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Well I tried a contact and it hurt and didn't help my vision. But The optometrist is going to order me a new one and we will try again in about a week.

better news (7 months after the opperation)

Yes I've been to see the surgeon again and my news is better then I feared. Apparently the folds I mentioned earlier between the donor cornea and the remains of my old cornea are tiny and should not negatively affect my vision.

So what is the problem? Well it's something around the edge of the cornea. The doctor temporarily covered the edges of my cornea and this allowed me to see very well!

Apparently a cornea is often around 11 mm in diameter, a traditional cornea transplant is about 7.5mm - they don't want it too big as it increased the risk of rejection. This wasn't an issue with the layered transplant they did on me so they replaced a 9mm area - anyway it's possibly that there is still some light being reflected into my retina from the crazy shaped old bit of my eye. It is also very likely that the stitches in the outer few mm of my cornea (see pictures below) are mucking up my vision either directly or by pulling the cornea out of shape immediately around them. So...if thats the case my vision should improve a lot in around 12 months when the stitches come out!

In the mean time it's hoped that I will be able to get decent vision by wearing a gas permeable (hard) contact lens. Yes this sounds a little like going in circles, as I had the operation because hard contacts were causing problems BUT it will be good to know that I can still get my vision corrected by a contact - at least it's not gone backwards! Also the new thicker tougher better shaped cornea in theory should fit a contact much better and also be able to withstand the wear and tear of a contact better! Well that's the theory anyway. Latter this week I go to try and get fitted with a hard contact lens. I'll report how that goes.

I still think a profession that produces half the results in double the time, and then charges you to ask whats happening is a onto a good thing! ;) I am however feeling much more positive about the eye, and it seems that it is very rare to have as many difficulties after the operation as I am. After all for about 5 seconds I saw very clearly with it yesterday! I'm not sure but I think 9/9 (or 20/20) There may be some hope for it yet! :)

(Oh and just for the record in case somebody cares these days my astigmatism is about 2.5 somethings - diopters I think?)

6 months on

It's been a while since I posted anything.  I kept thinking I might have good news soon - but it never quiet happened.

So I was promised there was a small chance of complications but short of that my vision would be 9/9 after the operation.  Definitely.   In three months.

Now it's 6 months and my vision is still around 5/9 - so I am not very happy about that.  It must be nice to work in a profession where you can tell people they will definitely get better vision, in half the time, and not give a refund!

Anyway on the other hand my eye *is* more comfortable then it was.  It's still not perfect and the stupid vision at times gives me minor headaches.  The vision still changes a bit by itself and more so when I try new glasses, something I have done a couple of times now.  I think the latest change only made things worse and I will have to change back. 

I don't know maybe my expectations were too high or maybe I am the odd case where the operation doesn't go so well - however I really would recommend treating the operation with a LOT of suspicion.  In retrospect I don't think I would have gone this way quiet so quick - though perhaps I would have in the end as I was running out of options.  Get your optometrist to show you how bad 5/9 vision is before you do anything - you may end up seeing like this!  I guess it depends on how bad your vision is how scary this will seem.