Aug. 10--Randy Lindsay of Aiken is seeing things much more clearly these days, thanks to the handiwork of a fellow Aikenite at the Boston Foundation for Sight.
Lindsay and his wife Darlene visited the Boston Foundation for Sight in May, where Lindsay was fitted with a set of Boston Scleral Lens Prosthetic Devices. The special lenses extend beyond the iris and are filled with fluid, forming a liquid overlay to protect the eye and correct surface irregularities caused by disease.
"They call it a 'liquid bandage,' because the solution is constantly healing the eye," said Darlene Lindsay. "They've been around a long time, but BFS is the only place that makes them, and there's such demand they had to put in another lab to meet it. They're trying to get more doctors interested in them."
The Lindsays were referred to the Boston facility by Dr. James Dickson of Columbia, who treats Randy Lindsay for the effects of Stevens Johnson Syndrome on his vision. He was diagnosed in 2001 with the syndrome, in which cell death causes the skin to separate from underlying connective tissue. Along with a host of other chronic health problems, the disease had rendered him legally blind.
"In 2005 Randy was going to Dr. Grantham, and he mentioned there was a treatment in Boston but didn't know enough about it to send us there. He got us in with Dr. Dickson, who did a few operations and cleared out some scar tissue, trying to get his tear ducts working again," said Darlene Lindsay. "He mentioned Boston to us, but he was still doing his own research on it, too. In the first part of 2008, he said it's time for y'all to go to Boston."
Once in Boston, the foundation's staff tested Randy Lindsay's vision as best they could, trying on sets of lenses they had on hand until they arrived at a prescription for him and had a set of lenses custom-made for him.
"It's something to be able to see. It was so good to see all the pink tulips and green grass after I got them. They've done a good job," Lindsay said.
"The goal was to get his vision as improved as possible," said Darlene Lindsay. "He went from not being able to read large text to able to read a newspaper. He went from wearing special sunglasses to keep all light and air out of his eyes to just regular old sunglasses. His vision now is 20/80 in the left eye; we don't know about the right eye."
The remainder of their time at BFS was spent in training with the staff, learning to use a special applicator to put in and take out the lenses and adjusting to frequent doses of thick eye drops. The Lindsays got to know the staff in their weeks there and met the man grinding Randy Lindsay's lenses. Longtime Boston resident Brian Murphy hails from Aiken and still has family in town, they learned.
BFS recommends allowing three weeks at the facility for training, but not all patients have to stay that long, Darlene Lindsay said. The couple had time to hit some tourist stops while in Boston and memorialized their trip in a special scrapbook.
Contact Suzanne Stone at
sstone@aikenstandard.com.
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