I will be having a corneal graft on my right eye in the autumn and wondered if anyone here has had this and how it impacted cycling?

The internet seems to be full of cr@p about such topics. Anyone got first hand experience?

TBH if it was the eye or cycling…then I can honestly say the eye would go..I have another one just next to it. 🙂

bump for the evening myopics 8)

Bump no more, i had my right eye done 8 weeks ago, and its slowly improving each week.

I was lucky, i only had to have a partial thickness graft, which means less aggro with recovery and steroid drops. Mine was as a result of no more options for the treatment of Keratoconus.

so far it has been ok, the first week was a bit of a blur (no pun intended) as general anesthetic and lack of sleep took my mind off my eye, after a week the bandage lens was removed, and then it hurt like hell, believe me blinking over 24 stitches is not fun! but after 24 hours that settled and to date all seems ok.

At the moment the stitches are very tight, and vision is still poor, and will be for some time, but the eye is clear, gives me no pain and has amazed me how resilient it is.

The only downside, and the answer you want is yes, it has had an effect on my cycling, as you cannot afford to increase pressure in the eye, anything where blood pressure increases is a big no no, the consultant suggested no exercise for a month, then light stuff after that, so i did some walking, and sat on the turbo at low resistance to pass time, but now i am back to riding the road bike with no problems, not donemuch on the mtb yet, as dust and muck is to be avoided at all costs, to reduce the chance of infection.

i was bricking it on the day of the operation, but looking back, i have no regrest at all, and cant wait to see the final results in a few months.

Nice one, cheers for that.

I have the same condition and also need the right eye doing. Mine needs doing because it’s got so thin it could burst…so I was told to get it done. I have actually got used to not seeing through it so would not have bothered if I didn’t have to..

Anyway it’s encouraging to know that you are back on the bike 8 weeks later, I could live with that. Did you use a heart rate monitor to determine how hard you were exercising at first or just instinct ?

If you can be bothered let me know how you get on with it. My email is in my profile. I’d appreciate any more experience or advice you have as time passes.

Cheers
Ewan

no problem, e mail on its way.

Its early and i am being thick, but i cant see an e mail address in your profile!

Hi

Having had kerataconus for years,I finally got fed up with lenses and figuring I had nothing to lose because my vion in that eye was so poor,took the plunge.I had mine done at Moorfields about 7 years ago,then subsequently had an ICL implant too about 4 years ago.

I`d say it had a positive impact on my cycling because my sight in the left eye is now massively improved and I no longer have to wear hard lesnes which were ridiculousy susceptible to dirt and dust.A month off the bike is a small price to pay.

Forgot to add,if you need any advice feel free to pm or email me.
And if you have Mr Tuft or his team at Moorfields to do it you are in great hands.

Have you found the Kerataconus forum? I got great advice on there.

But no regrets at all.The thought of it was so much worse than the reality.In fact it was pretty much painless.

I`ve got so used to having my eyes prodded and operated on I had the ICL done under local anaesthetic……..

Thanks for that JGG ! I am in Manchester so will be having it done at Manchester Royal.

Sorry Stylish…my email used to be in my profile…but it’s isn’t there anymore ! No idea where it went.

Anyway it’s eggbox@hotmaildotcodotuk (with normal dots obviously)

ta Ewan

E maile now sent, I had mine done at my local hospital here in Norwich.

As a keratoconus sufferer for 18 years, my right eye went exactly like yours, worn away due to lens wear, and thin to the point of bursting.

like jolly green giant, i can vouch for the advice on the Keratoconus group website, stumbled across them by accident, but they have been very helpful.

done about 6 years ago for same reasons as above and tbh I would not have bothered
Before i could not see the side of a bus with my left eye now I can but dont know who operates it. I still no depth perception [ stereoscopic vision]. I still have to wear a contact lens in that eye [ very uncomfortable if I am honest- hard and soft combo thingy]. It still hurts from time to time [ never did before] and I now have more eye consultants looking after my eyes than eyes and they are all miles away.

Having the stitches taken out will be interesting for you but I wont spoil the fun.
I did not ride for 2 months iirc and then only gently
Good luck it does not hurt tbh you cannot see the stitched and you barely feel them.
Mine bled and looked awful but it did not hurt at all
Done in liverpool
PS means you cannot give blood or donate organs unless they have changed the rules

Stitches being taken out is a little uncomfortable but it was about 18 months to 2 years after the transplant mine came out so no need to worry about that for a while!

Again the thought is much worse than the reality.People are so squeamish about eyes but after 15 years of visits to Moorfields I became immune!

Which is weird becuase I`m normally the most squeamish person going…..

The consultant who did my op is telling me he hopes to take the stitches out after 6 months, which seems quite quick to me, but he knows alot more than me!

+1 for not being bothered about having eyes poked around by medical types, 18 years of wearing contact lenses has made them tough as old boots i reckon, although i did draw the line at having it done under local anesthetic, that would be a step too far……

Junkyard, shame yours didnt work out, i take it the clever coats are now trying to sort it for you? and those hybrid lens things are rubbish, the optometrist had me trying them for 2 years, and they fell apart, gave me 2 eye infections, which nearly resulted in me losing my right eye, and when offered the new version last year, i got a strange look when i sugggested a place to store them!

nope they have called it a success
The other big gain is I can point to the eye test letter board in the room if not actually read any letters.
Much less than I was hoping for
My stitches came out in batches but cant recall when they started or finished but it seemed like a long time

anyone else had the weird contraption that takes 3 D topography pictures of your eyes and gives the colour print outs?
I have mine on the wall.

Junkyard, sounds like a nightmare, really surprised they cant do anymore.
The 3d pictures are cool, looking into the tube with the swirling light is rather strange at first but what they can see and tell is pretty clever, mine looked a 3 year olds picture of the world.

On the subject of stitches, i keep getting told that they will all come out at the same time, although i was under the impression that was the adjustment factor of the graft.

Cheers for the feedback fellas. I am under no illusions that this process will be pleasant and am strangely not bothered if my sight improves..I just want to avoid the day when my eye goes pop and dribbles down my shirt 🙂

I am encouraged that I have heard about 3 people just from our relatively small community in a similar situation, so it makes me feel a bit better.

I think the thing I don’t trust about other sources on the internet is that if I ask about cycling people will think about 10 minute pootles down the canal. I saw a reply to a similar question elsewhere and it said ” yeah you are fine to cycle…just don’t think about doing any king of the mountain competitions”…and I just thought…erm thats actually similar to what I want to be able to do….. I realise that recovery is slow and I am happy to try and avoid getting cr@p in my eye, but thats as far as I want it to limit me in the long term. Hopefully my expectations are OK.