The Fight for Sight - Keratoconus

Our bright, passionate and highly driven 20 year old son Quinn, who has worked so hard in his young life to succeed, has just been accepted into the Western-Fanshawe collaborative BScN Nursing program. He has also just been diagnosed with bilateral keratoconus and his specialist, Dr. Bruce Nicols from the Ivey Eye Institute here in our hometown of London, Ontario has highly recommended that he undergo both Corneal Crosslinking (CXL) and Photorefractive Keratectomy (topographically guided PRK). These are a lot of big words, but our son is very well informed and knows that at his age, this is his best shot at saving his eyesight, short of corneal transplant.

Unfortunately, we also learned today that this treatment is NOT currently covered under OHIP. We are shocked and dismayed by this information as both these procedures have not only been approved by Health Canada, but are also covered in several other provinces. They have also been practiced world wide for decades with excellent results. The uninsured cost of this in our case is $2,400/per eye and will place an extremely big financial burden on our family.

Both CXL and PRK provide early intervention and avoid major corneal surgery down the roaad. Why would OHIP not provide coverage when it could be addressed now at a much reduced cost and avoid much pain and suffering for those affected?

If you are able to help in any way, $10, $20 or anything at all, we would greatly appreciate it ❤️