UK Keratoconus Self-Help and Support Association

Well I had my appointment today at the hospital. They actually ordered two sets of lenses in. The second set came as trials in a nice shade of Pink. They where actually the better of the two. As they are no use to any one else they let me keep them till the proper ones arrive. Vision wise getting near the bottom couple of lines which is the best I had for a long while . Funny how the wife spotted straight away that I had gone from being blue eyed to brown.

As agreed we are piggy backing the right eye (they offered to do both but as the left is not causing any comfort issues I declined the offer)

Having never had soft lenses before I had a tutorial on how to put them in and take them out. The weird thing with the soft one is knowing if it's on right. With the hard one you know straight away as you can "see"

Vision has gone blurry tonight. I assume there is going to be a period of building up wear time ?. Forgot to ask that one. Got in a bit of a mess taking the soft one out tonight. Stuck to my finger end and all sorts before I finally got it in it's ruddy case. Not sure that I cleaned it that well. May need to ask a friend who wears soft lenses to go over it again. They feel so flimsy so not sure how much to rub them. How strong are they ? (monthly hydrogells)

I need a bigger shelf in the bathroom for all the bottles and cases. I am also going back to a REAL 100 watt bulb instead of the energy saving rubbish.

Guess it will become second habit and I'll get it down time wise. My nice comfortable routine of the last 27 years has gone out the window. I wonder how long it will be before I forget to take the soft one out at night. Might have to stick postit on the mirror with X2 on it

If anyone has any tips for an efficient routine they would be most welcome. I certainly could not do it after a few beers 

Ian

Yes; build up over time, adding an hour each day and starting with a very short wear time.

But well done on having started your piggy back career!

Andrew

the two lenses are very different to deal with but it is just a learning curve. you will get the hang of it.

my trick is to keep the left lenses (soft and hard) in one case and the right eye lenses in another. the lids swop so that you can have one green box and one white box.
getting the soft lens in- make sure your fingers are dry. i after taking the lens out of the case, i place it on the palm of my left hand and dry my right index finger. then transfer the lens onto the tip of my finger , checking to see that the edges of the lens are curving in (if they are curving out the lens has turned inside out). i then look up and place the soft lens on the white part of my eye, and holding it there with my finger, i move my eye so that my finger in on the centre of my iris. at this point i pull my finger away and i know the soft lens is in the right place. blink a few times, and if it still feels funny, take it out and try again. then pop hard lens in as usual (although you will have to put hard lens straight onto the centre of the eye to avoid moving the soft one)
repeat for other eye.

to take out. pop hard out as usual. then i wet my fingers in solution and 'pinch' the soft one out and dunk fingers into solution in the case, which gets the soft lens off your fingers. then clean etc....

i use one solution for both lenses (Sauflon All-in-ONe light) as recommended by my optom. i also use miraflow for both, but i try not to rub the soft one much as i have torn a few of them. when it feels like i can't get it clean, i just bin it and use a new one. the hard lens i scrub/rub with my finger a lot to prevent the build-up, which is what causes mistyness in the late afternoon.... every 6 months or so i take my hard lens into my optom and they 'polish' it for me. i have asked a few local optometrists and they all say they can do it- so i am sure you can get it done in the UK at any high-street optometrist. it smoothes out the tiny scratches which attract protein build-up.

congratulations on starting piggy-backs. the system has been a god-send for me (as it stopped my lenses popping out all the time). I hope it works well for you.

Thanks for the replies both.

Day four

Handling getting a bit easier. Seem to find the tip of dunking the finger in the solution and pulling it out quickly works well thank you.

I had no choice but to wear them till midnight last night. No comfort issues. I did find they were drying out. I was not in a position to take them out and insert drops. Putting drops straight into the eye helped for a while but was not long lasting. I have however found a new problem. With the lenses being dry the hard one moved off centre. As I cannot feel it I had no idea where it had gone. Fortunately a friend who worked at my old opticians was near by to help out. Looks like I need to start carrying a little make up mirror, although I am resisting the temptation to carry a hand bag .

All in all very positive. i even feel like going to the gym to shift some of the weight i have put on over the last nine months whilst feeling like rubbish. Oooooh

Ian

well done- i am glad you are getting the hang of it.
i always carry a baby mirror and a sucker thingy a case with fresh solution in it and a little sterile wipe (the ones called Blephadosis- made for people with Blepharitis- you can actually wipe the inside of the eyelids with this...) the last one is probably only important for women who wear makeup- i sometimes get mascara between the two lenses.
muji in the UK sell a really simple (an masculine) white plastic contact lens case which would hold all of this and has a mirror.