When I decided to get Ortho keratology, I could not find anyone giving their personal experiences with it. Everything else was just advertising it and could be biased information. I decided to record my experiences, from beginning to end, here. That way, people will know exactly what it is like to be a patient having the procedure. I am in no way being paid or asked or anything for my opinion. I put up this page of my own free will and mostly it is because my friends all want to know the details of this procedure so that they can decide if they want to get it for themselves.
HOW TO READ THIS
I am going to record everything in chronological order like a diary. I am going to do my best not to omit any details. Because I need to type this while things are still fresh on my mind, you will read the entries as they are happening.
DIARY...
SOMETIME IN JULY 2001
I decided to get Orthokeratology. This is a procedure where you get a type of rigid contact lens, you wear them while you sleep, and you take them out during the day. During the day, while you are not wearing the lenses, you will have 20/20 vision because your cornea is being reshaped. I am not going to really get more technical than this because there are other websites that do that. I will post links. So, anyways, sometime in July, I decided I wanted to do Orthokeratology. I did not trust lasiks because I can get dry eyes and that is not a good thing with a lasiks procedure. I went on the internet and started researching. I finally found a doctor that was recommended by the designers of the Orthokeratology contact lenses. He has been specially trained to do the Orthokeratology procedure.. I went to Dr. Richard Driscoll at Total Eye Care in Colleyville, Texas (the link is at the top of this page). I was impressed with a technician named Scott (I think that is his name) who worked there and he was a lot of fun and probably one of the main reasons that I felt comfortable in this office. I went to the office for a free screening to see if I would be a good candidate for the procedure. I was able to speak with the technician in detail about the different tools they use to screen me, and what they do. The technician even joked with me a bit about some of the tests and what a bummer glasses can sometimes be, which further put me at ease. I then spoke with the Doctor and he answered all of my questions and I was impressed that he made time for me to ask him so many questions, even though this was a *free* screening. The reason I bring up the "one on one service" I got is because when I had gotten screened for lasiks at another doctor's office, I was stuck in a room with 20 other people and they sort of did this mass "free screening" that was very unpersonal.  It was like they were herding cattle. Which to me makes me feel that the doctors there could care less about my personal needs. The Lasiks place that I originally went to was a factory line and those doctors were there to make a buck. I just want to make it clear that the reason I went with this Doctor (Dr, Driscoll) is because they treated me with respect and seemed to genuinly care about answering ALL of my questions before I gave them a penny. Make sure, that whatever doctor you choose, they are willing to answer all of your questions up front, BEFORE they take your money. I went to 2 different Doctors prior to going to this one. I needed a Dr. that would take the time to answer all of my questions. So I decided that I wanted to do the Ortho-K so I got a quote. The total cost was $1175.00 and I did not have the money at the time, so I held off for a while.
AUGUST 24, 2001
I went to the Dr. to begin my "ortho-k experience".  I had cash in my purse and I was really sick of my glasses. They went through the screening again. Then the Doctor did an eye test. It was the test where they flip the lenses back and forth and say "One or Two" and you have to tell them which lens looks clearer. He checked my eyes with my glasses and without. After all that careful examination. They had me go sit at this machine which would make a topographical map of my eyes so that my contacts could be made custom fitted for my eyes. This was really easy. I looked in a hole at a light and the tech pushed a button and POOF! A map of my eyeballs was made. I had the tech print a copy of my maps so that I could keep a copy. I then payed 1000 dollars and was told that they would call me when my contacts came back which would be in one to two weeks. My insurance covered about 200 dollars of the procedure so that is why I only had to pay about 1000.
SEPTEMBER 5, 2001
I still had not heard back from the Optometrist about my contacts so I decided to call them since it had been 12 days and I was anxious to get my lenses. They said that they did have my lenses and would I like to schedule an appointment... I was a little let down though because I had been waiting on them to call me and I ended up having to call them instead. I was able to make an appointment for the next day to go down and try them on and learn how to use them and all that stuff.
SEPTEMBER 6, 2001
I arrived for my appointment and met with a woman who I think is a technician but she is helping me with my contacts today. She took out the contacts and I looked at them. They were tinted blue so that I could see them if I dropped one by accident. The right contact has a tiny dot on it so that you can tell right from left in case you get them mixed up. The contacts were just slightly smaller than a regular soft contact. I picked one up and they were hard. The tech said that they were durable and could not tear or flip inside out like soft contacts. She then told me how to put them in. I put the contact in and my eyes immediately began to water and turn red. I could not hold my eye open. I felt like I had an eyelash in my eye or something. The contacts were very irritating my eyes. I suffered like that for about five minutes and then she told me how to take them out. I am supposed to stretch my eye out like I am making my eyes look "chinese" and then blink and the contacts fall right out. The right one came out easily with no problem. The left one would not blink out and it sort of felt like it was really scraping the inside of my eyelid because I was trying to blink it out and it would not come out. The tech wanted me to keep trying and it was starting to hurt. She finally got this miniature plunger thing for me and told me to stick it to the contact and to never stick it to my eyeball. The contact lifted easily out and I was really happy to get that thing out. I truly felt that this had to be some sort of torture. I was supposed to take my contacts with me and wear them for 2 hours that day. I waited 5 hours before I put them back in because my left eyelid still hurt from trying to blink the contact out earlier. I called the dr's office and asked if they still wanted me to wear the contacks that day since my eyelid was hurting. They told me yes to still wear them and that the soreness was normal and that it would go away after I get used to wearing rigid contacts. I put my contacts on and my eyes watered for about 15 minutes and the contacts were really irritating my eyes, but then my eyes started to feel better and I was actually pretty comfortable for the remaining hour and 45 minutes. What a relief! I want to add that you can definitely feel the contacts the whole time you are wearing them, but they don't hurt anymore. I did notice a few wierd things though. I can see the edge of the contact lens when it is in my eye. Also, light reflects off of the contacts, so if you walk under a light it will reflect an image onto your contact that you will be able to see while you are wearing the contact. It is pretty wierd. After the 2 hours, I took the contacts out. The right one blinked right out, but I had to use the plunger again for the left one. It seems lik the left one was really suctioned to my eye because I had to stick the plunger to it and it took the contact a second before it really would come away from my eye because of the suction of the contact to my eye. I guess it is a really good fit. I could see clearly for about 5 minutes after I removed my contacts.
SEPTEMBER 7, 2001
I wore my contacts for 4 hours today and they did not really give me any problems when I put them in like they had in the past. I had to make a trip to the mall, so I decided to wear my contacts to the mall because the eye doctor had told me to wear them for 4 hours. I wore sunglasses while driving because the sun seemed really bright with these contacts in. When I got to the mall, I took my sunglasses off. This is where things got tricky.... I had not walked around with my contacts in yet and it seemed that a miniature breeze blew right in my eyes as I walked. My contacts kept drying out. It was very annoying. I had rewetting drops but they only lasted a few seconds before my eyes would dry out again. I finally left the mall and my vision was a little blurry because my eyes were so dry. I also discovered that my eyeballs actually felt sore, like they were bruised. After 4 hours, I was quite ready to get those contacts out of my eyes. I was able to remove the right one easily, but I again had trouble with the left one and had to use the plunger.
SEPTEMBER 8, 2001
I had an eye doctors appointment today at 9:00 AM. I had only had my contacts in for an hour before the appointment. I arrived at the eye doctor and told him about some of the problems I have had with the contacts being dry and the feeling that my eyeballs are bruised. He gave me special rewetting drops that are thicker than normal rewetting drops, and that seemed to help the dryness a little. Also yawning helped alot since that makes my eyes water. He also said that the bruised feeling is normal because during the initial few day, while my cornea is reshaping it could make my eyes a little tender. The doctor then looked at my eyes through a light magnifying thing. After that he put some dye in my eyes and looked through the light instrument again. He then said that my contacts were sitting on my eyes perfectly and that everything looked normal. He wanted to see me again in one week so I made an appointment for the following Friday. I was helping my mom move that day though so I could not wear my contacts all day. I wore my contacts for 2 hours this day and then had to take them out because of the dust from moving.
SEPTEMBER 9, 2001
I wore my contacts for 4 hours today. I was supposed to wear them for six hours, but since I only wore them for two hours yesterday, I figured I should build up my wearing time a little more. I really did not have any problems. I think I got a piece of dirt in my right eye after about two hours, so I removed my contact and rinsed it. When I put it back in, it felt much better. My contacts are definitely feeling much better now. My eyes still get a little dry but not that bad. I have noticed that my lenses aren't clear all the time though. It seems I have to blink a few times to get my contacts good and moist to see through them properly. I won't have to worry about that though once I am able to sleep in them. Also, today I did not need the plunger to remove either contact. I discovered that if I use rewetting drops right before I try to remove the contact, it comes out easier. I have noticed though that after I remove my contacts, my eyes feel tired. It feels like I have been crying or swimming in chlorinated water alot. My vision was clear for about 30 minutes after I removed the contacts.
SEPTEMBER 10, 2001
Today I put my contacts in and I am wearing them for 6 hours today.  I figured something out, my eyes are not really dry. What is happening is that I will start to get like a film on my contacts, and it makes my vision blurry, just like as if my eyes are dry.f my eyes are moist I don't get that blurriness. I always thought that the blurriness was because of my contacts drying out. It is not uncomfortable though, so I am starting to think that something else is causing the blurriness. I will ask the dotor about it at my next appointment. The only other thing that happened today is that I put some rewetting drops in my eye, and I think I did something wrong because my right contact ended up down by my tear duct in the corner of my eye. It was very painful and I could not get it out. It was sort of half stuck underneath my tear duct. I tried moving the contact with my finger but it would not move.  I ended up grapping my tiny plunger and grabbing the contact with that and removing it. I then put a couple drops of conditioning solution in my contact and put it back in my eye. Other than that, everything has been pretty uneventful.
SEPTEMBER 11, 2001
Today has been a trial for myself, and for our country. Planes broke down the World Trade Center. The Pentagon has been crashed into by a plane.Thousands of people are dead. I started crying and had to remove my contacts. I was pretty upset while I was cleaning my contacts to put them away and my right contact broke in half. I was being gentile with it, so it should not have broke. I am quite surprised about it breaking. I am upset about that too, because I was getting to a point where I could really wear the contacts for a long time and still be comfortable. I am going to call the eye doctor tomorrow, and hopefully I can get a new contact sooner than two weeks. This is really frustrating. Our country is about to go to war. It is like my contact breaking is the last straw for me. I will not be posting again until my new contact arrives. That should take about a week.
SEPTEMBER 12, 2001
OK, now that I have had a little time to call the eye doctor and come to grips with the tragedy our country is experiencing, I am posting again. I called Total Eye Care this morning and told them about my contact. They are going to order a new one for me. Dr. Driscoll was not sure about the cost, because he is not sure if this can be covered under a warranty. They will let me know when the contact comes in. At the worst, if they can't get this covered under a warranty, then I will pay $120.00 to $170.00 dollars. The lens might have been brittle or something and it broke a little wierd so I really believe that I did not do this. I will see what can be worked out. In the meantime, while I wait for the new contact to come in, I have a choice between wearing a soft contact in my right eye and my ortho-k contact in the left, or ... I can wear my glasses and wait. I think I am going to go with the contacts. My hope is that by continuing with contacts, I will be able to keep my eyes conditioned so that the ortho-k lens will be comfortable when I start wearing it again. I have taken a break from contacts today, because I keep crying about all the horrible things that we are going through right now. I will post again when I resume wearing both Ortho-k lenses, or if something big happens. God Bless America!
SEPTEMBER 23, 2001
OK, here we go again. My new right lens was actually ready last Tuesday (Today is Sunday) but I was unable to pick it up until Friday night. I was charged 100 dollars because the lab where the contacts are made said that there is no warranty on the lenses. I completely understand that and I did not have any issues about having to pay the money. It was kind of a bummer, and I think the staff at Total Eye Care was more upset about this than I was. The were very apologetic about it. They even gave me two of the little Boston Contact Cleaner "starter kits" to make up for it, which is great because that stuff is like 10 dollars a bottle. All together, I feel pretty good about the experience even if the contact is not covered by the warranty. They also told me that they had a meeting about Ortho-K the previous week and that they had talked about me. I told them about this web site so that they could visit and get a patient's honest perspective of their practice and their procedures. I will tell the honest truth because if there is something I don't like then my doctors office needs to know about it anyways. When I visited on Friday, Scott (the technician) was working again and I was again impressed that he remembered exactly who I am. I am pretty sure he did not remember my name or anything, but at least he knows my face and my procedures. That is OK that he does not remember my name though because I am not 100 percent sure that his name is Scott, I might have just come up with that name and I thought it was his name. I will make a point to check at my appointment on September 28th. OK, enough talk about my visit to Total Eye Care.... I put my contacts in today and am wearing them right now. This is the first time I have had both of them in since September 11th. They felt like eyelashes in my eyes for like the first five minutes, but I got used to them fairly quick. They seem pretty blurry though. I think that is normal since I have no worn them for a while. It could be that I am still seeing the astigmatism or something. I will need to ask the eye doctor about it on Friday when I go in for my appointment. So far so good. My contacts are really not bothering me at all, I feel like I never stopped wearing them. I did want to tell you about my first time to truly realize the difference between wearing these contacts and regular soft contacts. On September 13th, I wanted my eyes to stay used to the contacts so I wore my left Ortho-K lens and wore a soft contact in my right eye. I definitely noticed that I can see much better with the soft contact than with the Ortho-K lens. I finished wearing my contacts after about 6 hours and took out both of them. I then realized that if I shut my left eye and looked out my right eye which was the eye that the soft contact was in, that I could not see anything. If I shut my right eye and looked out my left eye which the Orthokeratology lens was in. I could read small print from across the room. I had never realized what a difference it made until that very moment. Anyways... I just wanted to share that with you. I will check in again tomorrow, unless something profound happens between now and then.
SEPTEMBER 28, 2001
I went to the eye doctor today. Dr. Driscoll said that everything looked good, but he wants to order me another right lens. Earlier I had mentioned that my right eye still seemed blurry. It turns out that lens is not making my cornea flat enough so they are ordering me a new right lens so that it will make my right cornea more flat. My vision just after taking my contacts out was 20/20 in my left eye and 20/30 in my right eye, which is pretty good, but it wears off in about 1-2 hours. The doctors goal is for it to last all day long. I am supposed to continue wearing my contacts and when the new right one comes in, I will start wearing that one.
OCTOBER 1, 2001
Today I wore my contacts for about 5 hours, and when I went to take them out, they got stuck to the bottom of my eyeballs. This is really painful. The right one came out when I used the suction cup thing but I had to yank really hard. The left contact I could not get off for about 15 minutes cause it stuck so hard to my eyeball. It left my eyes with very red circles on the bottoms of my eyes where the contacts sort of cut into my eyes a little. It hurt.
October 2, 2001
My eyes feel much better today and the red is pretty much gone, but I still am leaving my contacts out for the day to give my poor eyeballs a break.
January 12, 2002
OK, I am sorry for not posting for so long.... I actually have not been wearing my contacts. I got a really nasty sinus infection, and my eyes were scratchy/watery etc. I could not stop rubbing my eyes. I am going to start wearing them again this week though. I have to start over with only wearing them for a few hours every day. My eye doctor still has not approved my for wearing them at night, but I also haven't been to see him in a few months because I have not been wearing the contacts. Stay tuned for more postings later this week!!!
February 16, 2002
Well, I was going to start wearing my contacts again today, but when I went to put them in I noticed that some of my solutions had expired, so I am going to the store tonight and I will buy more solution and then start wearing them tomorrow. I lost a bunch of weight and I feel like I want to look good. My glasses are part of the old me and now I am the new me, so i am definitely going to lose my glasses... time to start wearing the contacts, seriously. Tomorrow, I post again...
February 19, 2002
Ok you guys, I put my contact in tonight. Things are a little blurry but that might be because I have to get used to them all over again. They are only mildly uncomfortable and I forget I am wearing them until I look up from the computer and try to look around. They look very different than my glasses. I am sure I will get used to them again. I will not be able to post in my diary again tonight, but I will post again on Saturday and let you know how the next few days go. So far, so good.
April 20, 2002
Sorry for the long time with no posts... I have gotten emails from alot of you wanting to know what happened and how the ortho-k has been going.. Well, here's the skinny of it... I stopped wearing the lenses.. It is not that there were any problems, it started with a sinus infection and I just did not start wearing them again... I feel kind of bad about this since I paid so much money for this. I am going to resolve to start wearing them again this week... Stay posted to this site...& Talk to you guys again soon....