Seeing the leaves on the trees
Transplant is the answer to woman ’ s rare condition
The whole world changed for Rita Mulcahy the day after her first corneal transplant in 1985 .
“ It was absolutely amazing ,” Rita said of the moment her surgeon , Dr . William Constad , removed the patch he had placed there the day before . “ Now , a tree wasn ’ t just a blob of green . I could see leaves . It was like a miracle .”
Reoccurring viral infections made Rita a frequent visitor to eye doctors since childhood , but it wasn ’ t until 1976 , when she developed another infection while on vacation , that an out-of-state doctor mentioned corneal transplantation .
“ It sounded like science fiction at the time ,” she said . And when she mentioned it to her doctor back in
New Jersey , he said the waiting list for a cornea was extremely long .
Over the next decade Rita ’ s struggles with her eyes continued and her vision began to fade .
“ It was like looking through waxed paper ,” she said , and in 1985 she decided to see another doctor , who referred her to Dr . Constad .
He was the first doctor to put a name to the condition that was stealing her sight - lattice corneal dystrophy .
Two weeks later , she got the call to report to the hospital for her first corneal transplant .
Spring 2016 | VISION | Page 4