UK Keratoconus Self-Help and Support Association

Went to visit my Optham today, tend-days out from the surgery. He and his assistant....and all his students (it is a teaching university) were all happy with what they saw. Things seem to be going well. I tested at 20-80 on the chart and 20-40 in the pinhole. There is some talk about taking out every other stitch in three weeks!! They must be very sure of the healing process. After taking several tests and enduring a ton of photos they said that the endothelium was all healed..... The worst part of the whole process so far was having the "contact microscope" slide back and forth over the cornea to examine the cells of the graft/recipient plane. That was a bit uncomfortable and took a while.

But, I'm off the antibiotic now, and only using EconoPred 1%, four times daily.

It is a novelty now to take my left contact out and compare my vision. My graft is actually better than the ungrafted eye and I have to laugh each time I test this and verify it. It has been MANY YEARS since my right was better than my left. What a miracle!!!

To all you graft recipients reading this: best wishes. To all you waiting for a graft: hang in there......things get better, and FAST.



Piper

Crikey those ten days have flown by. I'm so pleased for you that everything is going so well. All fingers crossed that it continues to do so.

My first graft was on an eye that I hadn't had useful vision from for years. I was concerned about how I would adjust to the change but after dreading headaches etc it turned out not to be a problem at all.

Wow!

That is a fast turnaround! Well done!

I would like to point out to everyone else that Piper had a PK, which does optically heal a lot faster than a DALK. Also that it is unusual to talk about taking stitches out that soon, at least in the UK. That said, we are all different (we need to make that the website slogan!) so you never know...

Sorry if I led you to think that I had a PK...that was the initial plan, then they changed to a DALK....with the PK as a backup plan, and didn the DALK indeed. The Doc even snugged up the graft somehow to help with my decades old issues with nearsightedness. So, perhaps things will be even better than pre-KC....and I think that DALKs tend to heal faster and are parhaps safer as I have my own endothelium or something.

Piper

It always fascinates me to hear how things are done so differently in other countries.

I was surprised Piper to see in one of your posts just how soon you were expecting to be back at work, and now they are already talking about taking some of your stitches out. I can't remember when they started to take the stitches out from my second graft , but with my first graft (a continuous stitch) it taken out after about eighteen months.

Alison - to many people's relief most definitely different

Piper

That kind of vision at your stage is just amazing! But this isnt the first time ive heard such things from US based graft patients. Its kinda intriguing to know what it is they do different!

I mean even talking about suture removal already wouldnt even be considered in the UK; from my limited experience......

Good on you!

J

Piper,

That really is amazing!

As I understand it, a DALK graft will indeed heal (medically) much faster than a PK graft. Keeping the endothelium intact will increase the structural integrity of the cornea as well as reducing the risk of rejection.

Optically however is usually a different story. Because the two halves of cornea have to mesh together completely, getting decent vision can take a lot longer than a PK graft.

You've obviously got the donor's epithelium, too (lucky chap - I wish sometimes I had!). Again though, received wisdom is that the patient will see better long-term with the donor epithelium removed, and their own grown over the graft.

All I can say is Wow. Like Jay, I wonder what they've done to you, and how. But I'm really happy for you, and I hope the healing continues at this super-speed rate