Darlene Sawatzky's world began to fade away when she was 17 years old. She had been experiencing blurred vision and was diagnosed with Keratoconus. Keratoconus is an outpunching and thinning of the cornea which can result in swelling and scarring, causing vision to become very blurred. As the disease progressed, Darlene's view of the world was like "looking through a frosted window." Everything became increasingly hazy. One morning Darlene awoke and realized she had lost complete vision in her left eye. It was at this time Darlene's name was put on the corneal transplant waiting list.

Katie Goetz
Corneal Transplant Recipient

Lion Katie Goetz was born in Paraguay, South America and emigrated to Canada in 1963. Born visually impaired, Katie had many eye-related problems as a child. Difficulties such as eye infections caused her to miss a lot of school. As there were no eye specialists in Paraguay, her problems went untreated.

At the age of eight, Katie had a terrifying experience. Over a three hour period, a white film grew to completely over her right cornea. Sent home from school, she struggled to find her way since she could only see with one eye. Once there, she hid behind the house, afraid to tell her mother. In the end her mother was just as scared as Katie.

Katie was admitted into the hospital. Every two hours, day and night, the hospital staff administered eye drops over her five day stay. They also gave her some kind of liquid medication, she recalls, but nothing helped. The worst for the little girl was enduring a needle every day for a month. That was terrible. I still hate needles.@At the time she thought she would never regain her sight. It was like looking through a window in the winter when it is frosted up, A says Katie. Over the years her sight became a little clearer. Although it was still very blurry, she was able to identify shapes.

Unfortunately, the same thing happened to her left eye in 1972. Once again, it took about three hours for the white film to cover the cornea. As it occurred on a weekend, Katie met her eye doctor at the hospital where he admitted her immediately. Over the next 17 days in the hospital, she was given eye drops and medication. It took a full five weeks for her left eye to clear although her vision remained somewhat blurry.

Her doctor informed her she was going to need a corneal transplant. Katie was not at all thrilled with the idea of surgery. She kept hoping for some type of miracle.

In October of 1978, as her vision was slowly becoming more blurred in her left eye, Katie went to see her eye doctor again. The time had come, he told her, to have a corneal transplant. He referred her to a specialist who she met with five days later. Katie was still having a tough time accepting the fact that she had to have eye surgery. However, without it she would lose her sight. The specialist also informed her that her other eye would require a corneal transplant in a few years.

He put my name on the list after about one hundred questions that I asked him. I went home thinking how can I get out of this?@ After struggling with the issue for five more hours, Katie accepted the fact that she had to have the surgery.

Then came the waiting. By April 1979, she was experiencing tremendous pain in her left eye. At one point, she endured nine straight days of pain. Those days seemed so long, A she remembers.

Finally, four months later she received a call from her doctor at 2 o=clock in the morning on August 4th. He told her to be ready for surgery at 7 a.m., as they believed there was a cornea available. AI was happy and scared,@ says Katie. She was concerned that there might be a rejection and she would have to go through the waiting list over again. In the end, she decided she had to be positive about it.

It was the right decision. Katie had the surgery and the result was an absolute miracle.@ The surgery saved her sight. AI wish that I could personally thank the family of the person who signed the organ donor card.@ She had waited ten long months.

On Easter Sunday in 1983, Katie had a cornea transplant on her right eye. The wait this time was slightly shorter, at nine months. The second surgery was equally successful.

In February of 1997 Katie suddenly lost most of her sight in her right eye. The eye specialist told Katie that a cataract was making her vision blurry. Emergency surgery removed the cataract but left her transplanted cornea in poor condition. The specialist informed Katie that she would need another corneal transplant to replace the injured tissue. With a cornea procured from the Eye Bank medical office, Katie received her miracle of sight on September 19, 1997. Katie=s transplant was tremendous success. She is now able to read with a magnifier and keep her sense of independence.

AI am very grateful to the Lions Eye Bank for being there for me. I am very thankful to all the Lions Clubs who support the Lions Eye Bank.@ Katie would also like to encourage everyone to sign an donor card so the waiting list will not be as long for others. Please let everyone have a corneal transplant who needs one.

@Lion Katie presently volunteers for the Lions Eye Bank and is a member at the East Kildonan Lions Club.

Judy Allard was given the chance to see her new born child because of a generous donor family.

As my eye was being treated and cared for, I was going through a period of adjustment. I was slowly losing sight in my eye, as well as losing depth of perception. I was in constant fear this virus would spread to my other eye. Luckily, this did not happen.

As the next six years passed, my eye would flare up and settle down at least once every two months. The specialist informed me that nothing could be done but to treat the eye with medication and wait for the infection to become dormant. In January 1995 the infection had settled down enough to go ahead for further treatment. I was then was included on the transplant waiting list for a more permanent solution.

The date was September 6, 1995. I remember it clearly. There was a message from my doctor’s office letting me know a cornea was available. We were so excited! However, I was twenty-five weeks pregnant. My family physician said there would be no danger to the unborn baby or myself.

On Sept 9, 1995 will forever remain in my heart as a time of great apprehension, as well as a time of tremendous joy. I underwent the surgery that would forever change my life.

My vision is now 20/20 and I have no complications. It was a wonderful feeling to see the birth of my child. I would like to say thank-you to the donor family for their generous decision to donate their loved one’s eyes. You made a difference!