UK Keratoconus Self-Help and Support Association

hello everyone.excuse me for that question as it may remind you of bad things.but if any of you was about to lose his wife or her husband or even kids or work because of KC??????????i am really looking forward to hearing from you.

Eman,

I was worried about loosing my job in 2004, but due to UK law and an understanding employer I was well looked after and evrything worked out really well.

Infact carear wise it actually opened up some oppertunities I would not have considerd or would not have been put forward for.

I was worried about losing my job last sumnmer after i had seven months off sick with sight worries. My employers have been brilliant though and they cannot sack me by law due to this, although if i can't see well enough to nurse that's another problem!

Sweet X x X

My job hangs in the balance as we speak but it takes months or years for the Navy to make decisions like that so I am not getting excited about it right now. In fact, I am quite relaxed about it general. Its great to have a job you enjoy and I love mine but you have to get real, family is far more important. The only way I can think of that KC would threaten their safety was if I pushed the envelope driving with them in the car. That's why I very strictly do not drive at night (its too scary with double vision and photophobia) and only one hour max in the daytime because of the fatigue.

Think I can say KC hasn't had any real affect on my life at all. Maybe being a bit nervy about diving into water in case I lost a lens but that's about it.

Ah, and there's many a family man who would like to lose the kids for just a short while.

I seem to manage to lose my kids on a daily basis!!
Not sure if this has anything to do with KC or maybe im a bad mother

I do worry about the affect KC has on my children, i don't think i am really myself a t the moment.
I worry about my eldest going out of my sight more than the other mums [she only has to move about three foot ] but she is at that age where she wants a little bit of independence.

Hope things are not to bad for you at the moment Eman

Anne

I think there a number of things that were feared when losing vision through KC....and JOB were the main one! as without a job you cant earn money and support yourself and family........thereafter its also doing things on a daily basis that we take for granted.....and the fear of being in that position again is enough to ensure i do anything I can NOT be be exposed to it!......

It worries me a little that people newly diagnosed with KC might read some of the posts on a forum like this and think it's the end of life.

I would guess that many people who post here might be the unluckiest ones for whom everything has gone wrong. A bit like those car forums where everyone seems to have an engine that blew up but may not be typical.

I suspect there are lots of others with KC who haven't been nearly so unlucky. My brother and myself both have KC and it has never been a big deal for either of us even though without treatment we wouldn't have been able to see our hands in front of our faces. Neither of us has ever had problems with lens and the graft I had gave me superb vision. Certainly hasn't affected our jobs or lifestyles.

I'm sure there must be many out there with severe KC but which isn't any sort of a problem for them with good management.

I'm now getting to need reading specs and find hunting round for them everytime I need to read something is way more of a pain than KC ever was. And that's something most of the population eventually has to put up with.

Barney

You have just reflected the views of many here and of those who look at this forum.

Any one new asking questions that come across as they feel it is the end of the world I do try and put things into context and give some background to the condition.

GarethB wrote:I do try and put things into context and give some background to the condition.

I wish someone would do the same on that car forum I keep looking at Gareth.

I recently bought a new car and that forum gives the impression everyone has had major problems with it. Scary stuff. Mine has been perfect from delivery and it gets one of the highest satisfaction indexes. Must stop reading there.

Hope you're a long way off from having to borrow someone else's specs to read a menu as I did yesterday.