Thanks John,
            Does this mean it should read http://www.escrs.org/eurotimes/august2002/prk.asp

Hopfully it works now.

Regards

Sajeev,

Just a quick technical note for you: The "http://" and the "www." are not mutually exclusive. The protocol bit (http:// in this case) is always required, though most common browsers will include http:// if you don't.

The "www" bit is simply the "hostname" of the machine running the mail server. Traditionally, that was a seperate machine called "www"(!), but nowadays, many companies call their machines something else, or will support hostname-less browsing (www.bbc.co.uk and bbc.co.uk are slightly different for example). escrs.org haven't done this, so you link is only not working because you omitted the www after the http://.

Hope that helps!

(I've corrected the post on the new board, so I am not copying this there).

John

I don't the www.escrs.org web-site will let you link to it, try typing in the address below to access it.

Thanks

Sajeev

Hello Gang,

Try is link for the one that could not be opened. It's the latest aricle from eurotimes about PRK, as well.

http://escrs.org/eurotimes/august2002/prk.asp

Regards

P.S. Good idea andrew, it will not do any harm !!!

Dear Rosemary F. Johnson

thank you very much for your very useful information

yours sincerely
A. O. Farag

Dear Sajeev

Got your message and read the first of the articles you posted. It was really interesting. It seems that progress is being made around the world, and if we keep posting the Universal Resource Locators of articles we find then each of us will be able to print out and show articles to our hospital or private sector optometrists.

Couldn't access the second URL.

Yours aye

Andrew
On 14 Mar 2004, at 23:52, QT - sajeev wrote:

>
< replied-to message removed by QT >

I will try again with http,

http://usaeyes.org/library/keratoconus_trends.htm

http://escrs.org/eurotimes/september2001/prkandlasik.asp

hopfully it works

Hello Group,

Check-out these links, then please comment. (New options?)

www.usaeyes.org/library/keratoconus_trends.htm

ww.escrs.org/eurotimes/september2001/prkandlasik.asp

Take care

Hi Sannia
my son Dale has been diagnosed kc since he had an acute episode of hydrops (fluid pushing forwards into the cornea) at 15. He stuck with glasses but couldn't see much!We registered him as partially sighted which made me very sad but at least helped other people to understand that he really couldn't see as much as they thought he could !
Last year age 18 he took to scleral lenses and absolutely loves them because he can see well.
Dale has severe learning difficulties Id be pleased to hear from anyone elso who has.
He takes lots of high strength evening primrose oil which reduces his skin sensitivity and i am pretty sure has helped lens tolerance, he has never shown any adverse reactions to them and gets 10+ hours wear time.

to Kirsty
go for scerals - we're happy converts!

We was talking about something slightly different in when it came to having a graph and not when medical issues dictate things (which is obvious !!!).

A.O.Farag said:
  "I am 35 years old; I am about to get my doctor degree in
  engineering."

Well done on getting your degree. And good luck grappling with
the German.

  
           "I went to an eye doctor he recommend to use hard
  contact lens for better vision. I can see 9/10 on my right eye
  now, but my left eye is not improved much by the contact lens
  (still 8/10). is that normal?"

Unfortunately, yes. It is not always possible to correct the
vision up to "full vision". For some people, the best vision
that can be achieved is well short of 20/20.


 "Frankly speaking I do not like the method in which my doctor selects a suitable contact lens for me. Because, he just try a
number of lenses he already had in stock one by one until he
finds the one which fits me best. Is that the right way to do
it? What about the exact shape of my cornea?"


There are two reasons for doing this. Mine are fitted from a
standard fitting set - the lens fitter looks at my eyes, and
judges that it is "approximately size 7" (for example). So
he'll try a 7, and then maybe either a 6 or an 8 to see if those feel/look better. Sometimes, the exact shape of one's eye might suggest "size 7" but in fact a size 6 feels better to the
wearer, or gives better vision. It's a balance between "theory" and what actually feels best to the person. And unfortunately,
biology tends to be less "exact" than engineering!

The other reason is the nature of the materials. When I first
started wearing contact lenses, they were made out of a plastic
called PMMA (this is the abbreviation for its chemical name; the same plastic was sold under the marque "Perspex"). And I had my eyeballs moulded - yes, really!! The fitting person put a thing like a contact lens with airholes and a long stalk from the
centre (like a little funnel) in my eye, pumped a moulding
substance down the stalk, waited two minutes, then removed it all just like a big lens, and there was a mould of my eyeball. I
have to say, I was glad this did not have to be done often!

The contact lenses were made form this mould. But - that was
fine in those days, because PMMA moulds well, and also it is
smooth (at a microscopic level) so could be fitted quite close
to the surface of the eye, so moulding worked well. The
disadvantage was that PMMA was airtight - so to get air to the
surface of the eye so it could breathe, the lenses needed air
holes - or slits - or "channels" - to get air in and tears out.

These days, most lenses are made of a gas permeable polymer,
which, as you'll have guessed, is porous enough to let the air
in to the eyeball without the holes, slits, etc. Many people
find lenses made of this substance more comfortable. However,
it does not mould well - hence the use of sets of "standard
sizes" to find the nearest, as making moulds of the eyeballs and trying to mould lenses from these doesn't work so well. But
also - the fit has to be slightly different. Because it is
microporous, the gas permeable polymer has a "rough" surface (at a microscopic level) so it is better if it fits slightly further from the surface of the eye, with a thicker layer of tears
between the lens and the eyeball. Which means moulding a lens
that perfectly matches the shape of your eye isn't what you want anyway, or it would fit too "tight" and probably be less
comfortable. So the aim is to find the best shape that is close to the shape of your eye but leaves space for a layer of tears.

At least, that's the way my lenses are fitted now. (Of course,
I don't *know* exactly what your doctor is doing and why.)

I hope this makes sense and that you can get some lenses that
work well for you.

Rosemary

--
Rosemary F. Johnson

John said :
          Many
  people wear sclerals AFTER they have had a graft (I think that
  KC patients post-graft are the largest group of scleral lens
  wearers).
  

And other types of lens too, not just sclerals. In fact, most
people with KC who've had a graft end up wearing a lens of some
sort in the grafted eye.

The other group of people who tend to wear scleral lenses are
people who've had cataract operations - who will tend to be
older folks because cataracts tend to happen as one gets older.

AIUI, the main reasons for grafting are 1. when the vision can
no longer be corrected satisfactorily by lenses alone
(definitions of satisfactory vary!); and 2. when the cornea gets blood vessels encroaching on it enough that if it weren't
grafted soon it would become hard-to-impossible to graft it ever.
Rosemary

--
Rosemary F. Johnson

Edited by author 13-03-2004 07:45 PM
Kirsty, have you tried sclerel lenses? They have worked for me. I would suggest you contact Ken Pullum who specialises in these type of lenses.

You are always so encouraging and I get a lot of support when I read the messages. So thank you. Perhaps I ought to contribute more often.

I was diagnosed with KC nearly 3 years ago, following a routine eye examination. I was immediately referred to hospital and told that I needed contact lenses to get any quality vision.

I have a very friendly optician - but 3 years on - I still have not been given any lenses. I have tried numerous pairs - but nothing offers any quality vision. My sight with glasses is very poor and I am very sensitive to bright lights. I have tried numerous lenses for 3-week periods (each time building up my usage time)- but the vision is so poor,I take them back for new lenses.

I have tried all sorts of lenses - including Rose-Ks, but my pupils were too big and I had double vision. I also have very bad vision when I remove the lenses for a couple of hours afterwards (my optician says this is due to a high sensitivity to the oxygen levels dropping)

My optician is really nice - but I seem to be getting no- where fast! How quickly is everyone else fitted with their first lenses? I am sure I could put up with the discomfort if I could see properly. I am determined I am going to make this work.

KC is not stopping my life. I got married in October. I have a good job (and very understanding employers). I am out most nights doing youth work (although I am having to scut back now, as my eyes cannot handle the strain - my eyes are so sore and tired when I come in) - and generally I remain very positive about everything. But having to wait 6-8 weeks between new sets of lenses - then having to trial them for 3 weeks, just means it is a slow process.

Never having met anyone with KC - I have no idea if this is normal. And any tips on how to speed things up are very gratefully recieved!!! On a positive note - I have not had to pay a penny for any of the many lenses I have tried over the last 3 years!!!

Keep up the good work of inspiring us to carry on, when we go through low patches!!!

Thanks - Kirsty

Hi my name is Sanjay and I suffer from Keratoconous. I have had a graft in one eye and now use sclerel lenses with some degree of success. My problem is the bright light mainly in the mornings and the pain. I wondered if any of you are aware of some special sunglasses I could buy to block out the light effectively or if you knew of any effective eye drops I could try for the pain.

Hello Sannia, My son is 15 and he also has KC. He was diagnosed about 18 months ago and now has no problems in school, or at least when he is wearing his glasses. He was prescribed contact lenses but went off them when he had hayfever last year.
If you want to talk to him about his views, please get my address from Anne who I'm sure will pass it onto you.
Take care, and dont worry