UK Keratoconus Self-Help and Support Association

Hey guys,
Discovered this group after having a graft on my left eye 5 weeks ago. Probably should have had a look beforehand as had major misgivings about the operation especially after my pre-op when I got the full "what can go wrong horror story" from my surgeon. I've had KC in both eyes for about 15 years and was first offered the option of grafts about 10 years ago. At the time I was a pretty serious triathlete and couldn't afford to have months out of swimming so it wasn't an option until I retired a few years ago. Finally decided to go for it back in November and had my operation on 28th Feb. though very nearly bottled it at the last minute. The op. has apparently been successful but my sight is no better yet and have been told it could take a year to see an improvement. Anyway have loads of questions which I'll post as separate threads at some point but just wanted to do a general intro. for the moment.
Jack

Jack,

Hello there and welcome to the site! I am sorry that you need to join us for a KC reason but glad that you did find us in the end!! It might be good that you didn't read here before you had the surgery as you might not have gone through with it then with some horror stories that you can read online

This is a lovely safe place where you can post any questions, there is always someone who can answer you! A graft is a long process which takes a lot of time to heal and for you to 'see' the benefits. Please excuse the pun!

Today I finally got a lens that I can use for my grafted eye which is brilliant! It is two years post graft in August so it shows how sometimes it is a long wait.

Hoping to see you posting loads soon!

hi jack
big welcome to our friendly gathering, glad you found us.

hope your graft is improving and youre doing well, we will all be extremely interested in your postings as we can all always learn something.
as for help and support , the people on here are terrific and someone will always be able to offer you great advice from experience.

hopefully you will find this place to be like a family , where we all understand the same "KC language"

hope to read more of your postings soon

mike

Hi Jack,

You had your graft the day before I had mine.

What sort of graft did you have?

I look forward to reading your questions, I believe all mine have been answered here so it's a great place to ask.

All the best, hope your vision starts improving soon. I'm always testing mine for gradual improvement. I've gone as far as printing out a Snellen chart and marking out the correct distance so that every sunday I can test my eye.

Jack

Welcome to the forum.

Like you, I postponed the graft for years. It does take a long time for sight to recover. What sort of graft did you have (PK or DALK)?

All the best

Andrew

Hi Jack,

It does take time for vision to come back but it is worth it. My grafts are nearly 20 years old and I had to retire from motor sport just as my career was taking off. Started it up at club level for many years, but not so much now as I am back on the RGP lenses.

Having a goal to aim for is very important and my ambition of getting back to motor sport really helped me.

Guys,
Thanks for all the welcoming posts
My graft was a partial depth one (is this PK as opposed to DALK?)
The surgeon explained that he had to 'squidge' some of my own corneal tissue into shape below the donor cornea and the resulting creases are why my sight is currently no better than pre-op. Apparently this will clear with time but at the moment I'm more one-eyed than pre-op as then I was able to wear a corrective lens. 5 days post-op I could read the top line of the chart but pretty certain that hasn't improved yet. I have my next follow-up on Friday 13th so will know more then. Fortunately (with a lens) my right eye has reasonable sight so I'm not massively affected by the poor vision in my left eye. Definitely got the impression that it would be about 12 months before things settled down enough to look at prescribing spectacles or a lens for the left eye. On the positvei side I'm currently working on a training camp and am cycling and running pretty much as normal.
Jack

Nope

A partial depth would be a DALK rather than a PK

PK stands for Penetrating Keratoplasty. DALK stands for Deep Anterior Lamellar Keratoplasty, and I have recently heard of DLEK (Deep Lamellar Endothelial Keratoplasty), which may just be another name for DALK, but I do not know.

Confused? You will be!

Andrew

Endothelial relates to the different layers I think and where they cut!

I have some creases as well but it is getting better, it just takes a long time to even itself out. It is hard though to try to stitch a circle nice and flat!!

It is hard to stich a circle flat, but my grafts are 20 years old and a topography shows them to me more square than round when they were first done.