Has anyone in this newsgroup had a cornea transplant at Bascom Palmer
Eye Institute in FL?

I have Keratoconus in both eyes. My first cornea transplant was at
Kaiser, in April 2004 by David Gritz, MD, an Oakland CA based surgeon
on their medical staff. The recovery is about a year from the time of
the procedure (outpatient - performed at Kaiser's Richmond facility)
until the last stitch comes out.

I could see 20/20 out of the surgical eye until the last stitch came
out. After that my vision seemed as bad as it was before the procedure.
Dr. Gritz performed an AK on the transplanted cornea which helped me
regain vision to about 20/40 with glasses ... which I am told is still
a good result. The astigmatism left in the transplanted eye is in an
area of the eye which causes contact lenses (even GBL lenses) to pop
out. Now, about 2 1/2 years later, I find my surgical eye is fatigued
by 5pm and the Keratoconus (in my case pellucid marginal degeneration -
a variant of Keratoconus) has progressed to the point that my piggy
back contact lens can no longer be tolerated. Thus I can not see in the
evenings so it is time to make the next big decision.

Last week I had a consultation with Edwardo Alfonso, MD at the
University of Miami Bascom Palmer Eye Institute. He comes highly
recommended by both my optometrist, Dr. Heidi Wagner at Nova University
and my cousin who just had the new, minimally invasive, cornea surgery
called DSAEK (performed by Dr. Alfonso). Dr. Alfonso indicated that he
may (or usually does?) leave stitches in the eye (forever) if 20/20
vision is achieved. Has anyone had a transplant where the stitches
remain in the eye beyond the usual one year recovery period? The
implication is that if Dr. Gritz had left the stiches in when I could
see 20/20 I may have had a more favorable result from the first
transplant.

I now live in FL most of the year so I had to decide whether to have
the procedure in CA or FL. Dr. Alfonso explained that 75% of the result
is a function of the artistry involved in the after-care (stitch
removal) and that he would not recommend having a transplant with one
doctor and the after-care with another.

Stitch removal is scheduled at regular intervals but if a stitch comes
loose or breaks you have to run to the doctor's office right away.
This happened about ten times during the year the followed my first
surgery.

The problem with going to a nationally recognized teaching hospital is
(in my case) an hour or more drive each way plus a waiting period which
often is 3 or more hours for each visit. This is not a big deal if your
procedure involves only a few visits but If you have to have many
visits for after-care you can plan on losing about a day every time you
need a stitch removed. Bascom Palmer has another location in
Plantation, FL which is close to the area where I live but their cornea
transplant surgeon, Kendell Donaldson, MD is pregnant and will be
unavailable for several months later this year.

I placed a call today to schedule the surgical procedure with Dr.
Alfonso. If anyone in this newsgroup has had a transplant with Dr.
Alfonso please post a reply.