David wanted to join the Marines but was told he couldn’t because of his vision. After what we can imagine to be a major let down, David went to an optometrist that was recommended by the Marines and that doctor diagnosed him with the condition we call Keratoconus. As most of us (who do not work in the eye field) don’t know about this corneal disease, he did what many patients do when they hear they are diagnosed with this. He immediately went home, jumped on the internet and researched what keratoconus is and what the possible treatments are.
He looked into Intacs, corneal transplants and read a lot until he came across the procedure called corneal collagen crosslinking aka “CXL”.
David lives in South Florida and he found our site in Miami since we have a lot published on the web about CXL as our doctors have been involved in this treatment from its inception in the US.
He tried being fit prior to CXL in many types of lenses. Nothing helped. He tried hard, rigid lenses and even though he found that he had the best vision with these, they irritated his eyes and were unbearable. They gave him headaches daily.
David came in to have a consultation with Dr. Charles Kaiser and after having all the tests run, he scheduled his crosslinking procedure.
For the actual CXL procedure he remembers being very anxious (especially about the outcome) and when he saw the equipment for the first time he remembers the nerves. However, the procedure itself was not painful. He felt just a little discomfort afterwards which he remembers felt like burning or irritation and he was given numbing medication for it so it wasn’t too bad.
After the procedure he said his vision was blurry and he could not read. At 1.5 months later however, his vision returned to normal and then progressively got better. Better than ever.
David’s major concern (as it should be) was to stop the keratoconus so at every post-op he remembers asking Dr. Kaiser about his corneal mapping and if his cornea was flattening out.
His outcome: “It stopped keratoconus in its tracks. It stopped the corneal progression of the disease so my procedure was a major success!”
David is thinking about going into the marines again. He is graduating from FAU this summer and is thinking about going into the marines as an officer.
We are so happy with his outcome and feel so blessed to have helped one of the future people who will be helping our country. What an honor. David, we truly congratulate you on your vision and on beating keratoconus!
If you are a loved one has been diagnosed with keratoconus or post-lasik ectasia, please call our office at 305-598-2020 today to schedule a CXL consultation with one of our physicians. Click here to read more about keratoconus, and click on this link to read more about crosslinking.
