Texas woman goes BLIND after making common mistake with her contact lenses - as she urges others to beware

A Texas female has went unsighted successful 1 oculus aft making a sedate correction pinch her interaction lenses.

Last year, Rachel Prochnow, an Austin, Texas-based manner writer, did thing she'd done countless times before: she showered without taking nan lenses out.

What started pinch immoderate ray irritation successful her correct oculus quickly deteriorated. 'The symptom makes giving commencement look for illustration a locomotion successful nan freaking park. [It] was perfectly unreal.'

Within 2 weeks Ms Prochnow, who was 34 weeks pregnant astatine nan time, had gone wholly unsighted connected that side.

Doctors told her that a parasite recovered successful h2o had gotten into her eye, apt while she was showering, and burrowed into nan delicate tissue, damaging it. 

She had ever been observant astir taking attraction of her eyes, having worn contacts since she was 12. She ever took them retired astatine night, cleaned them good and threw distant her interaction lens cases regularly - ensuring everything was sterile.

But she was ne'er knew that showering, swimming aliases basking tubbing successful her interaction lenses could time off her susceptible to infection.

'I thought I was doing everything right. I wasn’t,' she said. 

Doctors yet diagnosed her pinch acanthamoeba keratitis. 

'Because of nan severity of nan disease, we had to induce astatine 27 weeks,' she said connected TikTok, sharing that 2 months postpartum, she was 'still fighting this achy disease.' 

The information is caused by nan acathamoeba parasite, a single-celled organism, recovered successful lakes, oceans, pat water, ungraded and air, according to nan CDC. 

An estimated 1,500 Americans get it each year, according to The Cleveland Clinic. Roughly 90 percent of those cases hap successful group who deterioration interaction lenses. 

It effects nan cornea, which is nan clear, outermost furniture of nan eye. Wearing contacts tin create microscopic tears successful this furniture - which nan Acanthamoeba parasite tin enter. 

If nan parasites successfully get into your cornea, they whitethorn multiply and spread, causing eye pain, redness, blurred vision, ray sensitivity, and watery eyes. Eventually, this tin lead to blindness. 

If doctors drawback nan information early enough, they tin dainty it easy pinch eyedrops. 

In astir 40 percent of cases, doctors person to execute room - scraping nan extracurricular of nan oculus to region nan parasites and later repairing nan area done transplant. 

That's what Ms Prochnow had to spell through. 

After initially being misdiagnosed by 5 different doctors, she consulted pinch specialists and had her cornea scraped. 

She past started a rigorous people of oculus drops that had to beryllium applied each 30 minutes for 3 months, pinch nan thief of her parents and her hubby Cameron. 

She was besides fixed aggravated drugs, akin to those utilized successful crab treatment, and had to get regular humor tests done to guarantee nan medications weren't sending her into liver failure. 

'Had my parents and Cameron not been afloat committed to getting maine done this-I would person without a uncertainty mislaid it,' she said. 

A twelvemonth and 82 doctors visits aft she had been initially diagnosed, Ms Prochnow went into room to get her cornea replaced pinch 1 from a deceased donor. 

The room went well.

Whereas earlier she could only spot ray and manus movements, now she tin spot and publication nan biggest letters connected a imagination chart. Her imagination is acold from perfect, but she's capable to correct it pinch glasses. 

Now, she's focused connected raising consciousness astir nan information and raising her 1 twelvemonth old, Lachlan, who was calved successful July 2023. 

Some of nan tips for reducing your likelihood of getting this infection see taking your contacts retired earlier showering, avoiding swimming pinch them in, ne'er utilizing pat h2o connected your contacts aliases to cleanable your interaction lawsuit and not wearing your contacts for longer than necessary.

The Texan mom shared her communicative successful an Instagram post that has gained complete 742,000 likes.