purple2067

Well, that is a tough question. I have also been told that because of severe dry eyes and allergies, I can never wear contacts. At first I was very upset. Before I found this out, I actually tried wearing them. But neither the two optometrists nor the ophthalmologist that I saw bothered to tell me that I had eyes that were too dry to hold contacts. They never told me that the contact lenses would not stay in my eyes, or that they would hurt me and be very uncomfortable, or that they could potentially injure my eyes due to the lack of tears. Well anyway, I wore them for about a week and could not stand them anymore. They kept falling out because of the dryness, and were terribly irritating and painful. Finally I found an ophthalmologist who told me right away that I never should have been allowed to wear contact lenses because of the severe dryness. My problem is different than yours, but in the same respect I understand where you are coming from. I also like the way that I look without glasses, and I really really wanted to wear contacts. My brother wears them, and all of my friends wear them and they all love them. So I thought, "why shouldn't I try them". For a while I was very upset that I couldn't wear them anymore. But they were more trouble than they were worth. I totally understand why you want to wear them, but I think that you have to put your health first. I agree that at the age of 18 you can definitely decide when something hurts you, and you are capable of making your own decisions. But you already know how delicate and fragile the eyes are. It does not take very much to get a corneal abbrasion or ulcer, or another kind of eye infection. And not to say that you would not be responsible and take good care of your contacts, but if you don't clean them properly they can cause infections. I am sure that I don't have to tell you about the horrible pain that you can experience with an eye infection.

Like I said, I was very upset that I could not wear contacts, but I decided that I needed to put my health first and my appearance second.

If I were you, I don't think I would try them, just because I would not want to do anything to risk the health of my eye. Especially if you need to wear glasses to shield your eye from dirt and foreign bodies. But if you really want to try them, then you need to sit down with your doctor and seriously weigh the pros and cons. I think that you are very lucky to have a doctor who is telling you up front that he does not think you should wear them. If you decide to try them, maybe you can ask your doctor to put them in for you in the office, just to see how they feel. That way you know that they would be put in correctly (which is not easy!), and you could try them out. If you decide to go ahead with it, make sure to keep both eyes, but especially the transplanted eye, very lubricated throughout the day. And especially for you, do not ever fall asleep with your contact lenses in!

Please let me know what you decide,

Good luck,
Elyse


P.S. I'm not sure if I understood you correctly... Have you been wearing glasses to protect your good eye or the prostesis? It is just as important to keep your good eye healthy.

[This message has been edited by purple2067 (edited 01-22-2003).]