Hi everyone! I'm sure you all know my husband, Ty. He is awesome! The last few years, his eye sight has been..... well, not as great as it used to be. For a while we just thought it was normal vision loss. He saw numerous eye doctors, and we heard a lot of different diagnoses. No one could really figure out why his vision wasn't as good as it could be with glasses, and even contacts. I made him an appointment with an ophthalmologist for a routine eye exam and to update his prescription. This doctor finally figured out what was going on. Ty was diagnosed with Keratoconus. It is a rare eye disease that causes thinning and weakening of your cornea, which leads to a cone-like bulge and vision irregularity. If left untreated, it could lead to a corneal transplant. You can go to livingwithkeratoconus.com to get more information.
There is a treatment for Keratoconus that can stop the progression of the thinning, but does not repair it. It is called Cross-Linking. There are 2 types of Cross-Linking, one is covered by insurance, one is not. He has opted for the non covered treatment. With the other option, he would be virtually blind for at least 2 weeks because his eyes would have to be taped shut for that period of time. The recovery time is 4-6 weeks, sometimes longer, and no contacts until his eyes are fully healed. (The contacts keep pressure on his eye so they don't bulge, and this corrects his vision). The process requires his eyes to be held open, then bathed in a riboflavin mixture, followed by flashes of UV light for 20-30 minutes. The recovery time for this procedure is 4 days. Unfortunately, since it is not approved by the FDA it is not covered, we have to pay out of pocket the full amount of $5600 the day of the procedure. This is where we need help. With him being the only one working, that is a hefty bill, and being out of work for over a month isn't an option.
His appointment is on January 8th in Denver. Anything will help towards this expense. We will also have to travel back to Denver every 3 moths for a year so they can make sure it is working and strengthening his corneas. Luckily, those visits are covered in the full cost. We would also appreciate prayers. Prayers for travel, the procedure and hopefully success. Like I said earlier, if he doesn't have this procedure done, it will lead to more vision loss, and corneal transplants if it is severe.
Thank you for reading. We appreciate any help we can get!
There is a treatment for Keratoconus that can stop the progression of the thinning, but does not repair it. It is called Cross-Linking. There are 2 types of Cross-Linking, one is covered by insurance, one is not. He has opted for the non covered treatment. With the other option, he would be virtually blind for at least 2 weeks because his eyes would have to be taped shut for that period of time. The recovery time is 4-6 weeks, sometimes longer, and no contacts until his eyes are fully healed. (The contacts keep pressure on his eye so they don't bulge, and this corrects his vision). The process requires his eyes to be held open, then bathed in a riboflavin mixture, followed by flashes of UV light for 20-30 minutes. The recovery time for this procedure is 4 days. Unfortunately, since it is not approved by the FDA it is not covered, we have to pay out of pocket the full amount of $5600 the day of the procedure. This is where we need help. With him being the only one working, that is a hefty bill, and being out of work for over a month isn't an option.
His appointment is on January 8th in Denver. Anything will help towards this expense. We will also have to travel back to Denver every 3 moths for a year so they can make sure it is working and strengthening his corneas. Luckily, those visits are covered in the full cost. We would also appreciate prayers. Prayers for travel, the procedure and hopefully success. Like I said earlier, if he doesn't have this procedure done, it will lead to more vision loss, and corneal transplants if it is severe.
Thank you for reading. We appreciate any help we can get!