National
Sight-Saving
Issues

Prevent Blindness Ohio’s Eyes on Capitol Hill delegates tour the U.S. Capitol Building with Senator Sherrod Brown’s Legislative Aid, Jayson Braude. Pictured from left to right are John and Jeri Pendergest (Hamilton), Jennifer Stanke (Grove City), Karen Levin (Dayton), Laura and Kylie Glass (Alliance), Teresa and Matt Law (Vincent), Jayson Braude, Carl Seletz (Columbus), Karla Miller (Baltimore), and Richard Bunner (Zanesville). Eyes on Capitol Hill was developed by Prevent Blindness America, with support from Pfizer, Inc. to allow Americans to meet with our nation’s leaders to discuss their vision challenges and to educate and empower the participants to become advocates in their own state.

Matthew W. Law
Vincent, Ohio

On April 26, 2006, I was taking my 12 year old daughter turkey hunting. At 6:15 a.m. we walked into the woods near the family farm property line. I was shot in the upper body, face and head by a hunter. He shot from the adjoining property (across the line) at what he thought was a turkey. My daughter and the shooter helped me from the woods to a field. My daughter then took the man half mile to the barn to get our pick-up truck and cell phone. She called her mother so she could call 911 while they retrieved me from the field. I was taken by ambulance to a local hospital and then life flighted to Ohio State University Medical Center. Two pellets passed through my right eye, damaging the optic nerve. One pellet passed through my left eye and pulled the retina partially through the exit wound. There were 29 other pellets that hit my upper body and head causing no serious injuries. If I had been wearing eye protection that morning, I would not have sustained serious injury.

Because of the damage to the optic nerve, there is no vision in my right eye. After surgery to repair the retina in the left eye, I am left with no lens in my eye and diminished vision. With the aid of a gas permeable contact lens and glasses, I am able to regain some independence such as limited daytime driving and reading with the aid of a magnifying glass.

At this time I am not able to return to work as a power plant equipment operator. The company is seeking other avenues for my employment. Prior to this accident my vision was 20/10.

Karen Levin
Dayton, Ohio

I didn’t know I had Glaucoma until 1998. I also have type II diabetes. I also have experience with family members suffering from chronic disease and eye conditions. My father became ill in 1988 and died from secondary complications due to diabetes in 1999. While caring for him, I had to take my father to court and get custody of him. Then in one of the most gut wrenching decisions I’ve ever made, I signed the orders for him to have his leg amputated. I also watched his vision deteriorate because he had diabetic retinopathy. As it turns out, I was truly my father’s daughter. On December 31, 2001, I became critically ill and was hospitalized with acute pancreatitis, diabetic ketoacidosis and was told I had diabetes. Now I am a diabetic with the potential to develop diabetic retinopathy in addition to having glaucoma.

I believe you can live a healthy life and avoid becoming blind by doing basic fundamental things to care for yourself and your families. Did you know that becoming blind is the third most feared disability? Fundamental things you need to do to take care of yourself include receiving a routine eye exam…that is how my bilateral glaucoma was found. I don’t have any family history of it- never had any symptoms, but on March 11, 1998 at the age of 48 years old I was handed the diagnosis…Glaucoma. Because you can’t feel it – you don’t know you have it unless you are receiving a comprehensive eye exam. My eye pressure was 30 bilaterally—and I had no idea my vision was leaving and learned that what I lost was gone forever! I also have diabetes and the possibility of developing diabetic retinopathy. My vision is important to me –it affects everything I do from knitting, driving myself around town, bicycling, traveling, reading, and being independent. I believe in prevention and because of this belief I routinely go to the eye doctor and take the eye medications prescribed religiously.

Jennifer Stanke
Columbus, Ohio

While not directly providing care to my beloved grandmother who is suffering from age-related macular degeneration, I am experiencing the progression of her disease while I pursue a career in vision research which is targeted at finding the causes of and treatments for retinal disease, including AMD.

About two years after beginning my graduate work, my studies became focused on helping the cells of the retina survive in cases of disease. The retina is a small film of cells in the back of the eye that allows us the sense of sight. These cells are responsible for changing light into impulses that our brains can interpret. These cells, once dead, cannot be replaced and diseases of the retina cause the eventual death of some these cells. Around this same time my chardonnay-and-cheese-curls grandmother went in to get her glasses prescription updated and the “squares weren’t straight”. In diagnostic tests for function of the part of the retina responsible for fine sight, the patient is asked to look at a series of small squares that have a black dot in the middle. When looking at the dot, the lines should remain straight, but in cases of age related macular degeneration the lines curve. My grandmother had age related macular degeneration.

I tell this story because I went into my research efforts with no real personal attachments to my work. The love for science and the desire to educate myself was plenty to get my through, but now I am frequently asked by my grandmother “can you fix my eyes yet?” Heartbreaking, I know they cannot be fixed, but her progressive loss of sight could be slowed with the appropriate treatment. With NIH funding levels low and more and more individuals going into biomedical research, much of researcher’s time is spent writing grants and looking for sources of support for their research. The time required for potential therapies to be thoroughly tested is a long process. Though I am hopeful that different treatments are on the horizon, I am saddened that it may not be here in time to help my grandmother and disheartened that many young researchers are leaving the field due to low funding levels. Things need to change in support of biomedical research so that soon I can tell my grandmother of a new treatment for her eyes.

Laura Glass
Alliance, Ohio

I have three children: ages 7, 5, and 3. Two of them were born with congenital cataracts, but all three wear glasses. My oldest daughter has had one cataract removed and eye muscle surgery along with countless hours of patching. She awaits her second cataract surgery. For the first two years of my daughter’s life, I repeatedly told the pediatrician that I thought something was wrong with her eyes. He kept telling me “squinting” was a habit and she would grow out of it. Because this was my first child, I “trusted” the pediatrician. When my second daughter was born, I took the opportunity to change doctors. On the very first visit she diagnosed my daughter with congenital cataracts. Within a few days we saw an ophthalmologist. Within a few weeks she had her left cataract removed. It has taken years to correct what could have been corrected in the first two years of her life. My second daughter has astigmatism and wears glasses. My son, who is three, had both cataracts removed earlier this year and then developed “second cataracts” and spent his summer with a retina specialist having surgery on both eyes again trying to fix them. So, I am caring for three children with chronic eye conditions with a long way to go.

Challenges are both financial and emotional. Financially, countless surgeries and keeping three children in glasses is a financial challenge. The Glass family received financial assistance for two of their three children from the BCMH (Bureau for Children with Medical Handicap and chronic illness). Cataracts fit into the bureau’s criteria for assistance.

Emotionally, the family is worried about safety and wellness for three children with vision problems. Their son, the youngest of three children, is very active and the biggest concern.

John Pendergest
Hamilton, Ohio

In December 2003, John sought treatment at the Cincinnati Eye Institute following a routine eye examination. The doctor found a couple spots behind his left eye and diagnosed John with diabetic retinopathy and wet macular degeneration in both eyes. John underwent a series of laser surgery treatments every three months in hopes of keeping his eyes functional. His first surgery was in December 2003, and again on his left eye in March 2004. After the surgeries, John’s left eye grew weaker and the doctor hoped to keep one eye functional. Since his original diagnosis, he developed cataracts and retinal detachment and macular edema in left eye. Surgery was discontinued in July 2004 after John was advised that retinopathy had deteriorated his peripheral vision after loss of vision through focal points. Additional tests were run after doctors discovered John’s retinas were detaching. He underwent surgery in an effort to slow the retinal detachment in August 2004. The surgery was treated as “patchwork” to slow the damage and keep his vision in tact as long as possible. He is a 23-year diabetic.

First, John wants to stress the need for services because vision problems strike people of all ages. He also feels a strong desire to communicate with people affected by vision problems and help them adjust and make life alterations to accommodate their vision disorders. John feels he is blessed with the ability to assist others in developing abilities, enriching skills and boosting self worth and esteems to help cope with eye disease and the challenges that come with eye disorders.

Lauren Abel
Burlington, KY

I have been very blessed to have good vision, something I inherited from my parents. Part of the reason we have good vision is that I was taught at a young age that your eyesight is one of the greatest gifts you have and you should take good care of it so that it will take good care of you! Because of this, my parents made sure that I got regular eye exams as a child. They did the same. It was a family event. We all got our eyes checked together.

As an adult, that important lesson has stayed with me. And it has with my parents too. I am 43 years old. I have 20/15 vision and have never needed any type of vision correction eyewear. My parents didn't need reading glasses until they were in their late 40's or early 50's. My parents are now in their 70's and my grandmother is nearly 95! My parents wear glasses today and continue to get their eyes checked each year. My grandmother is the same way. Our family knows the importance of protecting the gift of sight. We take care of our eyes and know that by doing so, we are protecting our ability to see all the beautiful things this world has to offer. I cannot imagine my life without good eyesight. The small amount of time and money it takes each year to protect that gift is a small price to pay for the joy of sight