6/30/2009 - Better Day

So I had my follow-up appointment with Dr. Watanabe and it went pretty well! To be honest, I was quite worried that the neovascularization would have progressed and I would not have been able to continue wearing my contact lens, however, this was not the case.

Below you can see some pictures that they took of my eye, which are pretty cool!

The first is the neovascuralization when I went to my appointment the last time:



The second is the neovascularization this time:



The third is actually a VERY cool image of the graft itself:



It is very hard to tell from the images, unless you zoom in (I have a VERY big screen at work for obvious reasons), but the neovascularization does not appear to have progressed and in fact it appears to be getting a little bit better (probably too close to call here). According to Dr. Watanabe, the blood vessels do not actually recede, but instead do not fill up with blood, which is a good thing. Unfortunately, it appears that we have to monitor this closely as any future problems could result in the progression of the blood vessels.

Dr. W and team also looked at a number of other factors in my eye, including putting Fluorescein into my eye and checking for staining, which is essentially a dye that highlights any cell damage to the eye (usually caused by contact lens rubbing). In addition, because I was complaining about the eye being achy, they also examined my eye for any inflammation. There does not appear to be any inflammation, but there is a little staining in the eye from rubbing and Dr. W. advised me to keep the eye lubricated throughout the day with eye drops (and even potentially to put a drop of the lubricating material in the eye when I insert the contact lens).

I am scheduled to go back to see Dr. Watanabe in 3 weeks and can wear the contact until then, which is an additional 3 weeks of vision and maybe even longer - pretty cool! He did advise me to come in sooner if I feel any additional achiness or other issues with the eye.

I felt the need to tell Dr. W again, but he really has been an amazing Dr. over the years for me. When I first went to see him I was really on the precipice of not being able to see and he got me 7+ years of vision before I needed the transplant. In addition, as usual, he has been phenomenal, since having the transplant. As I did with Dr. Rapoza, I initially did a bunch of research to find the best person around and I am mighty glad that I decided to start seeing him. I know that he has a private practice, but it is pretty cool that he is in Boston once a week at the teaching practice that I frequent - it has also been cool over the years to think that I have helped out the students there through being able to participate in treating me.

Again, the journey is by no means over, but it is always nice to have good days - I hope you enjoy the pictures - pretty cool huh!