10 days after operation

My eyes are feeling better everyday. While it is still fairly sensitive and painful some of the most annoying symptoms that have bothered me over the last year in both eyes have gone or dramatically decreased. I have stopped medication on the right eye so I am prety happy about this though to be fair it is just possible that the medication I am using on the left eye is also responsible. It does show however that the problems in my "good" eye were due to the issues in the other eye. Just to doubly confirm this to my surprise my "good" eye actually did not see so well for a few days after the operation, however its back to seeing as well as every now, though it may still be slightly more sensitive then it should be.

My vision in the eye that was operated on is improving everyday. It is now quiet definitely better than is was before the operation. (Not that this means much as the eye was legally blind before the operations). I never used to use the eye much (for obvious reasons) however if from close up (otherwise everything was just blur) I looked at a point from which straight lines radiated out in all directions, I would see strange things with it. I got this effect by looking at the centre of my bathroom drain from close up. From about 12-2 O'clock I would see in a very blurry fashion more or less what you would expect. After that however the straight lines would *look* to curve to the left. They would not appear to come from the same point. In places they would appear to crossover even - weird- in places there was not much more then a blur.

Anyway now *all* the straight lines look straight! It's still blurry but (I think) that's because I haven't grown the surface of my eye back completely yet. The blur is also pretty much evenly spread around a line. I think a horizontal line may have just very very very slightly more blur beneath it (but letters appear to have blur up and slightly to the left). Slight is the word however. I am taking this even pattern of blur as a very good sign of the sight to come. According to Stirling; this along with being able to see straight lines means that the cornea now is very close to the ideal shape and once the surface grows back everything should be sharp and clear! Not that I really know what I am talking about. My honorary Doctorship in Keratoconus has yet to arrive. I have a book here with letters on the cover that are 5cm or so in size....and I can read them very easily with the eye! Woot! (Actually here there is a faint double of the letter slightly above and a tiny bit to the left_

Of course I am used to being able to stick the contacts on and get clear vision, and I am still finding life with practical vision really only from one a bit tricky, and yes the eye is still pretty sensitive to light or well anything. But it's slowly improving everyday.

The next interesting event will be next thursday when my optometrist thinks he may be able to get a fair idea of how my vision will end up! I will of course post news here.

Below is a picture of my eye at the moment. I suspect that the redness that you can see is largely from the anesthetic needle, though possibly there was some other damage from the operation. When my eye was looking the worst I really wasn't feeling like taking photos but the most pain seemed to be in the eyelids which welled up a little. If you look really carefully (it probably helps to know what you are looking for) You can see where the new cornea starts. One of these days I might try to get a better photo of that and the stitches. I am not optimistic of getting a photo of the stitches with my current lenses without a least a macro ring however - my bro has these and I'll have a go witgh them one day probably. They are surprisingly tiny (1/10 the width of a human hair I have heard) and the black stitches don't contrast well with my browny greeny grayish coloured eyes. (Whats with that I am sure I used to have brown eyes). I have seen big photos of light blue eyes with black stitching where the sticthing was very obvious.




I just stole a picture from the web that shows stitches after a cornea transplant very clearly. I think some photographer knows something that I don't! :) I also suspect that the stitching just isn't as clear on my eye. Maybe it was done a little differently.

Operation plus one week

I am feeling quiet a lot beter today.   My eyes are still very sensitive but the worst of the pain has gone.    Vision is still poor but I think just maybe it is a little better then it was before the operation.   Not much but it's close anyway.   This isn't saying much of course.

It's kinda exciting however to think that in only 3 weeks or so I should have useful vision from the eye!   Now if only I could fast forward time for a couple of weeks...

Prognosis continues to be good

For the first time in a few days I can look at the computer screen without it being to bright for me eyes.  I am wearing sunglasses.

I've had some fairly rough days where my eyes hurt and I couldn't sleep - a combination I highly recommend to any seeking insanity!  Eventually I worked out that it wasn't my eye hurting so much as my eye-lid.   At this point - about 7am sunday -I started to use  lots of lubricating ointment (mainly poly visc, also some lacri-lube and I rinsed the eye with refresh tears plus) which has helped with comfort considerably.  Today my Dr also has said I can reduce some eye drops that were stinging my eyes.

I don't really know what caused this pain.  Posibly scratching fro mthe stitches.  I have been finding very hard and sometimes sharp gluck - possibly dried mucus - on my eyelids.  Also the top surfaxe of the donar corneas is supposed to come off and bereplaced by a layer that my body is growing.  I guess possibly some of this layer may have come off bits that dug into my eyelid?   Probably myt best guess woudl be thatthe eyelid got scrapped during surgery, and then was further irritated by the eye drops and blinking and moving of my eye while it was shut..  It did hurt the first time I put medicine in, though it wasn't till the 2nd time and more that the pain really remained for a long time.

Anyway it isn't a very big deal.  After having my eye checked today was told that everything basically looks in good shape.   I don't think the long term prospects of me eye has been influenced at all my this little scrape on my eyelid.   A little pain never hurt anyone!

Ouch ouch ouch

OK since about 6 pm yesterday my eye has really mastered the art of pain.   I thnk helped along by one of the eye drops Ihave every 4 hours stinging the eye.   Unless I find some other replacement drop however I think it's important I keep having it.  

Oh well it's probably not unreasonable that mny eye woudl be very sore after a cornea transplant...I don't thik anything isgoing  particularly wrong.  I was expecting to nweed a few weeks of work.  Yesterday I wondered if I would make a faster recovery then that but today I am doubting it.

my eye is looking more nasty but I am not going to take any more photos.  Actually my right eye is too sensitive to look at the computer screen much so I hope this doesn't have too many typos...

Removing the hospital bandage

Well I have just taken off the bandage. It was a bit of a tricky business as the eye was stuck together with um something. I had been warned against rubbing the eye and it took a while to separate the top and bottom eyelashes and the stroke the worst of the stuff off but I think I did a reasonable job and most important didn't hurt the eye with my antics.

I cannot see anything but blur with the eye, I had hopped I might do a little better but I don't think this really has any indication of how my sight will end up. It hurts bit more now that the bandage is off because there is nothing to stop me blinking which of course rubs the cornea. It's not too bad however. I'm not

sure that a bit of blinking doesn't help to clear debris from the eye and perhaps some other useful stuff so I

am going to leave it now for a bit. I have no instructions aboiut re-bandaging the eye but I may for a while latter. I know when similar
operations are performed it can be

common to wear a shield to bed to protect the eye from harm while sleeping. I haven't got one of them but do have a fairly strong eye patch that I may wear to bed or around just because I am overly cautious. Then again for the same reason and because I have not discussed it with my Dr I may not.

The eye is shut now, the glare from the comuter screen is too much for it. In the mirror I could see a circle of dints around my pupil which pressumably is the line of stiches. They took less cornea then I thought they might have. You will not be able to see this from the photos I took which don't show much of the eye itself really. I may have done better if I had taken photos with a flash, but I am not going to do that for a few days at the very least - the eyes a little sensitive about lightand everything right now. Which is why in the photo in the right I have to pull the eyelid open. It's too sensitive right now to want to open very far. It also keeps weeping, but at least with the patch off that can run out of the eye and be cleaned away. Hopefully it doesn't take to much medince with it. The entire area where I have the new cornea is recessed from the surface of the eye around it. I hope it is meant to be.

Through all this the pain is much less then you might suppose - more limited to little stabs when I move the eyeball around or blink with only a faint constant sting.

It occurs to me that my age could now be expressed as a 20 year range...this could confuse people I expect. :)

Update: Actually as with a lot of photography the trick is to get the light to do the right thing. Its an overcast day outside and I have an opaque bathroom window. Any more light then this might have been painful but looking towards the window wasn't very hard and I was able to get the light to reflect off the stiches. You can also see the window, with fine curtains closed and the hunched up shape that is me with my arm and mainly camera blocking the window light.

Also in the hour or so since I took the bandage off and put medicine in my eye has settled down a lot. Blinking is getting to be less noticeable (though I am still holding it shut as I sit here). For some reason I feel a little off today, I think I will go and lie down.

Update to the update. What you are seeing is not the light reflecting off the stitches which are in fact tiny and I may never get to show up in a photo, what you are seeing is the light reflecting off the area where the new cornea was placed. The whole area just inside is recessed from the surface of the eye around it. I do hope it is supposed to be like that, I guess it is. Another update I had a call from the surgery about making a follow up appointment. I mentioned the recess, they passed the message on to Dr Maloof and about 5 minutes he rang me and after sounding a little puzzled realised how closely I was looking at the eye and told me that this was due to the stitches being done up very tight pulling the new cornea flat and that it was deliberate and how it should be. I guess I am just being overly cautious but I had not heard of this before. He told me to expect me vision to get worse before it gets better.

Operation day and the following early morning

Everything seems to have gone fine. At least the doctor said he was 'very pleased' with the way the operation went. Not that I saw him after my operation but this was relayed to me by the Anaestheticist. I have yet to open my eye. The Anaestheticist and staff were all very nice.

Just before the operation Dr malood said he was confident that I would get 6/9 (20/30) vision from the eye - enough to comfortable drive with the eye. I would be quiet happy with this result, but am wondering if maybe I might not even get a little better.

There is not a lot of be said by me about the operation. I was given a general anaesthetic intravenously which took a few minutes to take affect. I was surprised that they didn't even get my exact weight before hand. They also stuck a needle into my eye and gave me a local anaesthetic in the eye however which apparently meant the general anaesthetic didn't have to be too strong. I hadn't expected this, but the cornea is the most sensitive part of the body they tell me and I wasn't going to argue.

The local anaesthetic was supposed to wear off around midnight, it's 7:30 AM as I update this and the terrible pain some people get has failed to materialise. I was told I may not feel much pain...the nerves have been cut so they cannot send pain signals now and it will take a year or two to grow back my reading on the net would have be believe. Actually I am still a little wobbly on my fee and weird feeling but I have had worse plain in my eye several times this year then what I have now, it is a little sore but not very and I haven't bothered with the painkillers yet but maybe I will as I think it may still be getting slightly sorer as time passes.

I hardly slept the night before and only slept for a few hours tonight yet am not tired. Odd. I must have really power napped with that general anaesthetic!

In a few hours I will take the bandage off and it will be interesting to see what my vision is like. My vision however is expected to change - possibly for the worse before improving again - over a few weeks, and for the first month or so by tightening and loosening stitches they can adjust the cornea and my vision if necessary...it's very likely that this will be necessary. I am booked in to see Dr Maloof again in a bit over a week. Hopefully the date is written down somewhere cause I don't remember it! I will also see my local optometrist a couple of days before then who may be able to shed light on whether the cornea will need to be adjusted and if so how.

I am pretty happy and excited to see what my vision will be!

I feel a little odd; I might lie down for a little. I do however feel much much muich better then some of the testimonies I found online about similar - but not exactly the same - procedures. I am not sure if my doctor was better, the difference in procedure is responsible, or maybe the operation just did go really well, but in any case no complaints from me!

[Update:  When I said I didn't see Dr Maloof after the operation; there was a rumour that he talked to me when the anathetic was still wearing off, but I have absolutely no recollection of this.  However as he let tme arrange to have the opperation start a little later then he initially planned, and had a following operation I have no complaints that he didn't talk to me afterwards.  He seems to have done his job well for which I am gratefuly!]

I am going to get a cornea from a 51 year old female. I will know exactly where my feminine side is! :)

Actually I am told it is a very healthy strong cornea, and that plenty worse corneas have been used successfully for my operation; so should consider myself lucky.

The staff have been very helpful, ringing me whenever they have an update for me, which is prety much daily.