Eyesight issues

[jobob]

A few years ago I went to the Stanford Eye Center to get an evaluation for LASIK.

The doctor there, Dr. Manche, is supposed to be very good, and actually does a lot of repair work on LASIK screw-ups.

I ended up being turned down by him as a LASIK candidate - I have bumpy corneas and he said that while he wouldn't advise I had the LASIK procedure, I could probably find a lot of other places that would take me. (Since I was only going to go through with it if I were an absolutely perfect candidate, I didn't pursue it further. I use daily-wear contact lenses and they work fine for me.)

But, I did hear about a procedure that he was working on using an intraocular contact lens (ICL) where a lens is placed under the eye flap, similar to what is done for cataract patients. Back when I spoke to him he was conducting clinical trials on that procedure, but ironically my eyesight wasn't bad enough to be considered for the trial (mine is -6.5/-7.0 and the lowest for the trial was -8.0)

I don't know where they are nowadays with that - it's only given a passing mention on the website - but in case you're interested, the Stanford Eye Center's website is at http://ophthalmology.stanford.edu/laser/index.html

Perhaps they could hook you up with eye clinics closer to where you live.

[bmccasland]

I wear semi-rigid gas permeable B&L lenses. My opthamologist put me in them several years ago, and multiple moves later no optomotrist has ever tried to talk me into anything different. I have astigmitisim in both eyes (and a very cranky cat in my lap), horrible vision. Have worn glasses / corrective lenses since I was in 5th grade. There was a point that I managed to stratch my eyes, and get conjunctivitis - took me over a year to talk the Dr. into letting me have contacts again. BUT I see better with contacts, and now glasses will not completely correct my vision. I know it's hard for a child, but sometimes you have to knuckle down, accept the fact that you can only wear a certain type of contact for a certain period of time, then take them out, and accept the fact that you can't see as well with your glasses. It sucks.

Maybe surgery is an option. Have you checked with Lion's Club for the Blind? Am grasping at straws here - a few months ago had a similar discussion of options for the child of a colleague with severe vision problems. Seems there are referrals to some better or more specialized Drs through Lion's Club. Just a stray thought.