hi all, am new to all this. had an eye test yesterday and the optician was pretty sure i have keratoconus, am waiting for more info from the specialist. am trying to read up more on it and it sounds like a bearable condition, the ironic part of all this is that im now 28 and work as a landscapre painter. as you can tell from my work (http://www.neildouglas.com) it is a very detailed style of working. from your experiences of this condition do you think it will effect my eyesight to an extent that i wont be able to continue paintinng?
i know i dont know you but any info would be a great help. one last question: i am going to have to wait around 2 months to see a specialist on the NHS, how much would this cost to go private and how do you go about it. hate having to wait around to know how far this has gone.
thank you all in advance for your help
neil douglas
newbie question
Moderators: Anne Klepacz, John Smith, Sweet
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GarethB
- Ambassador
- Posts: 4916
- Joined: Sat 21 Aug 2004 3:31 pm
- Keratoconus: Yes, I have KC
- Vision: Graft(s) and contact lenses
- Location: Warwickshire
Welcome Neil.
How good is your corrected sight at the momemnt?
Take time to look at the FAQ section.
As regrads your question will things get so bad you will be unable to paint is an impossible one to answer.
What I can say is a vast majority of KC people have their sight corrected adequatly with glasses or using one of the many types of contact lenses available.
A very small rpoprtion require surgery.
KC can stabalise and you may never have any further problems, mine has been stable for 2 years now.
One word of caution if you go private, should you be refered to an optician for contact lenses you may have to go private for those too and they can be expensive.
A 2 month wait is quite good, some here have had to wait six months on the NHS.
If you stick with the NHS and depending on location things can get easier once in the system. The NHS subsideses contact lenses so they cost about £45 each (£90 pair) which is better than £150 each for a corneal lens. Scleral lenses can cost well over £1000 private, but on the NHS £45 a lens.
When I could claim through BUPA for KC, a half hour consultation was £50 and that was 20 years ago!
Most private consultants work in the NHS so quality of treatment is the same.
With all there is to read on this site, it could well take you two months anyway.
The time will fly by.
Regards
Gareth
How good is your corrected sight at the momemnt?
Take time to look at the FAQ section.
As regrads your question will things get so bad you will be unable to paint is an impossible one to answer.
What I can say is a vast majority of KC people have their sight corrected adequatly with glasses or using one of the many types of contact lenses available.
A very small rpoprtion require surgery.
KC can stabalise and you may never have any further problems, mine has been stable for 2 years now.
One word of caution if you go private, should you be refered to an optician for contact lenses you may have to go private for those too and they can be expensive.
A 2 month wait is quite good, some here have had to wait six months on the NHS.
If you stick with the NHS and depending on location things can get easier once in the system. The NHS subsideses contact lenses so they cost about £45 each (£90 pair) which is better than £150 each for a corneal lens. Scleral lenses can cost well over £1000 private, but on the NHS £45 a lens.
When I could claim through BUPA for KC, a half hour consultation was £50 and that was 20 years ago!
Most private consultants work in the NHS so quality of treatment is the same.
With all there is to read on this site, it could well take you two months anyway.
The time will fly by.
Regards
Gareth
Gareth
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Lynn White
- Optometrist
- Posts: 1398
- Joined: Sat 12 Mar 2005 8:00 pm
- Location: Leighton Buzzard
Neil,
Privately you are looking at around £100 to £120 depending on who you see.
Your optician or your GP can refer you privately - your optician has to go through the GP for NHS appointments.
Once you have your diagnosis then you still have the option of going through the NHS for any treatment.
Lynn
Privately you are looking at around £100 to £120 depending on who you see.
Your optician or your GP can refer you privately - your optician has to go through the GP for NHS appointments.
Once you have your diagnosis then you still have the option of going through the NHS for any treatment.
Lynn
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Martin Kuster
- Newbie
- Posts: 8
- Joined: Sun 09 Apr 2006 9:04 pm
- Location: Belfast
Neil,
I think Gareth and Lynn pretty much answered your questions. I was more or less in the same situation less than a year ago. I called a private hospital and made an appointment with an ophthalmologist for a diagnosis (cost me £100). In my case, his referral cut down the waiting time for an NHS appointment from 9 months to less than two plus I got referred to a corneal specialist.
Best,
Martin
I think Gareth and Lynn pretty much answered your questions. I was more or less in the same situation less than a year ago. I called a private hospital and made an appointment with an ophthalmologist for a diagnosis (cost me £100). In my case, his referral cut down the waiting time for an NHS appointment from 9 months to less than two plus I got referred to a corneal specialist.
Best,
Martin
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rosemary johnson
- Champion
- Posts: 1478
- Joined: Tue 19 Oct 2004 8:42 pm
- Keratoconus: Yes, I have KC
- Vision: Contact lenses
- Location: East London, UK
Hi, and welcome!
Only two months for an NHS appointment? - lucky for some.
As regards painting - I don't see why you should give up. I presume your "mind's eye" of what you want to achieve will still work, and your technique hold up.
You may find that, if your distance vision gets more blurred, or "ghosty", you'll still see the world as a colourful place, but your style may be a bit more "impressionistic".
Or you may prefer a good pair of binoculars to see the distant parts of a landscape with more clarity.
Alternatively, you may find the opposite - tha if you have to get closer to the canvas/page/etc to apply the paint, you may find your style getting finer and ore detailed because you are that much closer to the work as you do it.
I don't paint, but have been part of a community group tapestry weaving project (am hping to continue) and find I can weave either with or without my contacts, but the tapestry I do without the contacts tends to be finer and of a closer tension that that I do with the lenses - just because I'm that much closer up to it.
Good luck! - I'm sure you'll adjust and be producing good work, whichever way you take it forward.
Rosemary
Only two months for an NHS appointment? - lucky for some.
As regards painting - I don't see why you should give up. I presume your "mind's eye" of what you want to achieve will still work, and your technique hold up.
You may find that, if your distance vision gets more blurred, or "ghosty", you'll still see the world as a colourful place, but your style may be a bit more "impressionistic".
Or you may prefer a good pair of binoculars to see the distant parts of a landscape with more clarity.
Alternatively, you may find the opposite - tha if you have to get closer to the canvas/page/etc to apply the paint, you may find your style getting finer and ore detailed because you are that much closer to the work as you do it.
I don't paint, but have been part of a community group tapestry weaving project (am hping to continue) and find I can weave either with or without my contacts, but the tapestry I do without the contacts tends to be finer and of a closer tension that that I do with the lenses - just because I'm that much closer up to it.
Good luck! - I'm sure you'll adjust and be producing good work, whichever way you take it forward.
Rosemary
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Sweet
- Committee
- Posts: 2240
- Joined: Sun 10 Apr 2005 11:22 pm
- Keratoconus: Yes, I have KC
- Vision: Graft(s) and contact lenses
- Location: London / South Wales
Neil, hello there!
Sorry i seem to have missed replying here even though i did read your post as i remember checking out your paintings!! LOL! I have a memory like a sieve!! LOL!
Firstly i wouldn't panic here, you have found a nice place to come and get some support and advice. Yes you may very well have KC but there are MANY different degrees to this and lots of ways to cope. I have had a graft recently as i have only had vision in one eye whereas my twin sister has excellent vision with lenses in both eyes so please don't stress too much until you have been seen, as everyone is really different.
As others have said here two months is really not that bad although it can be two days and we would still drive ourselves mad thinking the worst! It is ok to go private if you really can't wait, but i would have to agree that this could get costly which i know as i see my surgeon privately. If you need lenses you might need many fittings to get a comfortable one and this could cost you a lot, but then you are winning on being able to get an appointment quicker! So i guess it comes down to if you want to pay or not and if you are really desperate to know now!!
Wishing you the best and please check in to tell us how it goes! Take care and good luck with the painting, i am sure that you will still be able to continue this for years yet
Sweet X x X
Sorry i seem to have missed replying here even though i did read your post as i remember checking out your paintings!! LOL! I have a memory like a sieve!! LOL!
Firstly i wouldn't panic here, you have found a nice place to come and get some support and advice. Yes you may very well have KC but there are MANY different degrees to this and lots of ways to cope. I have had a graft recently as i have only had vision in one eye whereas my twin sister has excellent vision with lenses in both eyes so please don't stress too much until you have been seen, as everyone is really different.
As others have said here two months is really not that bad although it can be two days and we would still drive ourselves mad thinking the worst! It is ok to go private if you really can't wait, but i would have to agree that this could get costly which i know as i see my surgeon privately. If you need lenses you might need many fittings to get a comfortable one and this could cost you a lot, but then you are winning on being able to get an appointment quicker! So i guess it comes down to if you want to pay or not and if you are really desperate to know now!!
Wishing you the best and please check in to tell us how it goes! Take care and good luck with the painting, i am sure that you will still be able to continue this for years yet
Sweet X x X
Sweet X x X
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Andrew MacLean
- Moderator
- Posts: 7703
- Joined: Thu 15 Jan 2004 8:01 pm
- Keratoconus: Yes, I have KC
- Vision: Other
- Location: Scotland
Hi Neil
Good to know you. KC varies fromperson to person. It often does not deteriorate to the point where you need surgry but if it does, surgery holds the possibility of restoring your sight.
Many people with KC manage to see well enough to dirve wearing glasses.
Many more manage all their lives to see well enough to drive wearing contact lenses.
if one style of lens or lens made iwth a particular material becomes unsuitable, there are plenty more styles and laterials that can be tried.
Some are helped by surgery of various sorts. this field is growing all the time. At least one of the regulars on the Board has had a new treatment called C3R, and if you need this sort of itnervention, it is good to know that it is becoming more and more available.
At the end of all tho other roads there is the option of an insert or graft. Again there are a number of options here.
In all probablility your career as a painter need not be interrupted!
Yours aye
Andrew
Good to know you. KC varies fromperson to person. It often does not deteriorate to the point where you need surgry but if it does, surgery holds the possibility of restoring your sight.
Many people with KC manage to see well enough to dirve wearing glasses.
Many more manage all their lives to see well enough to drive wearing contact lenses.
if one style of lens or lens made iwth a particular material becomes unsuitable, there are plenty more styles and laterials that can be tried.
Some are helped by surgery of various sorts. this field is growing all the time. At least one of the regulars on the Board has had a new treatment called C3R, and if you need this sort of itnervention, it is good to know that it is becoming more and more available.
At the end of all tho other roads there is the option of an insert or graft. Again there are a number of options here.
In all probablility your career as a painter need not be interrupted!
Yours aye
Andrew
Andrew MacLean
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