It is hereditary as well. My grandmother had it. My mom and some siblings have it. Dr. Gelender in the middle of the home page photo of the below linked site did my mom's and her brother's cornea transplants.

On her last and discharge visit several years ago I asked him what my chance was of having it. I forgot what percentage it was. But we were literally shaking hands and about to walk out when he said, "Hop in the chair and let me look." He asked my age, I think 59 then. He said I was all clear and wouldn't have it.

Now he could have told me to make an appointment on the way out. And I would have. But needless to say I was quite happy with the visit that day. Mom was discharged with her eyesight and I was on cloud 9 knowing I was all clear.

https://www.corneatexas.com/

So just a little clarification, Fuchs' corneal dystrophy affects the inner lining of the cornea, a tissue called the endothelium of the cornea. The sole purpose of this tissue is to pump fluid from the cornea back into the eye making the rest of the cornea clear and give you ability to see through it (small tidbit, the connective tissue of the cornea os the same as the white part of the eyeball and it is the endothelium of the cornea that allows the cornea to be clear). For what ever reason God made the endothelium a single cell layer thick and made these cells not regenerative, meaning when they die they are gone and not replaced. Fortunately we are born with around 4-5x the amount we need for life. In Fuchs' these cells die a little quicker, thus the potential need for treatments or surgeries.

What happens with Fuchs' is you will have loss of cells in the endothelium, something that is visible to the trained eye in the microscope, and this can be measured by a special machine that can count the number of cells/mm2. If too many cells are missing, the first stage of disease is simply a slight haziness or swelling of the cornea which leads to halos around lights and tends to be worse in the mornings and get better at night. Eventually cell loss can lead to a swollen cornea which is difficult to see through and this is when most surgeons recommend a transplant. that tech has gotten really good lately so it isn't what it used to be just 10 years ago.

But don't be frightened by the name Fuchs', it is typically a medical treatment and not typically a surgical treatment.

It is hereditary according to my Dr. When I had cataract removed from my right eye things went down hill fast in that eye. The Dr. I was seeing at the time had me return for about 3 months and had no diagnosis. He sent me to another Dr. in his office who examined the eye and she sent me to see
Dr. Ken Maverick in San Antonio. Dr. Maverick had much more equipment in his office which was used. He told me what the problem was that day. Later he did a cornea transplant and all was well the next morning. Blessings is what I felt. Since then I have had a cornea transplant in the other eye
Dr. Maverick indicated the problem did arise from the Fuchs disease. Needless to say I have great respect for Dr. Maverick at Focal Point Vision.

All that sounds very familiar. 2 different eye surgeons recommended the cataract surgery which I have had done now. Following those I am seeing better but anything very bright at all has a halo, car head lights and well any bright light I see as a bright starburst to the point I deem myself not safe to drive from sunset to sunrise. During the day sun reflecting off say a windshield sometimes covers the entire car. In the right eye the cells right in the middle of vision are dead and no straight line looks straight. Hopefully we can the the next surgeries done early next year getting me back to better mobility. Also with the pressure raised from the Fuchs the cataract surgeries are healing slower than what is expected. Strong saline drops and gel does help a little but not that much.

Not trying to poo poo another doc but if Dr Maverick did a transplant and you got one in the other eye already, the original doc should have been able to see that plain as day what the problem was. Maybe the doc didn't want to tell you about it and thought it would get better, or maybe they just went brain dead on it, but thats not an uncommon experience, as I have seen many patients in second opinions for bad outcomes following cataract surgery and something really obvious is the cause but the patient had never been told.

Glad you are doing well.