I am going to need eye surgery. I am also a wuss and a scaredy-cat.

The Ender

My left eye was diagnosed with keratoconus. I noticed I was having a slight bit of vision blurriness in it a few weeks ago, but didn't think anything of it aside from, "Well, obviously I need another prescription change."

Here's the wiki page on the disease. Mine has not yet progressed to the point where the cornea is visibly warped, but that's where it's likely to head without any intervention. Said intervention is a given; my mother is absolutely livid with me, because this is clearly somehow my own doing, but she'll take me in for whatever the government will provide and hasn't thrown me out, so there's that.


I spoke with the doctor / specialist I was referred to by my optometrist today. My options are basically a couple of different types of invasive surgery; there's an experimental non-invasive treatment, collagen cross-linking, which apparently is becoming a popular treatment, but it's not currently on the table for me because it's not covered by BC Care (in fairness, I was also told that it's also painful as Hell anyway and probably slightly less effective than surgery).

Has anyone here had experience with this disease, or eye surgery in general? A transplant or ring insert sound more or less equally terrifying to me (I have been unable to sleep at all until I'm so fatigued that I cannot physically stay awake anymore since I was diagnosed & given the treatment details); does anyone know if one is preferable to the other?

Giggles_Funsworth

Does a transplant mean you'll get a shark cornea because if it were me I would want to absorb the power of the shark.


I don't actually know much about how modern medicine works.

ceres

I have no experience with either but... try to relax. Stressing yourself out so badly isn't going to make it better or easier, and may make it harder for your body to heal from surgery.

http://www.nkcf.org/ seems to be a pretty good site, with information and forums and things. KC sounds like the sort of thing that can pretty seriously affect your life, so it might be good to talk to some of the people there and see how they've handled it and what works for them.

DCast

First time I heard of this eye disease. On the other hand, I would just like to share this, a family member had two eye surgeries before and the eyes healed fast because he followed his doctor's advice to the letter. I think you should consider some factors like how fast the healing process would be for one type against the other, your budget, pain tolerance, age, physical health, etc. For as long as your ophthalmologist is a good one, I believe you'll be fine.

Donovan Puppyfucker

There's no need to worry. Eye surgery is so advanced and commonplace that your risk levels are very low. Yeah your eye will be sore for a few days after, but hey, that's a small price to pay for continuing to be able to see. Man up, get it done, and maybe even see if you can get lasik done at the same time (if you wear prescription spectacles).

Calica

My mom had a lens replaced because of a cataract a few years ago. She had blurred vision for a few days, which is normal; but everything went swimmingly.

I second the advice to do exactly what your doctor tells you: use your eye drops on schedule, wear the sleep goggles, etc.

Unsuccessful

I'm not an eye surgeon, but my father is.

A lot of people feel varying degrees of anxiety when it comes to eye surgery. I think there's a natural instinct that makes us recoil from the idea of pointy things around our eyeballs. So it's totally understandable that you're feeling a bit freaked out. The reality is, however, that eye surgery--and corneal surgery in particular--is among the safest and least invasive surgery out there. You're basically dealing with a very thin strip of the eye's surface; nothing gets pierced as such, there's no blood, and the whole operation probably takes less time than the pre-op preparations. Corneal transplants have been performed for over a century now. The procedure is quite routine and complications arising out of the surgery itself (as opposed to post-operative transplant rejection) are rare. The ring insert method has not been around for as long, but is even less invasive. You'd be in and out of the theatre in a matter of minutes. The main risk, as you might expect, is that the surgery is very delicate. You can rest assured that modern eye surgery relies a great deal on mechanical stabilization and very precise tools to reduce the possibility of any mishaps.

The downside to the fact that corneal transplants are so safe and routine is that your doctor may not appreciate how nervous you are. Unless you've been advised to have the procedure done as soon as possible, you may want to think about shopping around for a surgeon who can adequately address your need for compassion and reassurance.

LoveIsUnity

You may also be able to get the doctor to give you a prescription for one or two Valium before the surgery. I had an oral surgeon offer once because he suspected I might be nervous about a procedure. I didn't end up taking them, but it was nice of him to offer.

Dr. Frenchenstein

good god i had a valium before my lasik, and i could barely keep my eyes open during the post op exam. Apparently i can't handle my shit, so YMMV

Donovan Puppyfucker

Unsuccessful wrote: »

I'm not an eye surgeon, but my father is.

A lot of people feel varying degrees of anxiety when it comes to eye surgery. I think there's a natural instinct that makes us recoil from the idea of pointy things around our eyeballs. So it's totally understandable that you're feeling a bit freaked out. The reality is, however, that eye surgery--and corneal surgery in particular--is among the safest and least invasive surgery out there. You're basically dealing with a very thin strip of the eye's surface; nothing gets pierced as such, there's no blood, and the whole operation probably takes less time than the pre-op preparations. Corneal transplants have been performed for over a century now. The procedure is quite routine and complications arising out of the surgery itself (as opposed to post-operative transplant rejection) are rare. The ring insert method has not been around for as long, but is even less invasive. You'd be in and out of the theatre in a matter of minutes. The main risk, as you might expect, is that the surgery is very delicate. You can rest assured that modern eye surgery relies a great deal on mechanical stabilization and very precise tools to reduce the possibility of any mishaps.

The downside to the fact that corneal transplants are so safe and routine is that your doctor may not appreciate how nervous you are. Unless you've been advised to have the procedure done as soon as possible, you may want to think about shopping around for a surgeon who can adequately address your need for compassion and reassurance.

"Yes officer, that motherfucker came at my eye with a scalpel, so I choked him out."

I am looking forwards to getting Lasik next year. Doesn't mean I'm not scared shitless about the procedure even though I know it's pretty much safe these days.

Dr. Frenchenstein

you build up lasik WAY out of proportion in your mind. plus they let you sit there alone for like 20-30 minutes while you are waiting for the numbing drops to take effect! it literally took like 10 minutes for the actual procedure. it's mildly uncomfortable (when they pull your eye up), and the smell is gross (acrid, like battery acid maybe?) but you don't feel a thing besides the pressure, and your sight is better the next day. it's pretty amazing. i highly recommend it to anybody that can afford it, and hates glasses/contacts. i'm trying to convince my GF to get it, but she is a huge baby.

iRevert

You should most definitely do not want to watch the Dead Space 2 eye machine video

Chances are you'll have the option to receive a half Valium before the surgery, it goes without question that its worth taking and you should have someone there to drive you home.

The Ender

Unsuccessful wrote: »

I'm not an eye surgeon, but my father is.

A lot of people feel varying degrees of anxiety when it comes to eye surgery. I think there's a natural instinct that makes us recoil from the idea of pointy things around our eyeballs. So it's totally understandable that you're feeling a bit freaked out. The reality is, however, that eye surgery--and corneal surgery in particular--is among the safest and least invasive surgery out there. You're basically dealing with a very thin strip of the eye's surface; nothing gets pierced as such, there's no blood, and the whole operation probably takes less time than the pre-op preparations. Corneal transplants have been performed for over a century now. The procedure is quite routine and complications arising out of the surgery itself (as opposed to post-operative transplant rejection) are rare. The ring insert method has not been around for as long, but is even less invasive. You'd be in and out of the theatre in a matter of minutes. The main risk, as you might expect, is that the surgery is very delicate. You can rest assured that modern eye surgery relies a great deal on mechanical stabilization and very precise tools to reduce the possibility of any mishaps.

The downside to the fact that corneal transplants are so safe and routine is that your doctor may not appreciate how nervous you are. Unless you've been advised to have the procedure done as soon as possible, you may want to think about shopping around for a surgeon who can adequately address your need for compassion and reassurance.

Thank-you for this; it makes me feel a lot better.

Honestly, I'm not afraid of a screw-up or complication - I generally trust medical professionals to be able to perform their art. I've just always dealt with surgery by literally closing my eyes, 'tuning out' as best I can (usually with the help of some painkillers), and waiting for it to be over. The fact that I will not be able to close my eyes and tune out because of the nature of the surgery is what's been getting under my skin (that, and I have no idea what eye surgery involved / how the the procedure would be / etc).

Mad Jazz

The word invasive as describing eye surgery seems to conjure up all sorts of images that go together with ER and Gray's Anatomy and whatever, but it's really not like that. You'll have your eyes numbed, and you won't really be able to feel anything beyond pressure and manipulation. Most eye procedures are pretty quick, too, so you should be able to head home in a very short time. Any sutures they might use will be absorbable, so you'll have the feeling of dirt in your eye for a couple of days and it'll be gone on its own. Basically, everything unsuccessful said.

As far as your surgeon goes, talk to him. Let him know that you're feeling some anxiety and that you have questions about the procedure, then ask everything you can think of. Tell him that you've had some anxiety regarding surgery in the past, and that you're concerned about how it will affect you during the procedure. Ask about the specifics of the operation, the recovery time, complications, anything you want to know (and keep in mind that if there's anything you don't want to know, you can ask him not to discuss it with you; you have that right as a patient also). If he's worth a shit, he'll be happy to keep you in the loop as much as you want to be, and if he's not, find someone else. Not a doc, but I am in school for it.

WildEEP

A lot of people think that they're gonna move their eye and wind up blind - Relax....they paralyze it before operating. You wont feel a thing except maybe some weight/pressure..and you won't look away and cause yourself to go blind.

GaryO

i've had eye surgery and I'd love to help but it was 20 years ago I was only six so I don't remember much other than asking if I'd get an eye patch (I did) and if my teddy bear could have an eye patch too (he could!). I was put asleep and woke up with an eyepatch!
More seriously though just listen to the doctors and do what they say, obviously they are professionals and know what they are doing so if they say "take eye drops every 4 hours" then do it!

MegaMan001

I don't want to minimize your experiences or worry, but as a guy who's done anesthesia for hundreds of eye procedures it really is not a big deal at all. If you are feeling nervous there are a ton of sedative / relaxant agents that could be administered depending on if the specialist has anesthesia coverage or not.

Honestly, the procedure will take less than 10 minutes and you won't feel much of anything.