18 April 2023 , 13:54
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A woman has warned how she ended up with a flesh-eating parasite in her left eye after using contact lenses.
Lilian Melchert, from Brazil, posted a video for her 2.9 million TikTok followers on April 15 explaining her terrifying ordeal.
The 30-year-old wrote: "I got Acanthamoeba keratitis and it has been quite a journey."
Acanthamoeba keratitis is a rare but serious infection of the eye that can result in permanent visual impairment or blindness.
The influencer told her followers how the treatment lasts on average from six months to one year.
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She recalled: "Pain, a lot of pain! It felt like I was giving birth to a child through my eye."
Lilian contracted the condition in early March and had to seek emergency services.
She told her 1.5 million Instagram followers later that month: "As some of you already know, March was not a very nice month for me.
Lilian is from Brazil but lives in America (@limelchert/Newsflash)
She said it felt like she was giving birth to a child through her eye (@limelchert/Newsflash)"I woke up on the 1st feeling like a knife had been plunged into my left eye.
"I had never felt worse pain in my entire life.
"I rushed to the Los Angeles emergency room and started a treatment for infection that showed no improvement in the following days.
"So, I was referred to several specialist ophthalmologists, spent a fortune on various antibiotics and eye drops, and no improvement.
"Fifteen days had passed and my vision had simply disappeared. None of the diagnoses seemed right.
"That was when I reached my physical and psychological limit.
"I was very scared and immediately decided to buy a ticket to Brazil to find the real diagnosis and cure together with my family and trusted doctors.
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She recalled waking up to the worst pain she'd ever experienced (@limelchert/Newsflash)"Upon arriving here, I was surprised by the diagnosis of a rare condition: Acanthamoeba keratitis, which is a carnivorous parasite that devours the eye's cornea.
"This f***ing thing can be acquired from contaminated contact lenses or even tap water, so be careful! Our eyes are really very sensitive, so every precaution is still not enough.
"Anyway, I had read a news article about this protozoan exactly a few days before the diagnosis and was already aware of the severity of the situation. I cried at the hospital itself and embarrassed myself.
"This is a delicate treatment that can last for months and even involve a corneal transplant."
Lilian added that at the beginning of her ordeal, her affected eye "looked like a kidney".
She wrote: "I don't know what will happen from now on, but I'm not measuring physical or even spiritual efforts to make everything work out - I'm even doing daily meditations focused on healing my eye. But you know what?
"Everything will be fine. Thank you to all of you who have been sending me positive energy since the beginning of all this. You have no idea how much you've given me strength in this fragile moment. Lots of love."
Lilian later revealed: "It has improved a lot. One month ago, I couldn't see anything. Now, with the treatment, I can see about 80 per cent."