Stories
Carol: A Microbiologist's 'Life-Altering Experience'
Each work day, Carol peers through a microscope and diagnoses other people's diseases in a hospital, all the while contending with her own degenerative corneal condition called keratoconus. "I've had lousy vision ever since 1965 when I started my senior year of high school," she says." I simply couldn't see out of my newest pair of glasses."
What followed was a lifetime of trying different kinds of contact lenses, in different combinations, never quite totally staving off frequent corneal abrasions and worsening eyesight. As she recalls, "One contact lens fitter yelled at me, suggesting my corneas were so horrible because I must be abusing my eyes."
But Carol persisted, earning a degree in medical technology and pursuing a full-time career as a clinical laboratory scientist. She and her husband of 36 years raised two sons. By 2006, however, the cornea in her right eye had become so scarred she sought out a corneal surgeon: "He took one look at me and said, 'You need a transplant.'"
Since recovering from the surgery, the vision in that eye is so greatly improved that it's changed her lifestyle. She can wear her contacts all day long, comfortably enough to keep at that microscope and then drive home safely. Her uncorrected vision is also better, no small matter for this exercise enthusiast. "I can go running without my contacts and not have to worry about falling into a hole. It's a life-altering event," says Carol about her transplant. "I see better than I ever have in my life. Period."
Carol now sees better than she ever has in her life. Period.