Contacts, Glasses and More : My Keratoconus Journey

[@pjruizg]

Getting cross linking tomorrow on my right eye, then a corneal transplant probably next month on the left, thanks for all your videos.

[@michaelking4578]

I just got my scleral lenses today. I've got my keratoconus eye at 20/30 and my other not good eye at 20/15. They are sending the left eye back for more tweaking. These are super comfortable. I'm wearing +1 reader glasses to work on my computer. I can see so well thank you God. And thanks to the great eye doctor and staff at Madison Eye Care Clinic in Madison, AL. It cost me $1400 total. My insurance will likely reimburse some of that. Great video.

[@nanahinayiz7017]

Hey Mickel king do you mean lenses cost you 1400$. I have United health care and I'm woring if it will cover something

[@Rurutangelo]

Hi Kelly, ask your optometrist about Atlantis mini scleral lenses and prose lenses. They are newer technology and a lot more comfortable than traditional large scleral lenses. I myself use the mini scleral lenses post cross linking. I also recommend using preservative free lubrication drops such as celluvisc at night to improve comfort of the eyes while sleeping. Happy you are doing good with new retractions

[@Rurutangelo]

Refraction

[@kellymcewen2823]

I'll definitely look into the different lenses, I hadn't heard of them before. thank you for sharing! also thank you for the eye drop recommendation, I'll check them out and see if they help :)

[@walidh2490]

Hi. I just had a cornea transplant for the left eye. You missed important fact that after 15 years your cornea endothelial cells will die and you have to go a DESAK transplant. You start with around 2700 endothelial cell and when you reach 400 your vision becomes fuzzy and turns white.

[@halilbilece9901]

great video and beautiful frame.Thanks

[@jacobwilliams5271]

So I have a few questions, didn't the doctor tell you to never wash you contacts with tap water? Also you use your hands to put your contacts in? They gave me an inserter.

[@BradfordFenton]

Are you able to do any physical activity now? What's the vision like in each eye without lenses and how's the crosslinked eye like Also if you have money saved up you should check out laserfit sclerals as they are fit personally for your eyes but they are only in Texas for pickup and evaluation

[@adrummingman]

I couldn't deal with the Bausch and Lomb cleaning solutions. MY contacts would fog up like crazy the next day. I now do the Clear Care that you have there on the right side and it works much better for me.

[@kellymcewen2823]

Thats interesting, I haven't had that problem but I can see that happening since it's such a thick solution compared to the clear care. I'm glad you were able to find a contact routine that worked best for you :)

[@adrummingman]

Kelly McEwen I have! I think my right lens is not properly fit but I can manage. I admire that you can insert them with your fingers.

[@susanfarid3027]

Can you please let me no after how long from doing the surgery can I wear my contact lenses?

[@Juanzray]

What’s your new prescription of glasses?

[@mattwatkins1850]

Hey Kelly what was your prescription before and after all your procedures?

[@mansoorahmed6162]

hi Kelly, bit of a late comment, but i wanted to know are there any specific glasses or lens for driving as i struggle to see far distances. i got normal glasses but cant see very far with them. from my left eye i cant see anything, I'm basically blind from my left eye. does anyone know if driving glasses will help me me further even if i got keratoconus?

[@Nobody18718]

I'm Sure you been asked this a billion times but what is your current vision both corrected and uncorrected. I hate wearing my GP lenses and i'm considering the Cross-link surgery for my Keratacones. my left eye is 20/30 with no correction but my right is like 20/200 and 20/60 corrected. I would really like to shoot for 20/20 for my right eye even if it means wearing contacts to correct it after surgery.

[@mokdad5915]

I have done a cross linking for my left eye, can I ask my doctor for contact lens?

[@BradfordFenton]

What was the surgery called ... DESK OR DMEK ? Any dry eye

[@BradfordFenton]

What's the vision like in the transplanted eye without lenses vs with and do you have any info on what you'll do for IOLS whenever we KC patients get cataracts

[@momo1819momo]

Heeeey kelly, i just had my cross linking operation and i have a question ... so after the operation can i use like cellphones or i should not?

[@kellymcewen2823]

hey sorry i didn't catch this in time. I'm sure you figured out that any light after the treatment can be painful. I hope your recovery went smoothly!

[@matthewlees4244]

Did you have different contact lens options beyond scleral lenses (regular gas permeable lenses, Rose K lenses, soft lenses) for your transplanted eye? I'm having the partial transplant next week. Had cross linking and PRK on my right eye in January and am now wearing a soft contact in that eye with 20-20 vision. Wondering if I'll be able to avoid a scleral lens in my left eye.

[@kellymcewen2823]

I believe i was offered RGP lenses, but I find them to be more uncomfortable. Soft lenses weren't an option for my case however. I hadn't heard of Rose K lenses before to be honest. You may know about them more than I do. Reading up on them, here are a few questions that come to mind: 1.since it mimics the abnormal shape of the diseased eye does this make the vision more or less clear than other types of lenses, how does it compare? based on 1 research article i found it appears that it may be about the same but the rose lenses are more comfortable. 2.) how does the price compare to other lenses considering how specialized the Rose-K lenses are? 3.) how long is the turnaround time to get them? 4.) what is the availability like in the U.S. and other countries?. On the Academic Search Ultimate database I was only able to fine 1 article (compared to 44 when searching "scleral contact lenses") and searching on google I was able to find 2 more thus far. it appears that a majority of the research is being conducted in India and Turkey at the moment and is pretty limited at this point. Sorry for my downpour of questions, I ask them here because you and others in the comments may know more information pertaining to them. In short, I would see what you doctors recommend after your procedure, you will need some time to heal before wearing contacts again most likely and I'm sure they'll have suggestions on what will be the best option for you.

[@matthewlees4244]

1) For me, Rose K lenses provided exceptional vision relative to scleral lenses. I've found the scleral lenses, while they improved my vision, did not improve my vision as well as Rose K lenses. Scleral lenses affect (to a noticeable extent) my depth perception, particularly for sports. However, scleral lenses actually stay in my eye FAR better than Rose K. Rose K or RGPs tend to pop out as the condition progresses over time. 2) Rose K lenses were generally around $200/each and scleral lenses were $520/each (that was a few years ago, not sure if the price has adjusted since. 3) They usually tell me 2 week to receive scleral or Rose K lenses - usually come in about 7-10 days. 4) I'm from Indianapolis, so both are readily available in the US. Unsure in other countries.

[@ug.6927]

Hey kelly did any of your doctor told bout doing lasik. One eye.told bout me bout bout to do lasik but I'm litlle afraid.to do it

[@soundmanpt]

I'm happy for you that things seem to be getting better for you. You really did an excellent job of really explaining what you're going though with your eyes. I'm a retired optician so I was even ore interested in your experiences with keratoconus. The fact that they were able to refract you to 20/20 and 20/50 wit your glasses is really quite good considering everything. And I agree with what you were told that your worse eye might slowly get better as your brain gets trained. You actually see with your brain. Your eyes are only the lenses for your brain. So that eye could very well get to 20/20 (with your glasses) or at least closer. You didn't say what the prescription of your glasses or contacts is but I can tell that your glasses are moderately strong by the "cut-in" (if you don't know that is the area between your glasses lenses and the sides of your face) You're really a very attractive young lady and you look equally attractive with and without your glasses. I was a little surprised to hear that it is actually better for you to wear contacts than glasses. But after hearing you describe why it does make sense. I would have thought that after having surgery contacts would have been off limits for you. How does your eyes feel wearing contacts as opposed to glasses? I would have to think that your glasses are more comfortable to wear. Both pairs of glasses look very nice on you and I don't think your new ones are too big at all. I did notice you pushing up the first pair a bit so you probably need to get them adjusted so they don't slide down too much.

[@kellymcewen2823]

Thank you very much for your lovely and informative response :) I would definitely agree that glasses are much more comfortable but the contacts provide me with clearer vision. Generally I wear my glasses, however that will likely change as I begin driving just because I want the clearest vision possible on the road. Yes, the thickness around my glasses is a good indicator of a strong prescription, unfortunately I don't usually ask the eye doctor to write down the prescription for me... I definitely should next time! And you are absolutely correct, my older pair of glasses does need an adjustment lol.

[@soundmanpt]

Your more than welcome and think you for replying. No i totally agree that you should wear whatever provides you with the best or clearer vision when you start driving. One thing for sure is that with contacts you should have better peripheral vision than you do with your glasses. That alone makes it better to wear your contacts as long as your eyes are able to tolerate them. Do you now if you also have astigmatisms? If you do then your contacts are probably "toric" lenses which can be a bit uncomfortable to wear. You really should start asking for a copy of both your glasses and contact prescription because they won't be the same. Your glasses prescription should be slightly stronger than your contacts which is normal. At some point you might even want to order your glasses on line which can really save you a lot of money. And a girl can never have too many pairs of cute glasses. If you don't already have prescription sunglasses that is something else you might want to get as well. And maybe even get a really nice pair of non prescription sunglasses to wear over your contacts on those sunny days. You can get glasses and sunglasses in your prescription for under $18.00. And if you want your lenses nice and thin you can get the high index lenses for another $34.00 so still under $50.00.for glasses. Zenni )zennioptical.com" is where I highly recommend.

[@richardgilliland3528]

Kelly McEwen I am 6 months out of PK in my right eye, I see 20/40 with no correction, I couldn't see my hand in front of my face before surgery and was 20/60 with correction.. and while I could technically get glasses or contacts to obtain much better vision, I have actually opted to go without for a while..simply becuase my quality of life is so much higher now not dealing with contacts(i wear a gas perm in my left eye, and will eventually get a transplant in the next year or 2) It's amazing waking up and being able to see

[@arifrafique1439]

Richard Gilliland hows your vision now Rich?

[@ug.6927]

Hi Kelly i wish all the best But i had conrea transplant4 years and i was told 95% i was going to see whit out concant lens oh glasses But that was not the case 1 i see double vision 2-i hv lot glare i nite and halos 3-the doc told worse i cud see whit oh soft lens but i can not see whit glasses oh soft lens Now the told the only to see i need hard lens But i don't understand because i was wering hard lens before but were very uncomfortable

[@pamelalara2494]

Tony Gencarelli omg I have the same because a lasik láser in both eyes, sorry my bad English. And people tell me a corneal trasplant is the best for me now i see is not because of you sorry to heard that..

[@KimDokja63]

hi

[@stephworld629]

Do you wear contacts and glasses ?

[@jakerossi1891]

You are beautiful 😍