Hydrops

[GarethB]

To the best of my knowledge the healing time depends on the size of the hydrop and your own individual rate of healing as much as anything.

Generally any abrasion in the body heals from the outside in. The fact you have no vision direcly ahead may well be insignifficant. It does not take much for us suddenly to be unable to see. A very small lump of goo from my tear duct that thinly covers my contact lens can give me a complete white out.

Level of scaring can not be predicted, I have heard of people who have scarring on the cornea in the line of vision that somone looking close at their eye can see, but the person who's eye it belongs to does not see any impared vision from the scarring beyond the existing KC.

Some of the slides shown at the AGM of post hydrop scarring were hard to see despite being relativly large scars compared to the size of the cornea.

Remember there are many who have had hydrops once and never had another an still escaped the graft.

Hydrops does not necessarily mean that a graft is imminent.

Good luck with the recovery.

[jayuk]

Craig

Hard to say really; unless someone checks your eye out......but it could still be waterlogged and thus direct vision would be limited...........the fact that things are returning is a good thing!......Have you been seen again by your specialist?

J

[rosemary johnson]

Forgot to say this before, so fortuitous Craig asked;

Yes, it is normal for the vision to start returned round the edges first, and the white to stay for longest in the "middle". Well, it might be a bit off-centre,you know.
Generally, the bigger the split, the more fluid escaped to waterlog the tissues and the longer the whiteness will stay. My "white=outs" took about 6 weeks to defog (though longer for the eye to settle down); some people take longer, some heal quicker than others. People's metabolism varies....
Sounds like yours is on the way now, Craig - hope the rest of the fog clears soon.
It could be yours was a bigger split than mine - or maybe I was just a fit healthy young 18 year old at the time - and also used to drinking loads of water, coffe and other things (!) so my metabolism was used to clearing up lots of fluids........!

As regards the steroids: AIUI, there are some medics who try to put everyone with hydrops on steroids becasue they think they do some good; others don't because they don't think they make any difference so a waste of time, effort, drug budget and risk (the patient might have a bad reaction that is not balanced by any possible benefit). Similarly with antibiotics: some practitioners think they are worthwhile, others think they do no good, and in fact could harm the public health by spreading antibiotic resistance. Moorfields I gather, and I deduce the Oxford Eye Hospital too, are/were in the camp that think nothing makes any difference and we're better off without. After my experience, I personally wouldn't take any offered without a *very* good explanation as to what was significantly different this time from the previous 4. (I also have too many steroids kicking about my system and Duke (him of the 4 feet, 15 hands and non-Superglued seat) no doubt thinks it would be a great idea if I found it easier to
lose weight without them all in my bloodstream!

Waitig three months before considering a graft sounds only sensible. Please don't be anything other than reassured if, even after 3 months, the answer is still "wait and see" for a bit more.
Rosemary

[craigthornton]

jayuk, yes I saw my specialist on the 11th. But no developments really, as they said no decision could be taken while the hydrops is still there. I'm due to go back in two months.

It's hurting today, but now I think about it, my far right vision came back a few days after the last bad hurting spell. Hopefully this means some more sight is coming back in the next few days!

I forgot to ask my specialist, hopefully someone on here can advise, I presume it's not worth keeping my right contact lens, as no matter what the outcome is post-hydrops, the curvature of the cornea won't be the same as before?

[GarethB]

It can be so variable post hydrops from improved vision to worse vision.

The best person to advise will be your optom once the hydrop has healed.

In the meantime, keep it in a safe place.

[rosemary johnson]

Don't throw it away yet1
I'm still wearing the same left lens as went through hydrops 3 and 4, and wore the same one after number 2 as before for several years.
Can't remember about number 1, but I used to get fitted new lenses far more often in those days.
Rosemary