My Intac Story

[alison falshaw]

Hello Folks,

Firstly apologies that I havent been in touch for a while........needed to give the pc a break.


I will update you with whats happened since I last was in touch with the site.
I have been off work for a couple of months whilst I gave my eyes a good rest and waited for confirmation of my intacs operation. The operation went ahead on 17th March - just two weeks ago.

I arrived at Sunderland Eye Infirmary for 7.30 am and was checked into the ward and made comfortable, visited by my the surgeon, drs etc and walked down to theatre just after 9am and was back on the ward all done for 10.45. I think the operation it self took around 1 hr - i remember the general anaesthetic being administered at 9.12 am!

Back on the ward I was monitored every 20 mins and given a few rounds of tea and toast and basically allowed to recover in my own time. At approx 1.45pm the surgeon came to check on me and to examine the eye. Good news that it all went well and the intacs are correctly placed 60% down into the cornea.

At 2.30 I was discharged with a course of antibiotic drops and steroid drops to administer three times per day and to come back in 10 days time.

The eye was sore, very sensitive to the light and quite watery for the next couple of days. It was like being back in the days of really uncomfortable RGPS - I just wanted to rip it out but obviously couldnt do that. By about day 5 the watering had calmed down but the sensitivity to light hasnt - and hasnt much to date.
On the evening of day seven I drove in the dark for the first time and was disappointed that my night driving vision hadnt improved and that the halo effect was much worse than before the op - something that really worries me!!

On day ten I went for my first check up and drove upto Sunderland ok but the light sensitivity was still there. The consultant was pleased with the position of the intacs and asked how things had been. I told him about the light sensitivity and the night time vision. He explained that some patients do experience this at first and in time most patients do report that it gets better, however in some patients the night time halo effect doesnt improve and it causes them sufficient problems that the intacs are removed.....lets hope I'm not one of them. My vision had improved but only a little. Apparently they need to give it 6 months before they finally say that it stablised and this is the level of vision I will have.
There was still some inflamation around the stitch and asked that I come back the following week ( tomorrow) I'm still off work.....the headaches have eased but not completely gone.
I am really worried that the headaches will get worse when I go back to work!! My employers are not very supportive, we dont have a HR dept to consult with ...I know for sure that I am going to have problems with the sunlight glaring on my pc.

So far its early days and I can only say that so far I am quite pleased and very hopefully that the in time I will see some improvements.

If anyone has any questions please feel free to ask......its only by sharing our experiences that we learn advantages and disadvantages of the different treatments available to KC patients.

May I say a huge big thank you to you all for your support.

Will update in the next few days after my check up tomorrow.

Cheers for now
Ali

[Andrew MacLean]

Alison

Welcome back! It is good to know that you are able to work at your PC screen again.

Thanks for the update; I had a 'night time halo' effect after my cataract surgery, but as my eye settled, the halo effect virtually disappeared.

Stay in touch!

Yours aye

Andrew

[Amarpal]

Thanks for your interesting story! Hopefully your halo effects and headaches will ease off soon.

[jamesar]

Give the Intacs some time buddy. Mine took about 6 months to get optimal vision. Unfortunately 1 of my intacs had to be removed (lower one). This, i believe was possibly due to my party all night life I used to have, so take it easy and give yourself time to recover. As your acuity improves the photophobia should improve aswell. Just wear your sunnies, inside or out. It sucks not having much support from people, they just don't understand how invasive and uncomfortable these intacs are at first. Try not to use the eye to much and also computer screens are a killer, so take it easy with the pc. Good luck mate.

[alison falshaw]

Hi Folks,

Thanks for all your comments and support. Eye rest is exactly waht my consultant advised me. So no all night parties for me Jamesar! Sorry to hear that you had to have one removed. Did you have another one implanted?? I have never heard of just having one? How long ago do you have your intacs?


I was at my 2nd check up yesterday. The consultant is still perfectly pleased with the position of the intacs and the fact that the inflamation has now settled.
On examination with the orange dye there are some marks on the cornea which he believes maybe the result of the eye being allergic to the preservative in the steroid drops - and maybe a cause of the light sensititivity. He has prescribed a preservative free steroid.
The VA is reduced from last weeks check up. He tells me that it is still early days yet and not to return to work until I have a significant improvement in my vision!!
He has requested that I go back in 3 weeks to allow the drops to work and the eye to settle more and at the same appointment I will have a refraction with the optician.

As my vision has not yet improved he advised that I dont return to work as I will be in the same position as I was at the start of the year. Constant eye strain, headaches, tiredness etc etc. And obviously we dont want that to have an effect on the stabilization process. Obviously I have to follow his advice. Unfortunately my employer is not going to be very happy about it. I stop being paid in the next couple of weeks - I know I am fortunate that my contract gives me 13 weeks on full
pay. I am extremely concerned with what the folks at work are thinking and how secure my job is. Obviously time is ticking away and the summer is not to far away. I had plans to go to the usa for 3 weeks and it aint going to look good when I finally return to work that I then take my holidays.
Obviously financially things are going to get very tight, but what will be will be and we will just have to cut back - we will survive!!!!
I am keeping postivive and going to make the most of it!
Keep smiling folks. Will keep you all posted and thanks again for your help and support.
Bye for the moment
Ali

[Anne Klepacz]

Hi Ali
Good to hear you're finally making progress and all the very best with a good result from your Intacs. Rushing back to work is obviously not going to do you (or your employer) any favours. But if you're worried at how they're going to react, you might think about contacting Action for Blind People (http://www.actionforblindpeople.org.uk). They have offices all round the country and have specialist employment advisers who advise on job retention as well as doing assessments for Access to Work and helping with job search. According to their website, there's a branch near you.
Anne