I am so thrilled to update that I was able to get my surgery completed in both eyes! I was referred to The Eye Institute at the Ottawa General Hospital where I was advised that CXL would benefit BOTH of my eyes! In addition to the CXL my left eye had PTK which helped reduce the prescription as well as help flatten out the cornea. The recovery was extremely painful for the first 3 days, especially seeing as how I had both eyes done at the same time. I was so unbelievably grateful to my mom who came up from Hamilton to take care of me for the week. I definitely couldn't have done it without the help of my parents and supportive partner by my side. I have been speaking with many key people along my journey including MP John Fraser who works in the Health Minister’s office, conflict managers in OHIP, research coordinator at Kensington and my own personal experiences with the surgeons at the Ottawa Hospital. With all the conversations and the progression of my news stories I have discovered that the government DOES HAVE PLANS to have CXL covered through OHIP. I have asked the Health Minister’s office to release a statement to the College of Optometrists as this would be the most direct way to inform the majority of the eye care professionals as to the options available for keratoconus patients for coverage of the procedure. They discussed with their colleagues at the Minister’s office and have concluded that they are not able to do so but encouraged me to contact the College to reach out to Kensington or vice versa so they can be aligned on any triage protocols, eligibility etc. Here is a summary of the information I have collected over the past few months: • Kensington Project was supposed to be a 3-year research program to find answers as to whether CXL is a beneficial procedure to halt the progression of keratoconus and whether it should be covered under OHIP • This project was started in 2011. When the timeframe was done, it was extended to 2017, and has now once again been extended to March 2019 • CXL HAS BEEN PROVEN TO HALT THE PROGRESSION OF KERATOCONUS yet the government has still not acted on their own research findings of having it covered through OHIP • There are currently 5 locations in Ontario that work with Kensington that will cover CXL through the government research project. This means patients can be referred to these clinics and have the procedure covered through OHIP • Kensington Eye Institute (Toronto) • Ottawa Eye Institute (The Ottawa Hospital) • Hotel Dieu Hospital (Kingston) • London Health Sciences Centre • McMaster University Eye Clinic My next step will be to get in contact with the College and Kensington so that Ontarians will have access to the procedure and knowledge of available options for treatment. I am so proud to be working with Nuvo Eye Centre and to have the backing of our eye care community. Without the guidance and expertise of the Optometrists I work with I would not be as successful in my journey as I have been. I will also be following up with the government in the spring. If they have not held true to this time frame I will be contacting MP’s to get me into Queen’s Park to hold the government accountable to their research. CXL research program was supposed to be a 3 year project which started in 2011. If it continues into 2019 that means a 3 year project has been extended to an 8 year project, yet research has proven CXL to halt the progression of keratoconus. Thank you to everyone who has supported me in this journey in every way possible! My personal journey with keratoconus has it’s happy ending, but the battle is still in full force as I do not intend to stop until CXL is covered by our provincial healthcare system. I WILL win the battle and make a change in Ontario that will help our eye care community. Michelle xox