My Eye Update & A Warning to Soft Contact Lens Wearers

[Peaches-n-Cream]

About a month ago, I started to experience some eye and vision problems. I have been undergoing a few different courses of treatment which did not improve my eye problems. On Tuesday a corneal specialist was called in for a consultation and decided to take some eye cultures, both swabs and scrapings. After a few hours of phone calls to different eye hospitals and doctors, I was diagnosed with an extremely rare eye condition called acanthamoeba. Fortunately for me, it is still treatable. There is a chance that I might have some vision loss, but the prognosis is cautiously optimistic.

I need to use five different eye drops and take pills for the next month or so. I began this treatment on Tuesday after trying to locate all the medicine that I need. One of the drops was sent to me via Fed Ex yesterday since we could find only one pharmacy in the US that makes it. I used over 50 drops yesterday in a "shotgun" approach to remove this parasite from my eyes. I use one drop on the hour, the second at :15 later, and a third at :30 all day long plus two different drops in the morning. I see various eye doctors daily since this condition and treatment need to be carefully monitored.

I learned that this condition is found primarily in soft contact lens wearers. I have been wearing them since I was a teenager and never heard of it. Many patients suffered from it about 15 or 20 years ago when hot tubs became popular. People can get it by wearing their soft contacts while swimming, using a hot tub, bathing, or showering as well as using tap water instead of solution and rinsing the contact cases with tap water. It's very rare, but it can happen. I just want to warn all of the people who wear soft contact lenses not to do any of these things. I don't want anyone to experience what I am because this is extremely painful and potentially vision threatening.