ChrisK
En-Route
Momentarily...
Wish me luck!
Wish me luck!
RK in left eye after cornea transplant
- Thread starter ChrisK
- Start date
ChrisK
En-Route
My pic is sideways. The valium is working.
![brian]](/community/data/avatars/m/21/21096.jpg?1456258959){kind=avatar}
ChrisK
En-Route
I've never taken a selfie before.
I'm going to stick with not doing it again.
I'm going to stick with not doing it again.
ChrisK
En-Route
I lied. Here is the post op photo.
ChrisK
En-Route
Geez. I look like hell. Haha.
2 days post-op and I'm feeling pretty good. I can hardly tell anyone cut up my eye. I'm still really nearsighted but if I were to guess it looks like the astigmatism is a lot closer to gone already.
Technically, I got this done:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limbal_relaxing_incisions
I'm pretty excited. If all goes well, I'll be flying just weeks post-op and will be able to get a 2nd class medical without a waiver. Pretty good considering in 2005 I could hardly see out of my left eye.
2 days post-op and I'm feeling pretty good. I can hardly tell anyone cut up my eye. I'm still really nearsighted but if I were to guess it looks like the astigmatism is a lot closer to gone already.
Technically, I got this done:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limbal_relaxing_incisions
I'm pretty excited. If all goes well, I'll be flying just weeks post-op and will be able to get a 2nd class medical without a waiver. Pretty good considering in 2005 I could hardly see out of my left eye.
azure
Final Approach
Hi Chris, I didn't realize you had just had this done - I thought the picture was from a while ago. I didn't know they still did anything like RK and hadn't heard of LRI. I had RK done 20 years ago -- the original RK procedure, before LASIK and PRK were being used widely. It did not cure astigmatism, but by chance most of my (very minor) astigmatism was gone after the procedure.
Wishing you a speedy recovery!
Wishing you a speedy recovery!
ChrisK
En-Route
Thanks! I have tried to find out how other pilots have fared in my situation, but there aren't a ton of cornea transplant pilots out there i guess.
If only I could stop rubbing my eye.... Doc told me that keratoconics tend to use their whole arm to rub their eyes - they really get in there. As my eye feels better I "forget" that I just had surgery. Ow.
In my case, my left eye was not correctable very well with glasses and I can't tolerate contacts, so the surgery seemed to be a good choice.
Did your correction hold out well over the years since?
If only I could stop rubbing my eye.... Doc told me that keratoconics tend to use their whole arm to rub their eyes - they really get in there. As my eye feels better I "forget" that I just had surgery. Ow.
In my case, my left eye was not correctable very well with glasses and I can't tolerate contacts, so the surgery seemed to be a good choice.
Did your correction hold out well over the years since?
azure
Final Approach
Ow is right. Don't do that!!
Too well actually. In hindsight, I wish I had followed my surgeon's advice and let him undercorrect me. Like most people, I've gone more "plus" over the years and am actually a bit farsighted now. That's a Bad Thing once you lose your accommodation, though luckily I can still get away without distance correction. But I absolutely do need cheaters to read anything up close, and even to read the instruments in my panel.
ChrisK
En-Route
And now for the rest of the story.
I was diagnosed with keratoconus - the pilot medical killer - when I was 18 years old (in 1991, but who is counting..) At the time I could see 20/20 corrected in both eyes, but I was informed by the optometrist that I would eventually probably need a cornea transplant. A few years later I was prescribed gas permeable (hardish) contacts and told I should be scheduled for a cornea transplant. Instead of doing that, I ditched the contacts and ran like a sissy boy.
Fast forward to 2006. I was 33 years old and the vision in my left eye had deteriorated substantially. I decided it was time to see a surgeon again, and used this hook of pilot training to convince myself that, if against all odds they could fix me, I would start training as soon as I felt I was stable (a process that can take years). My eye looked as bad as if not worse than the wikipedia photo, and the cone shape could clearly be seen in profile. The surgeon and specialists would periodically bring colleagues in to see how bad my eye was... Gah. Despite all of this, I got the transplant in 2006. It was horrible. I thought I was done for. My eye STILL does not feel quite right, but for a couple years after surgery, I was in constant discomfort.
In 2011, as I turned 38, I walked into the AME's office (completely cold like an idiot) and said "I'd like a 3rd class medical please". Told him all about the transplant. He looked me over, gave me the eye test, and issued in the office. I was shocked, and started my flight training the following week.
Fast forward to this week. During the post operative evaluation of my eye, the surgeon declared me stable and filled out my 8500-7. We both agreed I was fit to fly as soon as I got new glasses. But that's not the best part.
Left eye - 20/20 corrected. Right eye, 20/15 corrected (that one had no procedure performed). Right eye had signs of keratoconus, but he said given my age and the likelihood of it progressing much, I probably would get away with no serious procedures at all on that eye ever.
I can now see better than I could at age 25. In January, I apply for my 2nd class medical, and I hope to finish my CP-ASEL.
This has been one hell of a journey.
I was diagnosed with keratoconus - the pilot medical killer - when I was 18 years old (in 1991, but who is counting..) At the time I could see 20/20 corrected in both eyes, but I was informed by the optometrist that I would eventually probably need a cornea transplant. A few years later I was prescribed gas permeable (hardish) contacts and told I should be scheduled for a cornea transplant. Instead of doing that, I ditched the contacts and ran like a sissy boy.
Fast forward to 2006. I was 33 years old and the vision in my left eye had deteriorated substantially. I decided it was time to see a surgeon again, and used this hook of pilot training to convince myself that, if against all odds they could fix me, I would start training as soon as I felt I was stable (a process that can take years). My eye looked as bad as if not worse than the wikipedia photo, and the cone shape could clearly be seen in profile. The surgeon and specialists would periodically bring colleagues in to see how bad my eye was... Gah. Despite all of this, I got the transplant in 2006. It was horrible. I thought I was done for. My eye STILL does not feel quite right, but for a couple years after surgery, I was in constant discomfort.
In 2011, as I turned 38, I walked into the AME's office (completely cold like an idiot) and said "I'd like a 3rd class medical please". Told him all about the transplant. He looked me over, gave me the eye test, and issued in the office. I was shocked, and started my flight training the following week.
Fast forward to this week. During the post operative evaluation of my eye, the surgeon declared me stable and filled out my 8500-7. We both agreed I was fit to fly as soon as I got new glasses. But that's not the best part.
Left eye - 20/20 corrected. Right eye, 20/15 corrected (that one had no procedure performed). Right eye had signs of keratoconus, but he said given my age and the likelihood of it progressing much, I probably would get away with no serious procedures at all on that eye ever.
I can now see better than I could at age 25. In January, I apply for my 2nd class medical, and I hope to finish my CP-ASEL.
This has been one hell of a journey.