eyes did not feel sore although I could feel the stiches for the first few days. I'm thinking that lack of sleep you are getting may be causing the discomfort, as when I do not get enough sleep continously for a few days I can begin to feel the stiches rubbing againt my eyelids and is very irritating.

I am now 8 months post graft and recently was refracted and was able to get 6/6 corrected and 6/36 uncorrected...so I can now start wearing glasses and would more or less get normal vision. I still get ghosting/multiple imaging but has reduced a significant amount than pre-graft.

Because of the result from refraction and having astigmatism reduced to 0.50D my consultant decided not to remove any stiches for now, I currently have all 16 in place.

Hope that helps

Asif

[Val G]

Hi Mohammed

I'm a Geordie, living in Birmingham. I work at City Hospital and had a full thickness graft there on 6th dec. It's been suggested that I will be fitted with a contact lens in a few months. My vision is not great yet, but I think as good as can be expected at this stage and much better than pre op.I've got an appointment for a three month check up on Tuesday, I'll let you know how I get on.

Val

[jayuk]

Mohammed

Sounds like things have started on a good note!

What was your KC story before? How long, how bad, what was your vision etc?

Be really good to see how you progress here on and def keep us updated if you can!

J

[Andrew MacLean]

Mohammed

Some of the really clever people who post on this forum have managed to photograph and post pictures of their eyes at various stages of recovery.

I am not among them, my repeated efforts to use my phone to take a picture of my eye having consistently failed, despite the kind and helpful advice of many others.

But, if you were able to take a pic of your grafted eye, I am sure that it would make a valuable addition to the growing archive of photos of recovering eyes.

do keep us in touch with your progress.

Andrew

[mohammed]

Hiya folks

appreciate the replies and advice and I will try to answer all questions

start with the my history of KC

it started when I was around 20 21 and studying at UNI and I had then my first RGP lenses in both eyes which initially constantly fell out etc etc.

I am now 35.

About 2 years ago I was diagnosed with hydrops and for about a year couldnt wear one lens so had to drive/work etc with one lens. Then I was prescribed a scleral lens in my left eye which I have used for about a year and which gave me limited near vision but not much help for distances and ever so painful after any period in the eye even with celluvisc etc etc.

so I had my left eye grafted via a full thickness graft on 21/2/06 about 3 weeks today.

whats your history jayuk and others?

vision is better then before. in that I can see the TV etc at about 4 metres distance ie my room without the right RGP lens in but cant see the teletext etc.

agreed that done little physical exercise apart from picking the kids up etc and am wearing the eye shield which the hospital suggested wear for 8 weeks one of you said do that for 8 weeks which I will do.

also the eye redmness in the morning is getting less and one of again may be right as it does appear to be worse after less sleep nights.

one issue when i initially put my RGP lens in in my ungrafted eye it was ever so painful . Is this normal as this week it seems a bit better in front of the pc etc.

val keep in touch please and that update would be great as you are slightly ahead of me ie 3 month stage and i will thus know what to expect.

great to hear that one of you will be wearing glasses as thats just what I would love but you are going back to lenses val? why not glasses?


also folks when did all of you get back to working or driving a car etc as I am itchin to do both?

do the midlands people like you val ever attend the midlands support group meetings? i did ages ago but not recently. anyone want to keep in touch via email or skype is also welcome as we can share experiences etc.

[jayuk]

Mohammed

Here is a link to a log that I keep updated which will give you some history on my graft

http://www.keratoconus-group.org.uk/for ... highlight=

In terms of driving etc, I was driving after around 3 weeks if memory serves me right.

All in can say is that as the weeks go by, the swelling and redness does go down. But be careful (as you have been) in not lifting anything, touching the eye, etc.....and of course watch out for any signs that MAY be an indication of rejection etc....oh and do try and avoid getting water in the eye!....it can lead to a possible infection.....but I would suspect that you are also taking chloramphenical as a preventative measure

Jay

[Andrew MacLean]

M

Your recovery seems to be going pretty well according to plan.

The experience of returning sight in a PK eye seem to vary widely. I was back at work six weeks after surgery. I think that this was longer than the surgeon would normally have reccomended becasue he did not trust me to avoid the strains of Christmas (I had my operation on december 12).

Apart from those six weeks I have not been off work at all.

I did not get back to driving until November last year (23 months after surgery).

I know from the posts here from others that nobody's experience is 'typical', but that the length of my own recovery to the point where I could drive was on the high end of a scale.

All the best

Andrew