After her two cornea transplants, Wilma chose to give back to others.
Imagine living your life as if you were looking through waxed paper. You couldn’t read the newspaper or your favorite recipes. You would have trouble identifying your grandchildren on the soccer field. You could no longer safely drive your car, relying on others to get anywhere.
For Wilma of Decatur, Ill., all of these, and many other issues, were realities because of her battle against Fuch’s dystrophy, a genetic eye disease that slowly steals one’s vision. Her only escape from permanent blindness? A corneal transplant using donated tissue from Heartland Lions Eye Banks.
In 2009, Wilma underwent two partial thickness corneal transplants. The surgeries themselves went smoothly, but she faced some difficulties in her recovery. “I did have quite a bit of pain the day of and following surgery, but it was well worth it,” said Wilma. “I know friends who’ve had both partial and full cornea transplants, and neither one experienced pain. Every surgery is different, and the pain wasn’t anything that lasted more than a few days.”
Within six weeks of her surgery, this retired bookkeeper and grandmother of five noticed significant improvements in her vision, and is now able to see 20/25 without glasses and 20/20 with corrective lenses for her astigmatism. Today, Wilma is back driving, reading and working on her computer as well as enjoying her favorite hobbies, including genealogy and bird watching.
Remarked Wilma, “It’s just unreal. I look outside and not only see the tree and the leaves, but the stems and the veins of the leaves. And now I can tell the difference between squirrels and rabbits in my yard. I think of those who’ve never been able to see in their lifetime and how fortunate I am to be able to see. It’s very emotional.”
Since her surgery, Wilma continues to make a difference in the Eye Bank’s efforts to improve the eyesight of individuals in Illinois and around the world. She has written her donor families to thank them for their gifts and is a generous financial contributor to the Eye Bank’s mission, helping us to provide free gratis tissue to those in need and to work with researchers in discovering the causes of and cures for eye disease.
In addition, Wilma continues to encourage others to join their state’s registry in honor of those who gave her the gift of sight, “Words can’t tell you how much my donor and donor families mean. They gave me such a precious gift when they lost someone precious to them. I think of them every day when I wake in the morning and open my eyes.”
Wilma is so very thankful as well to everyone involved in her surgeries and recovery. “I will be forever grateful to those involved with the donor families and the donor tissue at the Eye Bank and to my wonderful surgeon, Dr. Matthew Thompson, and his staff at Springfield Clinic in Springfield, Ill. It couldn’t have happened without a multitude of people doing a fantastic job.”
Everyone at the Eye Bank is thrilled we were able to play a part in helping Wilma regain her lost vision and thank her for her continued commitment to helping others facing a lifetime of blindness.
A cornea transplant saved Jana from completely losing her sight.
In 2008, Jana, an active high school soccer and volleyball player was diagnosed with a corneal ulcer that become infected with the bacteria pseudomonas. Although the infection cleared, it created a scar over her cornea, stealing both her vision and her freedom.
Because the condition affected Jana’s depth perception, she was forced to give up driving and faced difficulties handling every day activities like pouring a glass of milk or maneuvering her crowded high school hallways. Worst of all, Jana battled unbelievable challenges when she returned to the volleyball court.
“I played my senior year of high school, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t hard,” said Jana. “Since one of my eyes had been impaired, I had lost the ability to have a sense of depth perception and speed. It came as a shock when my dad threw me a ball, and I couldn’t catch it. I had to relearn everything, all of the basics. I had to learn a whole new game of volleyball. Once a starter on the team, I was now a person who had to relearn how to pass a volleyball.”
Finally, in November 2008, Jana underwent a corneal transplant. While the surgery was a success, her recovery was a roller coaster. “My vision varied from day to day, sometimes very drastically. One day I could see better with my ‘good’ eye, then the next I would be running into things because I didn’t see them. At times it got really frustrating – it was like a coin toss to see how well I would see the following day.”
To protect her vision, Jana was under strict restrictions when it came to lifting and protecting her eyes. She had to insert eye drops four times a day, and her eye became very light sensitive, forcing her to wear dark sunglasses anytime she went outside.
As the year passed, Jana was given more privileges in her recovery and began to see her eyesight slowly return. Now she is back to driving and playing both volleyball and soccer. She is also in college, studying marine biology.
Without her donor and donor family, Jana could not be where she is today. “My cornea donor and family mean everything to me. If they didn’t decide to be an organ donor, there is a chance that I would never be able to see out of my eye again. They flipped my life 180 degrees!”
Because of their gift and the difference it made on her life, Jana is a public supporter of eye, organ and tissue donation. “I make a conscious effort at telling people my story and encouraging them to become organ donors. A lot of people are misinformed about organ donation, and I help them get the right information. Also people think of major organs that need to be donated and don’t realize all the smaller items that can enhance somebody’s life tenfold, like a cornea.”
After searching for a treatment for his Fuchs’ dystrophy online, Larry and his wife discovered DSAEK.
Five years ago, Larry of Fair Grove, Mo. was diagnosed with Fuchs’ dystrophy, a deterioration of the inner layer of the cornea. While eyeglasses and eye drops helped, his eyesight continued to decline – to the point he could no longer read and had difficulties performing his job as a handyman.
“My sight interfered with my work,” Larry remarked. “I needed an extreme amount of light. I would have to aim a spotlight right on the project to be able to do anything.”
Larry’s optometrist suggested a full cornea transplant to replace his damaged cornea, but the surgery’s long recovery time concerned this active senior. After researching Fuchs’ dystrophy on the Internet, Larry’s wife discovered that normal transplant surgery involved a full year recovery period which would be quite a hardship. Then she happened upon a website for other individuals with Fuchs’ dystrophy to share their experiences. One woman had shared her transplant experience performed by a doctor in Springfield, Mo. who was trained in the latest cornea transplant procedure developed by a doctor in Indiana. Descemet’s stripping automated endothelial keratoplasty (DSAEK) is a 30-minute surgery where only the inner layer of a donated cornea is replaced, requiring fewer sutures, less pain and a shorter recovery time. Larry had found his solution.
In 2008, after undergoing cataracts surgery, Larry underwent his first DSAEK corneal transplant performed by Dr. Shachar Tauber in Springfield, followed by a second surgery one year later. Said Larry, “My overall sight has come back pretty well. I still need glasses to read, but it’s a great improvement. I’m pretty impressed with my surgeries and my recovery.”
Today, Larry, who recently celebrated his 70th birthday, is back to work as a handyman and spends his free time reading and fishing. “My transplant has made life a lot more enjoyable!”
After her corneal transplant surgery, Annie is back to reading and working part-time.
Eyesight is something most of us take for granted – until it is lost. Once vision begins to fade, it can affect all aspect of one’s life – from managing duties at work to simply seeing the face of a friend.
Annie of Jackson, Mo. knows the impact of vision loss first-hand. This married mother of two and grandmother of three began experiencing blurred and hazy vision. She had difficulty reading and was unable to recognize people standing in front of bright light. In May 2009, she was diagnosed with Fuch’s dystrophy, a genetic corneal disease that progressively steals one’s sight, in both of her eyes. Her only option for recovery was a corneal transplant using tissue from an eye donor.
On August 5, 2009, Annie underwent an endothelial keratoplasty on her left eye as an outpatient at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Said Annie, “Surgery was painless, and the recovery was quick. The only hard part was having to lie flat on my back for 24 hours after surgery, but it was worth it. My eyesight has improved so much!”
Since her surgery, Annie’s blurry vision is gone, and she is back to reading. She can even make out the faces of her friends and family once again. Her improved sight is especially helpful since this retired medical secretary continues to work part-time helping others through Comfort Keepers – an in-home service for the elderly.
Like all transplant recipients through Heartland Lions Eye Banks, Annie was offered the opportunity to correspond with her donor’s family. “When I received the letter, I didn’t know if I wanted to do it. But the more I thought about it, I owed it to the donor’s family – to let them know how much they have helped me and how grateful I was. Since then, I’ve received two letters from the donor’s mother. The first one made me shed a few tears. Her son was a young man who owned his own welding shop. She told me anytime you see a spark in your eye, it’s from my son.”
Annie is very appreciative of her donor’s family as well as Dr. Parker and his entire staff. After seeing the results of surgery and the changes it can bring, she is an avid proponent of eye and tissue donation.
“I’ve always thought about donation, but after going through the surgery, it really has made a believer out of me. I would definitely encourage everyone to register as an eye donor.”
“Now my eyesight is almost normal with a contact on, and playing sports is fun like it used to be. I don’t get looked at weird when people are talking to me, and I don’t have pain any more. Because of my donor, I can finally live my life how I want, without anything bothering me.
The need for a corneal transplant can occur at any age, for a number of reasons. For Kelsie of Kansas it happened in the prime of her young life – just as she was entering her teen years.
Kelsie, an active volleyball and soccer player, began experiencing problems in her eye. After visiting five doctors, she was finally diagnosed with a parasitic amoeba, contracted from contaminated water, such as from a pond of a hot tub. To treat the condition, Kelsie had to take eye drops every hour of the day, but even that didn’t cure the problem.
Said Kelsie, “My condition kept getting worse. It turned into a white blister on my eye, and I could barely see through it. It made playing sports a nightmare.”
Kelsie underwent a sight-saving corneal transplant in to rescue her diminishing vision. Although her recovery is still ongoing, Kelsie was able to get up and about within three days of surgery. Today, as a high school student, Kelsie is back on the playing field – but this time she returns with clear vision. “Now my eyesight is almost normal with a contact on, and playing sports is fun like it used to be. I don’t get looked at weird when people are talking to me, and I don’t have pain anymore. Because of my donor, I can finally live my life how I want, without anything bothering me.”
Kelsie and her family are grateful to her donor family for their generosity in a time of despair. To thank them for their donation, Kelsie, like many Saving Sight cornea recipients, wrote a heartfelt letter to the family.
Kelsie’s mother, Jodie, was especially touched by her daughter’s letter, “Honestly, the worst day of the entire ordeal was the day the nurse was explaining where the donor cornea would come from. It led to some revealing answers for Kelsie – that her donor needed to be near her age. It was very difficult for her to hear that, really for all of us, and I think that’s the day she decided that she wanted to show her appreciation for the generosity of this family that didn’t know her, didn’t know us, but was truly giving her back her life as she knew it.”
Together, Jodie and Kelsie encourage Kansas residents to join the state’s donor registry. “Registering as a donor is the single most selfless thing a person can do,” remarked Jodie. “You can’t imagine the changes and opportunities you can make for someone else in need. I have always been a donor, but it takes on a whole new meaning when someone you love is a recipient.”
Elizabeth was able to return to playing the piano after a cornea transplant restored her sight.
As a gifted piano player, Elizabeth often entertained seniors at a senior housing facility in Neosho, Mo. But as her eyesight began to fail, she faced difficulties playing all the requests. “I would play by ear many of the songs the residents wanted me to play, but if I picked up a music book or hymnal, the notes were too blurry to see.”
According to her eye surgeon, Elizabeth had simply outlived her corneas. For this active 75-year-old, the diagnosis was upsetting. In addition to affecting her piano playing, Elizabeth’s vision loss forced her to give up driving and her artwork as well as inhibited her ability to type and read.
Elizabeth finally underwent a corneal transplant on her left eye in summer 2010, which required donated corneal tissue. Although the cornea detached the day after her initial surgery and required an additional operation soon after, Elizabeth’s recovery was incredibly smooth. More important, it restored her lost vision.
Today, according to Elizabeth, her eye sight is better than it was even when she was young. Her left eye is 20/30, and she can read most print without wearing reading glasses. “My cloudy vision had slowly shrunk my world as I aged, but now my vision is so clear that I can once again read music, draw, sew, write and drive!”
Elizabeth chose to write to her donor family though Saving Sight’s correspondence department to thank them for their generous gift. “I wrote because I was so grateful. I thought that was really great they donated their loved one’s cornea to help someone else. It was very caring of them to do that, and I appreciate it so much.”
Not only is Elizabeth pleased with her restored sight, but so are the seniors who once again are able to enjoy her musical talent.
