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Live Like Barb—Donor’s Legacy Lives On

Live Like Barb—Donor’s Legacy Lives On

Nov 4, 2019 | Donor Stories

One of Barb’s Favorite Songs Includes the Words:
“If I can help somebody as I pass along, If I can cheer somebody with a word or song,
If I can show somebody he is travelling wrong,
Then my living will not be in vain.”

“My mom was ALWAYS happy! She was everyone’s best friend and she never met a stranger,” says Tamika of her mom, Barb. “She had the most beautiful smile and the most distinctive laugh ever!”

Tamika adds that Barb was an expert shopper and bargain-hunter who loved finding deals on clothes and shoes, but especially loved purchasing home decor. “She took pride in her decorating skills, and loved searching magazines for the latest in interior design. She loved cooking and enjoyed entertaining friends at her home, and was also an avid reader. She would read a book a day! Above all else, she loved spending time with her family – especially her grandchildren. She was definitely their biggest fan.”

When Barb passed away, she was able to give the gift of sight to others as an eye donor. “My mom made the choice to become an organ donor through the DMV and encouraged me to do the same,” says Tamika. “That’s the type of person she was…always a giver. She impacted so many people – her funeral services were attended by over 400 people!”

Tamika chose to write to her mother’s recipient through Saving Sight’s Correspondence Program because she felt it was important to make that connection with her recipient. “I wanted them to know more about their donor, and I wanted to learn more about them as well. It’s mind-blowing to know that there’s a part of her that lives on in someone else!”

“I’d like to believe that someone’s life has been enhanced because of my mom’s donation. I hope that they know that by receiving any part of her, they are connected to a brilliant, strong, loving, faith-filled person.”

#LiveLikeBarb

“#LiveLikeBarb was something that I came up with right after my mom passed away,” says Tamika. “So many people spoke about how they aspired to be like her or how they admired the type of person she was. That hashtag is a small reminder that we should all strive to live the way she did. Even while living with Congestive Heart Fail-ure, she never allowed her health to slow her down. She always had joy, was always quick to forgive, she never complained, and she lived a life of gratitude. Who wouldn’t want to Live Like Barb? The buttons are just a tangible reminder of that – I usually keep several on hand at all times because I’m always running into a classmate of hers, a for-mer co-worker…even her favorite cashier at JCPenney asked for one!”

“In honor of my mom’s birthday, I got Live Like Barb tattooed on my shoulder…I’m sure she was somewhere rolling her eyes about that!”
“I made a promise that my mom would be famous – that her name and legacy would live forever. I don’t ever want her story to be solely about me and my journey without her…my goal is to have her life story impact others in a way that helps them to live their lives in a more meaningful way.”

Joining the Donor Registry
For those considering joining the organ, eye and tissue donor registry, Tamika says: “The most important thing that we can do while we’re here on earth is to be a blessing to someone. That’s how you leave a legacy, by ensuring that someone else has a second chance at life through the generosity of organ donation. It’s a chance to be a hero.” You can join the donor registry at your local DMV or at www.registerme.org.

Introducing Halo Sterile Tissues

Introducing Halo Sterile Tissues

Sep 10, 2019 | News

Kansas City, Mo., September 2019 – Saving Sight is proud to offer Halo sterile tissues as another simple and convenient solution for our clinical partners. Halo sterile tissue allografts are currently used by ophthalmic surgeons worldwide as a glaucoma shunt cover, or for cornea surgeries like Keratoplasty, ALKP, DALK, and Boston Keratoprosthesis. The halo cornea is sterile and, as such, has no viable endothelial cells. In addition to the Halo sterile cornea, Saving Sight also offers Halo sterile sclera and sterile pericadium. Both are best suited for surgical use in glaucoma shunt coverage. This allows Saving Sight to provide another service to both cornea surgeons and those who specialize in glaucoma, in addition to continuing our work in recovering, processing and distributing donor tissue for corneal transplantation.

Benefits of Halo Sterile Tissues

Convenience: Tissues feature patented easy-peel packaging for fast and safe introduction to the surgical field.

Clarity: Halo Sterile Cornea is clear and will remain clear, resulting in simplified post-op assessment and improved patient cosmesis.

Shelf Stable:  Tissues remain at room temperature and never need reconstitution, so physicians can always have it available in their facility.

Sterility: Halo achieves industry standard sterility by using E-beam Sterilization. The reduced processing time limits environmental exposures.

In addition to offering halo sterile tissues, Saving Sight also offers whole sclera. Please contact our Client Services Team if you have any questions. Learn more at https://saving-sight.org/halo/. 

About Saving Sight

Saving Sight is a nonprofit eye bank with a mission to change lives by saving sight. Founded in 1960, Saving Sight has grown to become one of the nation’s leading eye banks and is focused on providing innovative solutions to its clinical and research partners. Saving Sight welcomes customized research collaborations that meet your research tissue needs and strives to advance the field of corneal transplantation through dynamic collaborations with medical centers and researchers. Headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., Saving Sight facilitates eye donation in Missouri, Kansas, and Illinois, serving transplantation and research specialists locally and around the world.

 

 

Continued Collaboration Leads to Further Study of the Development of Myopia

Continued Collaboration Leads to Further Study of the Development of Myopia

Aug 21, 2019 | News, Research

Continued Collaboration Leads to Further Study of the Development of Myopia

Lynn Forest-Smith, Director of Business Development at Saving Sight, with Dr. Jody Summers at ARVO 2019 in Vancouver.

Kansas City, Mo., August 21, 2019 – Jody Summers, PhD, professor of cell biology at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, studies the extracellular matrix of the sclera and changes associated with myopia development. Myopia is largely regulated by the visual environment. Through her studies, she hopes to understand why myopia interacts the way it does so intervention is possible.

“Nearly 50 percent of the world’s population will be myopic by 2050,” says Dr. Summers. “In some countries, such as those in East Asia, myopia is the leading cause of blindness. It can be completely preventable with how the eye responds to the visual environment if we can learn why.”

As a postdoctoral fellow in ophthalmology, Dr. Summers identified that there was little research with regard to the sclera. “Through research, I discovered that the sclera is not just a static container in the eye. The sclera is actually very active and can alter its compositions to control the refractive state or length of the eye. What happens in myopia is the sclera begins to elongate. Because sclera is a very responsive tissue, we are trying to understand how sclera remodeling happens so we can work to regulate it – which has taken us to this study.”

Saving Sight was honored to be a co-author on a research project at the 2017 Annual Meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) with Dr. Summers, titled Isolation and Transcriptome Analyses of Choroidal Retinaldehyde Dehydrogenase-2 (RALDH2) Expressing Cells.

At ARVO 2017, Dr. Summers successfully isolated cells in the choroid (the vascular layer of the eye, located between the sclera and the retina) of both chick and human eyes which have been found to produce the enzyme retinaldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (RALDH2).

“The ARVO abstract was preliminary research to see if we could isolate those cells,” says Dr. Summers. “We first had a pilot study where Saving Sight provided us with two, reduced fee whole globes. This showed we could isolate the retinoic acid in the choroid.”

In summer 2019, Dr. Summers received National Eye Institute at NIH funding to further study the isolated cells through transcriptome analyses. Part of that grant contributes to the fees associated with receiving 10 whole globes or poles (which is the whole eye minus the cornea) from Saving Sight. “This next step is to do it again and do the transcriptome analyses to identify the cells in the choroid that make the retinoic acid.”

Dr. Summers adds that retinoic acid is a powerful chemical and they are interested in identifying the cells that produce it. “If we identify these cell types we can, perhaps, use that information to develop strategy to control the synthesis of retinoic acid,” she says.

Since the human genome has been sequenced, Dr. Summers will be able to sequence the cells from the choroid and compare with the human genome sequence to gather more information as to which cell type is responsible for retinoic acid synthesis.

Collaboration between Researchers and Eye Banks

“I value working with Saving Sight because it was very easy to get the collaboration set up,” says Dr. Summers. “I love that they are interested in research and feel like it’s a two-way relationship. I’m really glad they are available and willing to introduce a new technique or procedure that is compatible for research.”

Dr. Summers adds that one of most valuable connections in eye banks and researchers working together is the ability for Saving Sight to provide human eye tissue for research. “NIH funded research hopes to help humans through the betterment of health. Being able to provide tissue like Saving Sight does under the conditions needed is of value because not many eye banks do that.”

About Saving Sight

Saving Sight is a nonprofit eye bank with a mission to change lives by saving sight. Founded in 1960, Saving Sight has grown to become one of the nation’s leading eye banks and is focused on providing innovative solutions to its clinical and research partners. Saving Sight welcomes customized research collaborations that meet your research tissue needs and strives to advance the field of corneal transplantation through dynamic collaborations with medical centers and researchers. Headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., Saving Sight facilitates eye donation in Missouri, Kansas, and Illinois, serving transplantation and research specialists locally and around the world.

Click here to learn more about Saving Sight’s customized research collaborations.

Support Saving Sight and Help Honor Eye Donors

Support Saving Sight and Help Honor Eye Donors

Jul 11, 2019 | News

Last year, 2,559 heroes gave the gift of sight through eye donation with Saving Sight. Help us honor these donors on this year’s Donate Life Rose Parade Float.

Saving Sight has launched a t-shirt fundraiser with Bonfire, a shirt platform that works with nonprofit organizations. We will be selling three designs, available in July, August and September respectively. The proceeds from the sale of these shirts will be used to purchase roses in memory of our donors.

Each year, Donate Life’s Rose Parade float features riders representing transplant recipients; living donor walkers; and dozens of memorial “floragraph” portraits of deceased organ, eye and tissue donors. The deck of the float is also covered with thousands of dedicated roses with vials carrying personal messages of love, hope and remembrance.

To purchase a shirt, visit www.bonfire.com/store/saving-sight/. Shirts available for purchase July 1-21st, August 1-21st, and Sept 1-21st. At the conclusion of each campaign, the shirts will be shipped directly to the purchaser the last week of each month.

 

Click Here to Order Your Shirt Today

Saving Sight Thanks Outgoing Board of Directors and Introduces the 2019-2020 Board of Directors

Jun 10, 2019 | News

Saving Sight is pleased to welcome three new people to its Board of Directors for the 2019-2020 fiscal year (July 1 – June 30). Welcome Council Chair Lion Walt Hamer, Vice-Council Chair Lion George Winkeler, Jr., and Lion Al Dohmen. Immediate Past Vice-Council Chair Lion Pat Scott will continue on the board representing Lions district M-5.

CC Lion Walt Hamer

VCC Lion George Winkeler, Jr.

M-6 Lion Al Dohmen

Board members are key to the organization’s success. They actively participate in long-range planning and monitor the organization’s financial health and overall performance. As highly visible members of their communities, the board members also enhance Saving Sight’s public standing by sharing the mission, accomplishments, and goals with Lions clubs, the general public, and other partner organizations. As Lion board members, these individuals also keep their districts informed about Saving Sight.

“We are able to change more lives by saving sight due to our board members engagement, leadership, support and oversight,” said Tony Bavuso, chief executive officer.

In addition to welcoming new members to the board, Saving Sight also expressed gratitude to three individuals who retired from the board of directors on June 1, 2019. “We were honored to have Lion Allen Lohsandt, PCC Ron Campbell, and PDG Stuart Payne serve on our board,” Bavuso said. “On behalf of the staff and the recipients of our programs, I thank them for their valuable service and wish them all the best.” PCC Ron Campbell was elected to a three year term as an honorary board of director member.

Board President Pat Martchink presenting Lion Allen Lohsandt with a plaque in recognition of his service.
Board President Pat Martchink presenting Lion Allen Lohsandt with a plaque in recognition of his service.
Board President Pat Martchink presenting PCC Ron Campbell with a plaque in recognition of his service.
Board President Pat Martchink presenting PDG Stuart Payne with a plaque in recognition of his service.

At the June Board of Directors meeting, the board elected its 2019-2020 leadership team.
These board members were elected to leadership roles for the new fiscal year:

President: Lion Pat Martchink, MD-26 M2
Vice President: IPCC Larry Boettcher, MD-26 M4
Treasurer: Lion Mike Oldelehr, MD-26 M7
Secretary: Lion Cassidy Obermark, OD, MD-26 M1

Congratulations to the leadership team. To see the full listing of Saving Sight’s board of directors, visit our Leadership Page.