Tiffany's Eye Surgery
Donation protected
My name is Tiffany. Over a year ago I found out that I have a condition known as Keratoconus. This means that my cornea is no longer round in shape but has become more cone-shaped. This condition is common in people with certain allergy conditions which involve excessive eye rubbing and usually starts in your late teens and early twenties.
My symptoms are similar to those of someone with poor eyesight such as blurred vision, halos, and streaking lights. The difference is that corrective lenses will not necessarily correct my eyesight.
The ophthalmologist informed me that both eyes suffer from this condition. However, my right eye is significantly more advanced. If I were to ignore the problem completely, I would eventually need a cornea transplant. I was informed that there is not really a procedure that can correct the issue but that there is a procedure that can stop the condition from progressing and getting worse.
The procedure is called collagen crosslinking. It is relatively painless and involves vitamin drops being placed in my eyes to allow them to penetrate the cornea and then exposing my eyes to UV light in order to stabilize the cornea.
Unfortunately, this procedure is not covered by medical insurance. This is because it has not been FDA approved. The procedure has been done for the past several years in European countries with great success. In order for such a procedure to receive FDA approval an organization/company must be willing to fund the research to submit to the FDA for approval. Although this is a creative technique to the condition of Keratoconus, the instruments and products used to conduct the procedure already exist in the offices of eye doctors. Therefore, since there is no money to be made in getting the procedure FDA approved, there has not been a company willing to support the research.
Since I suffer from the condition in both eyes, I will need to have the procedure performed on both eyes. For each eye, the cost is over $3,000.00 for a total of over $6,000.00. Following the procedure, I will be fitted for a special contact in order to correct the eye sight as best as possible.
My symptoms are similar to those of someone with poor eyesight such as blurred vision, halos, and streaking lights. The difference is that corrective lenses will not necessarily correct my eyesight.
The ophthalmologist informed me that both eyes suffer from this condition. However, my right eye is significantly more advanced. If I were to ignore the problem completely, I would eventually need a cornea transplant. I was informed that there is not really a procedure that can correct the issue but that there is a procedure that can stop the condition from progressing and getting worse.
The procedure is called collagen crosslinking. It is relatively painless and involves vitamin drops being placed in my eyes to allow them to penetrate the cornea and then exposing my eyes to UV light in order to stabilize the cornea.
Unfortunately, this procedure is not covered by medical insurance. This is because it has not been FDA approved. The procedure has been done for the past several years in European countries with great success. In order for such a procedure to receive FDA approval an organization/company must be willing to fund the research to submit to the FDA for approval. Although this is a creative technique to the condition of Keratoconus, the instruments and products used to conduct the procedure already exist in the offices of eye doctors. Therefore, since there is no money to be made in getting the procedure FDA approved, there has not been a company willing to support the research.
Since I suffer from the condition in both eyes, I will need to have the procedure performed on both eyes. For each eye, the cost is over $3,000.00 for a total of over $6,000.00. Following the procedure, I will be fitted for a special contact in order to correct the eye sight as best as possible.
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Organizer
Tiffany Mooney
Organizer
DeKalb, IL
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