I am currently 29 years old. As a child I would be pretty healthy, I always felt proud because in a health exam I was told I had a 20/20 vision. To me everything would seem normal and I didn't know that by age 23 my vision would start to degrade. It was during a regular check up that I was asked if I had never used glasses. I couldn't understand that question, in my mind I still had that 20/20 vision I always felt proud of. I was convinced into seeing a specialist who would later mention to me for the first time the word keratoconus.
By then I was about to move to Turkey so a deep diagnosis was not done. Once in Turkey I was told by a new doctor that our best course was to examine the development of this condition every six months.
By then I had a small idea of what keratoconus was, my vision had not deteriorated so much so I decided to wait. I could still see a little bit with lots of effort. Unfortunately I was never told not to rub my eyes and I noticed that if I pressed my eye in certain areas the image would be clearer. So for six months unknowingly I helped to worsen my condition.
By the time my checkup came, I could notice much more blurriness and the doctor at the time suggested to get rings done. However it was not something of his expertise so he suggested me to go to another private hospital where I could get something different done. Thus time, the new doctor suggested doing crosslinking in both eyes. Sadly, such surgery was not covered by my insurance and it would take me so many years to pay.
Not knowing what to do I opted for a second opinion from a professor who works in a state hospital. She told me that private hospitals tend to manipulate patients in to surgeries because of the monetary side. Such hospitals tend to suggest surgeries even though they are not completely necessary.
This new doctor told me that it would be worth waiting to see new developments in my condition. That keratoconus would stop by the age of 30 and since I was 27 at the time I thought it would be a good idea to wait. In the meanwhile I was given glasses that would slightly improve my vision enough to continue working.
Two years after no significant developments I moved back from Turkey and I was forced to find a new doctor. Again I was suggested to get cross linking and corneal rings done in order to regain a bit of sight according to the new doctor. They also suggested using a special contact lens, though I was not convinced.
I am still waiting for proof that surgery is a must.
Carlos García