Who better to tell about their experiences with our lenses than the customers themselves? Below is the story of our customers for whom the world, thanks to the right contact lenses, literally and figuratively opened up.
“Novakone highly distinctive contact lens.”
The practical experience of Cornea Care Contact Lenses
Arjan de Vecht (optometrist and owner Cornea Care Contact Lenses) – www.lenspraktijk.nl
Arjan de Vecht runs his own contact lens practice in Beilen, together with his wife, both Optometrist, which has since been expanded with four practices with branches in hospitals (www.lenspraktijk.nl). In addition to cosmetic lenses, his passion is the measurement of medical lenses for keratoconus, after corneal transplantation, after laser surgery, traumatized eyes and for babies and children. In addition to running his own practice, he gives contact lens related lectures and training courses at home and abroad.
In my contact lens practices, I have to deal with complex adaptations. I mainly work in a medical setting, where you have to be able to work with all product possibilities. My favorite lenses at UCO contact lenses are the medical contact lenses, especially the Novakone. This lens is ideal for keratoconus customers or for eyes with an irregular cornea where a RGP lens option is less suitable. One of the big advantages is that I can measure and judge the lens with my great passion, the corneatopographer. I can quickly and efficiently assess the fit and give an expectation of the vision with the topography with the lens in the eye. As a specialist, I don’t want to make any concessions in the quality of adjustments and I think the Novakone is a very distinctive lens and an excellent addition to my practices. Made in Holland, with fast deliveries.
“The Rose K Post Graft lens gave the gentleman his freedom back.”
A 62-year-old customer visited our consultation hours to measure contact lenses after a corneal transplant. The eye was measured, the topography made and the lens fitted. This man is now wearing a Rose K Post Graft lens with a diameter of 11.50. This will cover almost the entire cornea, with all the conveniences that entails.
Very happy
This man is very happy with the lenses. After three years of surgery and recovery, he was finally told that the eye is so stable that a lens can be worn. Those three years were certainly not easy. Because of the restriction in his sight, the gentleman could not do his job properly. He also had problems in his social life: with sports, going out and driving independently. That’s finally over.
An emotional moment
It was an emotional moment when he first put the lens in. His sight was back, he can work again, he can pick up tennis again and is no longer dependent on his wife or others for transportation. In short, this man got his freedom back, thanks to the Rose K Post Graft lens.
“This young man found his ideal lens in the Rose K.”
We referred a fourteen year old young man from Amstelveen to us for fitting Keratoconus lenses. He’s had cross-linking treatment because of his already massive Keratoconus. We modified the Rose K lens on him. As the cone was quite large, the lens was nice in the middle, but there was almost no edge left.
Lens fits optimally
Ideally, the Rose K lens can be made with an increased edge or even double increased. This was done for this customer, so that the lens fits optimally in the centre and there is a good flow of tears under the lens. Also, due to the larger edge lift, a good movement is guaranteed. Because the cone was also quite low, the young man looked at the edge of the lens in the beginning. That’s solved by increasing the diameter.
Lots of possibilities
We think the Rose K is a fine lens to work with. A lot is possible, because the edge and diameter are available in so many options. With the Rose K a good lens can be made for every cone. A lens where the customer happily and satisfied walks out the door and can function normally again. And that is what we ultimately do it for.
“This is the scleral lens of choice.”
With a careful diagnostic fit, the only adjustments that I have had to make is power. Otherwise, it has literally been 100% sucess across the board with patients commenting how ecstatic they are with the results.
All other lenses, as you all know – when making a small change to the parameters the whole lens changes leading to multiple remakes. No so with the Zens lens. I photograph every lens I put on the eye during the diagnostic fit. This way I can observe the NAFl pattern and clearance in the various zones and the r/o conjunctiva compression. By doing this I can determine when I hit the mark.
Additionally I use aberrometry over the contact lens to isolate the power and determine sphero-cylinder issues. Again, this is wonderfully addressed with the option of a toric.
A patient last week had a simple over-refraction of 0.00 -1.00 ?? axis cyl. She was 20/20 = unhappy with ghosting. Ordered the cylinder correction – got a call Monday – “I have never seen this well”.
The Zenlens is a life changer!
Kenneth Daniels
“Longer comfort thanks to Silicone hydrogel lens.”
A lady from West-Friesland came to us for a check-up. She was not satisfied with her RGP lenses. The lady had a lot of trouble with the lenses and a dry feeling in the eye. This strongly affected her vision. She was wearing a three-month-old 10.1-diameter lens in a high-oxygen permeable material, from another supplier.
Cleaner did not meet the requirements
For maintenance she used a soapy cleaner, also from another manufacturer. Soon she got a hit on the lenses. Because of this she had to remove and clean her lenses all day long. Previously she used a different fluid, which made the deposits even worse. “It looked like the surface of the lens became hydrophobic after only an hour of wear.
An astonishing result
We’ve done a fitting of Orion 6 lenses in Silicone Hydrogel. With an astonishing result: the lady is completely rid of her deposits problem. The new surface of this material is also easily ‘wettable’, which means that it experiences more comfort and less dry eyes. The lady can wear her lenses longer and with a lot of pleasure and is very satisfied.
“I was introduced to the Zenlens scleral lens. I just wanted to thank you for changing my life.”
My name is Brandon and I currently live in Chicago, Il. I am 39 years of age, married, and work for one of the major banks. In 2009, I was diagnosed with Keratoconus in my left eye. At first, I thought I scratched or got something in my eye and that it would heal and only be temporary. I went an saw various Ophthalmologists, Optometrists, etc. and they all came to the same diagnosis. This was all new to me, for eye problems have never run in my family.
The depression, anxiety, and addiction set in not long after I was diagnosed with Keratoconus. My whole quality of life changed because of this stigmatism. My eye was ultra-sensitive to light, experienced major migraines, and my equilibrium was completely off.
I was not able to enjoy activities such as golf, baseball, or skiing anymore. I got married to my wife in 2/2011 and we had talked about the possibility of getting a corneal transplant. In 204, I did go forward with getting the transplant with the hope of regaining my vision getting back to the quality of life that I was used to. The surgery went well, however, I was disappointed with the results because my vision was not restored. Only the sensitivity and migraines disappeared. It was not until January of this year that a miracle happened. I was parking my car in our underground parking lot below our building, and I met an eye doctor named Dr. Randy Burgraff. I discussed my issues and my frustrations with him and just felt hopeless all together. He recommended that I come visit him at his office to discuss different options. I made the appointment and we started to talk about the scleral lenses. It was then that I was introduced to the Zenlens scleral lens. I just wanted to thank you for changing my life. After a couple trials and fittings (due to the abnormal curvature of my cornea), Dr. Burgraff was able to get me back to 20/20 vision. This is by far the best product that has ever been introduced to the market and I highly recommend it to others that I meet who have similar issues that I once had. I am forever grateful that a company like yours exists. If there is anything that I can do for your company (besides constantly talking to other about your product to other), please let me know. This lens has restored the quality of life that I once had. I am extremely passionate about your product.
Thank you once again for everything that you have done for me.
Brandon
“I couldn’t be happier with Zenlens. I find them extremely comfortable!”
I have been wearing Zenlens for almost a year now, and I couldn’t be happier. I find them extremely comfortable, even when i find myself wearing them for long periods of time, sometimes 16 or more hours. I rarely get anything in my eye that might require taking them out, rinsing, and reinserting. In fact, that might have occurred once since I received these. Once inserted, I hardly know they are in my eye, and my vision is the best it has been in a long time. Furthermore, my vision is consistent. The last lenses I wore for keratoconus were greatly affected by changes in humidity and artificial lighting, so much so that I had difficulty while on vacation in Central America.
All this being said, I have to really credit Andy Taddeo and Maggie Walsh for guiding me to these lenses, and Dr. Bryant for having the patience and expertise to properly fit the lens to my specific needs. I have to admit that when Andy showed them to me and explained how great they would work for me, I was extremely skeptical and quite a bit intimidated because of the size of the lens and the fact that they were rigid gas permeable lenses. Dr. Bryant and his staff were so professional and patient with me while we went through the fitting phase. Having worn contact lenses for almost 50 years, I was quite accustomed to inserting lenses. At first I had to use the rubber inserter to hold the lens, but now I rarely do. The fact that you fill the well with saline solution makes insertion very comfortable. I use a few drops of saline before I remove them with the ocular suction cup, a device that also initially intimidated me.
In all, I am extremely grateful for the vision I have with these lenses and the comfort that I now enjoy. I am also thrilled that Dr. Bryant’s office was able to convince my insurance company that these lenses are not cosmetic.
Thanks to your company for being so committed to making an exceptional product that has truly impacted my day to day life.
Sincerely, Lynn
“The lens is life changing. For more than a decade I had suppressed vision.”
I am a first year student at the University of Houston College of Optometry. A few months ago Alden Optical provided me with a Zenlens donation through the Cornea and Contact Lens Service at UHCO. I would like to express my deep gratitude to Alden Optical for supplying the Zenlens. I was overwhelmed with this unexpected generosity, and I am extremely touched by your kindness.
Twelve years ago my eye was damaged during a LASIK procedure. I had to have an emergency surgery that resulted in an intraocular lens implant and later a corneal transplant. Until I received the donation from Alden Optical I had gone without corrective lenses in my eye. Hard contacts reminded me of having stitches in my eye which was disturbing to me after all I had been through. A scleral lens was just recently recommended to me for better comfort.
The lens is life changing. For more than a decade I had suppressed vision in the affected eye because the visual input was so blurry. I went through life really only using one eye because I had resigned myself to thinking that recovering better vision was a lost cause. When I put the Zenlens in for the first time it was the best visual acuity I had had in over a decade. It was as if my eye was awakening from a deep slumber in order to take in a whole new world. On my drive home I became emotional because I was suddenly seeing the world as the average person sees it and the way I had not seen it for so long. I am now so used to wearing the lens that I really notice the difference when I do not have it in. I am developing confidence in seeing with my affected eye after viewing it as inferior for so long. Vision is certainly a wonderful thing, but it has meant even more to me to have this renewed confidence in a body part that I have basically been ignoring. Before I always had to make sure my good seeing eye was the eye that viewed things in life because I could not rely on my affected eye for quality vision. Without the Zenlens I would still be going through this struggle. I feel like a person with two eyes again! Being in optometry school it is important to have the best possible vision I can. Having two working eyes makes being an optometry student much easier than it would have been previously. We are constantly learning to work with new equipment and perform procedures. When I am an optometrist I will be relying on my own eyes to make correct diagnoses, and it makes me feel more secure to know I have two good eyes now rather than just one.
Having formerly spent a large sum of money to surgically repair my eye I never expected to personally benefit from a donation. Being a student means being financially frugal, and I was wary about taking on the cost of a specialty lens. Much to my surprise and relief I was bestowed with a truly amazing gift of a complimentary lens. It was an exciting moment for me after all the devastation I had gone through in regard to my eye. I feel like my story is finally ending on a positive note after such a long journey.
I deeply appreciate Alden Optical for giving me the Zenlens. I will not forget this generosity. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
With gratitude, Christine
This post is also available in: Dutch
