That was in September, 2006. Joey's eye got worse and Steve took him to see a cornea specialist. He ran a battery of tests and met with yet another specialist to figure out that Joey had parasites in his eye; he was diagnosed with Acanthamoeba keratitis (AK): a rare but serious infection of the cornea.
"Joey had to take a few weeks off school," says O'Connor. "He wore dark shades when he returned and was on heavy-duty antibiotics—he could have lost his eye. It has since left a scar on his cornea.
"We didn't know this was caused by AMO until the specialist said it was from the contact lens solution. He told Joey to stop using it immediately.
Then I saw something about AMO and a recall on TV one night. That was the same stuff Joey was using! One week later we got a letter from his optician who sold him the solution. It said that there has been recent reports in the media about AMO and there is a chance this can cause a parasite to attack the cornea. They offered to take all our supply and trade it in for something else. The optician had sold Joey a year's supply of AMO. We looked at some of it and the expiry date was well before the year's end.We got rid of anything that touched those contacts lenses. We still have a box of solution, and the bills. Then I went online and saw lawsuit—I won't be trading AMO. There should be compensation for this, especially when the company knew well in advance of the recall.
I'm not jumping at the opportunity to sue but in this case they must be held accountable. Joey is lucky, he could have lost his eye.
Toronto, ONT:Christina is 20 years old and also suffered from AMO Complete MoisturePlus Multi-Purpose Contact Lens Solution.
In September 2006 I switched from one solution to AMO Complete solution. This is when my whole life changed for the worst. Not long after I used this solution, I had to be rushed to the hospital/eye doctor because I had a cloudy substance on top of my pupil. After numerous tests, the doctors told me I had herpes in my eye.
They also told me this infection was rare. They had no idea how, at my age, I contracted this infection since I had no adverse history with my eyes. After taking three weeks off school (I am in university), the infection cleared and I started to wear my contacts once again, thinking nothing of it (using the AMO complete solution).
After two weeks of wearing my contacts again a new infection came that truly ruined my vision and my school year. One morning in October, I woke up and was blind in my left eye. I was scared that I might loose my vision; I cried out for my mom who came at once and was more in a panic then I was. She quickly called Humber River Hospital to see if my eye doctor was in and we rushed down to see him. I remember that morning looking at my eye in the mirror and all I saw was puss coming out of my pupil.
No one can imagine the pain I went through that day. It felt like I had a piece of glass in my eye cutting through everything, it was horrible.
When I arrived at my eye doctor's office, he couldn't not even tell me about the infection, because he said it was too severe for him to handle. Can you imagine being in this situation when you are 20? I was terrified.
That same day I was rushed to Toronto Western Hospital and was assigned to one of the top eye doctors/surgeons in Toronto. That day Dr. Rootmen and his associates took special care of me, taking many tests to see what the infection was. In conclusion, it ended up being a bacteria infection but no one knew its cause. The doctors at the hospital decided to test my contact lens solution and in the solution they found a bacteria: they said was the cause of all my eye problems.
I have suffered tremendously from this infection. My vision is now blurred, my left eye is sensitive to light, and is constantly watery. I have a scar on top of my pupil that is very visible and the scar/ my vision will never be corrected without surgery. This problem has changed my life tremendously--I had to take time off school (approx. a month and a half), I had to go to the hospital for a checkup twice a week, and I often suffer headaches because I can only see out of one eye (with glasses) and not the other. It is also hard for me to drive.
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The doctors wanted me to get a cornea transplant, but because Doctor Rootmen works mainly with Laser surgery I decided to get a PRK surgery (they cut out the surface of the eye layers and get rid of the scar with the laser and try to correct the vision). The doctors warned me however, even if I go for the surgery my vision will never be restored. Only 70% of my vision will be returned and I will require more than one surgery.I just had my first eye surgery on August 10th. The PRK surgery was agonizingly painful. The surgery took 20 minutes, which was not bad, but the recovery period is what killed me. It is now four days later I am finally out of bed (today) and my vision is still blurry and my eye is sensitive to the light.
Right now I am wearing sunglasses in order to function. The good part however is that 50% of the scar has been reduced but you can still see it if you look at me closely.The surgery cost over $3,000 dollars and to be honest my vision is the same as it was before the surgery.
Thank you for listening to my story,
Christina Franz
