March 4, 2024 • 16 mins
Clearly KC host Dr. Melissa Barnett OD chats with Carl Domke of McKinney, Texas. Carl is the winner of the 2023 World KC Day Photo Contest with a photo collage that celebrates improved vision with contact lenses. The 80-year old photographer shared what it was like to be diagnosed with KC in 1959 and how, as a high school sophomore, he was given contact lenses that ‘changed his life’ and made it possible to continue his education. Carl also shares the story of waiting for donor tissue and his 3-day stay at Wills Eye Hospital where he had a corneal transplant 20 years later.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:04):
Welcome to episode 23 of the Clearly KC podcast, featuring information about life with keratoconus.
I'm your host, Dr.
Melissa Barnett.
.999We are so happy to have Carl Domke of McKinney, Texas, with us today.
Carl is this year's winner of the World KC Day photo contest.
Congratulations, Carl.
(00:26):
Well, thank you very much, and thank you for inviting me in.
Yes, you have some amazing photos.
.999The judges picked your submission, which layers three different photos together, and the finished product shows you holding a lens with a clear view of a landscape inside the lens.
And outside the lens, the view is very blurry.
(00:48):
In your submission you wrote, without this little lens, my life would have been much different.
.999Can you tell us how you came up with the idea to create this photo? Well, you know, it's 80 years experience, I guess, or 60 years with the contact lens. 13 00:01:05,909.999 --> 00:01:08,99.998 It's kind of a love hate relationship. 14 00:01:08,119.998 --> 00:01:18,739.998 It isn't quite that bad, but Hard contacts are difficult, you know, they were a blessing to my generation when we first got contact lenses. 15 00:01:19,279.998 --> 00:01:35,9.998 How old were you when you first got contact lenses? I was heavy into scouting, and I had gone on a scout trip to the National Scout Camp down in New Mexico, about 900 miles away, and I was fine. 16 00:01:35,49.998 --> 00:01:40,629.998 But coming back, riding the bus, Looking out the windows for that long trip. 17 00:01:41,349.998 --> 00:01:45,109.998 I noticed my right eye was getting blurry. 18 00:01:46,459.998 --> 00:02:01,619.998 So I got home and mom and dad took me to a, ophthalmologist and he was a family of friend, so he took quite a bit of time and he looked at it, he was able to fit glasses over my li eyes. 19 00:02:02,889.998 --> 00:02:07,939.998 it was only my right eye, but he fit me for glasses and he said, I think. 20 00:02:09,119.998 --> 00:02:17,719.998 You've got keratoconus, but we're going to try glasses for now and see how it goes, see if it progresses at all. 21 00:02:18,599.998 --> 00:02:23,159.997 And so we tried glasses and within three months they were blurry. 22 00:02:23,974.998 --> 00:02:28,664.998 And we got back in with him again, and he said, Carl, you're going to have to go to contact lenses. 23 00:02:30,724.998 --> 00:02:34,614.998 I didn't know anything about contacts, you know, so, we tried on contacts. 24 00:02:34,634.01618182 --> 00:02:46,72.74345455 with keratoconus? I was, 15, and I just turned 16 the next month, so it was basically 16 years old. 25 00:02:46,512.94345455 --> 00:02:50,72.94295455 Just going into, 10th grade in high school. 26 00:02:50,522.94295455 --> 00:02:51,452.94295455 In high school. 27 00:02:51,562.94195455 --> 00:03:02,792.94195455 so at that time, what sort of contact lenses did you wear? Were they PMMA lenses? Were they the hard lenses? Actually, they were just plastic lenses. 28 00:03:02,792.94195455 --> 00:03:04,722.94195455 There was nothing magic about them. 29 00:03:05,722.94195455 --> 00:03:07,262.94195455 He tried on a few lenses. 30 00:03:07,352.94195455 --> 00:03:10,352.94195455 You know, they have a trial pack at the office. 31 00:03:10,992.94195455 --> 00:03:16,242.94195455 And I tried on a few of them, and we found one that fit pretty well. 32 00:03:17,32.94195455 --> 00:03:17,832.94195455 And I wore that. 33 00:03:17,833.04195455 --> 00:03:20,32.94295455 It was a clear lens. 34 00:03:20,472.94295455 --> 00:03:22,142.94295455 We didn't add any correction to it. 35 00:03:22,142.94295455 --> 00:03:27,257.94295455 I wore that probably for three or four years without correction. 36 00:03:27,357.94295455 --> 00:03:30,697.94295455 That's all I needed was just that contact lens over the surface. 37 00:03:32,347.94295455 --> 00:03:45,977.94295455 And how have things changed over the years? Have you had different types of lenses? Did you eventually need a corneal transplant? During my high school times, I stayed with that one, just a clear lens. 38 00:03:46,367.94295455 --> 00:03:50,207.94295455 And my left eye also, became affected with keratoconus. 39 00:03:50,657.94295455 --> 00:03:53,437.94245455 So I wore two lenses, but they were just clear lenses. 40 00:03:53,437.94245455 --> 00:03:56,387.94195455 I wore those probably through most of college. 41 00:03:57,147.94295455 --> 00:04:05,187.94195455 And then at some point in college, they began to put some correction into the lens, but they were just always just a straight lens. 42 00:04:05,217.94295455 --> 00:04:07,277.94295455 We didn't have anything else that I know of. 43 00:04:08,97.94195455 --> 00:04:23,377.84095455 At some point, probably after my first corneal transplant, in the 90s or in the late 80s is the first time I heard of them using a stepped or graduated, curve inside the lens to fit my eye. 44 00:04:25,47.84095455 --> 00:04:29,887.84095455 And what sort of lenses do you wear now? they are a step curve lens. 45 00:04:30,257.84095455 --> 00:04:30,857.83995455 I don't know. 46 00:04:31,457.84095455 --> 00:04:35,237.83995455 It's just that one little bit beyond a normal contact lens. 47 00:04:36,497.83995455 --> 00:04:38,217.84095455 I don't have anything else. 48 00:04:39,767.84095455 --> 00:04:40,367.84095455 Got it. 49 00:04:40,567.83995455 --> 00:04:42,757.84095455 So getting back to your photograph. 50 00:04:42,887.84095455 --> 00:04:45,47.84095455 It's absolutely amazing. 51 00:04:45,57.84095455 --> 00:04:52,617.84095455 How did you come up with the idea for the winning photograph? Every day I try to walk. 52 00:04:53,527.84095455 --> 00:05:06,497.84195455 I probably only make it three or four times a week, but in my subdivision where I live I'm in the Dallas area, in Texas, and we have a pond in our subdivision. 53 00:05:07,297.84195455 --> 00:05:11,497.84195455 It's probably about a half a mile around, a nice walk. 54 00:05:12,297.84195455 --> 00:05:18,507.84195455 So I get out and I try to walk a mile and a half, two miles a day, three or four days a week. 55 00:05:19,287.84095455 --> 00:05:21,77.84095455 And I walk that pond every day. 56 00:05:21,747.84095455 --> 00:05:29,937.84195455 There are ducks out there, blue herons, green herons, a few geese once in a while in this early spring. 57 00:05:32,367.84195455 --> 00:05:37,237.84195455 Quite a few fish fishermen out there you know, and it's a lot of fun, it's a beautiful area. 58 00:05:37,237.84195455 --> 00:05:38,377.84195455 I love the outdoors. 59 00:05:38,377.84195455 --> 00:05:40,317.84195455 I have lived in the outdoors. 60 00:05:40,367.84195455 --> 00:05:45,807.93995455 As I told you, I was a Boy Scout when I was young and the outdoors is my, my place. 61 00:05:47,357.93995455 --> 00:05:50,927.93995455 As a matter of fact, when I walk, a lot of people nowadays walk with. 62 00:05:51,262.93995455 --> 00:05:57,552.93995455 earbuds and they have their radios on and music playing and then you walk by them and say hello. 63 00:05:57,592.93995455 --> 00:05:58,972.93995455 They don't even respond to you. 64 00:05:58,972.93995455 --> 00:06:02,162.93895455 They're in another world, but not me. 65 00:06:02,162.93995455 --> 00:06:04,242.93995455 I have to hear what's going on. 66 00:06:04,242.93995455 --> 00:06:05,482.93945455 I have to hear the nature. 67 00:06:05,482.93945455 --> 00:06:10,172.93995455 I have to see the birds and, Know what's going on around me. 68 00:06:10,622.93995455 --> 00:06:11,622.93995455 it really helps, too. 69 00:06:11,622.93995455 --> 00:06:18,442.93995455 A lot of times, I only wear one contact lens, so I don't see very well with the other one. 70 00:06:19,122.93995455 --> 00:06:23,132.94095455 I really need to keep alert as to what's going on and around. 71 00:06:23,142.94095455 --> 00:06:24,232.94095455 You just don't know. 72 00:06:25,372.94095455 --> 00:06:38,413.03995455 We have bobcats in the area, we have coyotes, we have, stray dogs that are running, you have to stay alert you know, I'm now getting a little weaker and a little less stable and they have to be aware of what's going on and around. 73 00:06:39,513.04095455 --> 00:06:50,158.04045455 When I walk that pond at the very end of it is a chair or a bench to sit on there at the lake, and that's exactly where I took the picture from. 74 00:06:50,158.04045455 --> 00:06:51,358.04045455 I sit there every day. 75 00:06:51,838.04045455 --> 00:06:52,818.04045455 I look down the lake. 76 00:06:52,868.04045455 --> 00:07:00,698.04045455 There is that fountain in the lake that helps keep the lake fresh in the summertime when we have this tremendous heat. 77 00:07:01,658.04045455 --> 00:07:08,329.48331169 And I look at that and I see that fountain and I relate that to my contact lens. 78 00:07:08,359.48331169 --> 00:07:14,539.48331169 The contact lens has given me that ability to see that vision, to see that sight. 79 00:07:15,689.48331169 --> 00:07:35,659.48331169 And I picture myself, kind of like putting my hand up I mean, how many times do we do that with that contact lens on it? It doesn't really stand quite that direction, but It's the way I see it coming into my eye when I put my contact lens in every morning and maybe during the day I have to take it out and clean it, put it back in again. 80 00:07:35,729.48331169 --> 00:07:48,904.48431169 It's a constant thing with contact lenses, but that's what I see and I know that contact lens gave me A lot of the things I have, I would not have gotten through high school without that lens. 81 00:07:49,4.48431169 --> 00:07:53,744.38431169 We were right at the edge of getting contact lenses in 1959. 82 00:07:54,124.48431169 --> 00:07:57,904.48431169 I don't know even how long they'd been around, but they're difficult. 83 00:07:57,904.48531169 --> 00:08:00,574.48531169 And if I didn't have that lens, I wouldn't have made it through high school. 84 00:08:01,374.48531169 --> 00:08:02,224.48531169 It wouldn't have happened. 85 00:08:03,194.48531169 --> 00:08:06,624.48531169 And as a result, you know, I've been able to do a lot of things. 86 00:08:07,384.48531169 --> 00:08:23,674.48531169 My doctor at the time when he diagnosed me at SKC, especially when you get out of the office and you have to go back and forth a lot to see the doctor and he's watching the curvature of my eye and how it's progressing. 87 00:08:25,244.48431169 --> 00:08:43,353.04526821 You think about the big question, am I going to lose my eyesight? How far will this go? Am I going to be blind? These things go through your head, especially as a 16 year old, where am I going with this? You know, and he was a family friend. 88 00:08:43,385.28623922 --> 00:08:49,647.11571749 this going to affect my life? Oh, yes. 89 00:08:50,252.11571749 --> 00:08:55,32.11571749 When you're told something about your eyes, you know, that's what you immediately go to. 90 00:08:55,82.11571749 --> 00:08:57,92.11571749 No, I would have gotten the long okay, I think. 91 00:08:57,92.11571749 --> 00:08:59,132.11571749 And it doesn't mean it's the end of the life. 92 00:08:59,132.11571749 --> 00:09:01,742.11471748 I don't mean to say that, but it would have been certainly different. 93 00:09:02,2.11571748 --> 00:09:03,302.11471748 It would have been a different life. 94 00:09:03,352.11571748 --> 00:09:09,782.11571748 And my doctor told me that, Carly said, this is a progressive thing. 95 00:09:09,782.11571748 --> 00:09:12,387.01571748 In most cases, it will stop. 96 00:09:12,847.11571749 --> 00:09:14,717.11571749 It will go so far and stop. 97 00:09:14,717.11571749 --> 00:09:22,17.11571749 As a matter of fact, in many cases, it's not even diagnosed because it doesn't go far enough. 98 00:09:22,697.11571749 --> 00:09:24,727.01671749 And people don't even know they have it. 99 00:09:25,752.01671748 --> 00:09:34,162.01671748 But in your case, it is progressing and it will maybe stop and you won't have any problem, you just have to wear contact lenses. 100 00:09:35,412.01671748 --> 00:09:39,942.01571748 But he said there is possible, maybe in 20 years you'll have to have a corneal transplant. 101 00:09:41,662.01671748 --> 00:09:48,342.01671748 And of course, 16 year old boy, you know, now what's going to happen? A corneal transplant. 102 00:09:49,72.11671748 --> 00:09:52,832.11671748 kind of frightening, but he said, don't worry about it. 103 00:09:54,602.11671748 --> 00:09:55,962.11671748 You're not going to go blind. 104 00:09:56,162.11671748 --> 00:10:04,92.11671749 There are things happening in research and things happening with this condition that is, that they're progressing and you're going to be fine. 105 00:10:04,152.11671749 --> 00:10:08,617.01671749 We're just going to keep watching it and be aware of what you have and be careful with it. 106 00:10:09,987.11671749 --> 00:10:18,117.11671749 And that's really, really was the best advice, maybe in 20 years, of course, that 20 years stuck in my mind I'm now 80 years old. 107 00:10:18,117.11671749 --> 00:10:20,607.11671749 And I remember that pretty clearly. 108 00:10:21,987.11671749 --> 00:10:25,927.11721748 And as you see the records there, I have did have a corneal transplant. 109 00:10:26,742.11721749 --> 00:10:30,602.11721748 I went through school and I became a civil engineer. 110 00:10:31,552.11721749 --> 00:10:35,852.11721748 I had a job with a very large, steel fabricator in Chicago. 111 00:10:36,892.11721749 --> 00:10:42,682.11921749 And, I was a designer for them and, began to move around the country as a contracting manager. 112 00:10:43,612.11921748 --> 00:11:10,202.12021749 And I got up into New York, I was living in, Philadelphia, working in New York, and my boss, or actually the man I worked with, he, told me, Carl, we have, a tremendous hospital in Philadelphia, that with your eyesight, and with your eye problems, you need to go see them, it is the Will's Eye Hospital, I believe it's the oldest eye hospital in the country. 113 00:11:10,202.12021749 --> 00:11:12,902.12021749 And you're right in their backyard to go down and talk to them. 114 00:11:13,242.12021749 --> 00:11:14,342.12021749 And so I did. 115 00:11:15,202.12021749 --> 00:11:17,182.12021749 And I was with them for about a year. 116 00:11:17,192.12021749 --> 00:11:19,992.12021749 And They thought it was time for me to have a corneal transplant. 117 00:11:21,397.12021749 --> 00:11:24,547.12021749 As my doctor had told me, he said two things can happen. 118 00:11:24,547.12021749 --> 00:11:35,257.12021749 Number one, the cornea gets so steep that the contact lenses you're wearing become difficult to wear for long periods. 119 00:11:36,317.12021749 --> 00:11:44,257.12071749 And the other thing can happen with the steepness, your cornea may get so thin, it becomes very dangerous to wear. 120 00:11:45,457.12071749 --> 00:11:51,527.12071749 And then what had happened was I was only being able to wear my lens probably until about 4 or 5 o'clock in the afternoon. 121 00:11:52,67.12071749 --> 00:11:57,667.12071749 And I had to get it out, so the Will's Eye Hospital recommended corneal transplants. 122 00:11:57,667.12071749 --> 00:12:02,67.12071749 Now, back in that day, we had to get the line. 123 00:12:02,97.11971749 --> 00:12:05,497.12071749 It was a waiting period because the corneas were not available. 124 00:12:06,497.12071749 --> 00:12:16,552.12071749 so they told me it would be, Oh, probably three to six months before I could get one, but they would put me on the waiting list and call me when they had one. 125 00:12:17,642.12071749 --> 00:12:26,72.12071749 Well, that sounds great, but you sit someplace for three months and think about it as to what's going to happen. 126 00:12:26,542.12071749 --> 00:12:38,622.12071749 What will end up when you have, when you get this lens? And so I went two months and I knew I was getting close to that time period. 127 00:12:39,582.12071749 --> 00:12:46,782.21871749 So I began to get, a fear to answer the phone in the morning if the phone rang, I wouldn't answer it. 128 00:12:48,572.22071749 --> 00:12:49,527.21971749 I'm just not ready. 129 00:12:49,527.21971749 --> 00:12:52,412.21971749 I gotta, I gotta wait just a little bit yet. 130 00:12:53,617.21971749 --> 00:13:00,287.21971749 And finally I was going to go to work with another, employee and I were friends and he said, Carl, I'll drive you in tomorrow. 131 00:13:01,487.21871749 --> 00:13:06,227.21771749 The phone rang in the morning and I said, Oh, he can't make it, something's happened. 132 00:13:06,247.21871748 --> 00:13:09,207.21771749 So I answered the phone and there was the doctor. 133 00:13:10,547.21771748 --> 00:13:13,407.21871748 And I took a deep breath and he said, this is Dr. 134 00:13:14,107.21871749 --> 00:13:14,567.21871749 Aronson. 135 00:13:14,577.21871749 --> 00:13:16,137.21871749 we've got a a cornea for you. 136 00:13:17,897.21871749 --> 00:13:19,717.21871749 We think this is the time to do it. 137 00:13:20,947.21871749 --> 00:13:23,377.21871748 And I said, Oh, I've got work at the office. 138 00:13:23,377.21871748 --> 00:13:25,77.21871749 I'm not sure I can make it this week. 139 00:13:25,127.21871748 --> 00:13:27,237.21871749 Let's just put it off till you get the next one. 140 00:13:28,877.21771749 --> 00:13:31,227.11721749 It's that three month time period. 141 00:13:31,227.11721749 --> 00:13:33,167.11771749 It's just this builds in your mind. 142 00:13:34,187.11671749 --> 00:13:39,517.11671749 And he said, well, Carl, he said, this cornea is 25 years old. 143 00:13:40,697.11671748 --> 00:13:43,827.11671748 He said, I think this is a tremendous opportunity for you. 144 00:13:43,827.11671748 --> 00:13:49,777.11671749 I was 38, maybe 35, he said, I think this is a great opportunity. 145 00:13:50,697.11771749 --> 00:13:54,807.11771748 He said, this one's 25 years old and I think it's the one you should have. 146 00:13:56,197.11771749 --> 00:13:58,327.11771748 So I said, I'll be there in an hour and a half. 147 00:13:59,757.11771749 --> 00:14:00,337.11771748 That was the end. 148 00:14:00,397.11771749 --> 00:14:08,197.11771748 I mean, we got in there and at that time, the transplants were much different than they are now. 149 00:14:08,217.11671748 --> 00:14:10,617.11771749 This was going to be a three day deal. 150 00:14:11,337.11771749 --> 00:14:12,17.11671749 I was. 151 00:14:12,432.11771749 --> 00:14:19,452.11771749 In a room with another man, a young man who was around 21, 22, he got the other eye. 152 00:14:20,182.11771749 --> 00:14:22,672.11771748 We were in together, so we talked to each other. 153 00:14:23,662.11771749 --> 00:14:26,902.11771749 They took us both in, and then we got our transplants. 154 00:14:27,712.11671749 --> 00:14:29,112.11671749 And we stayed overnight. 155 00:14:29,372.11771749 --> 00:14:31,382.11771749 And the next morning they got us up. 156 00:14:31,772.11771749 --> 00:14:34,772.11771749 Now, the Will's Eye Hospital is a teaching hospital. 157 00:14:35,917.11771749 --> 00:14:50,447.11721748 So they take us into the room, and they've got students in the room along with them, you know, so they unwrap the bandages very dramatically, and then he just pops you into the chair with a microscope in front of you. 158 00:14:51,297.11721748 --> 00:14:53,547.11721748 And they shine that bright light right in your eye. 159 00:14:53,547.11721748 --> 00:15:02,787.11721749 You've just had this operation, your cornea has been replaced, and they put this bright light in your eye, and then every student has to look at the same thing. 160 00:15:02,787.11721749 --> 00:15:05,392.11721749 And you kind of went, wow, this is really trying. 161 00:15:06,432.11721749 --> 00:15:12,42.11721749 We could see, well, you know, not, not a hundred percent, but it was really pretty good. 162 00:15:12,847.11721749 --> 00:15:41,577.41821749 And then we stayed over another night, and, then they released us, I could have driven home, although my parents had flown in, and they took me home, back up in North Philadelphia, and we got home, and then of course the stitches are still in the eye, and back then they didn't take the stitches out until they broke, which they estimated would be in the first year to two years. 163 00:15:43,167.41821749 --> 00:15:47,827.41821749 So, we had the stitches in the eye, but it eventually broke. 164 00:15:49,127.41821749 --> 00:15:50,317.41821749 And they came out wonderful. 165 00:15:50,497.41821749 --> 00:15:52,817.41821749 I mean, it was absolutely wonderful. 166 00:15:52,827.41821749 --> 00:15:58,127.41721749 And then once the stitches were out, they put the contact lens on, and I could see perfect. 167 00:15:58,137.41821749 --> 00:15:59,687.41721748 It was wonderful. 168 00:15:59,737.41721749 --> 00:16:01,367.41821749 It was such a relief. 169 00:16:02,987.41721748 --> 00:16:04,527.41721748 That is wonderful. 170 00:16:04,757.41821748 --> 00:16:09,287.41821748 And you're absolutely right that corneal transplants have changed so much over the years. 171 00:16:09,797.41821748 --> 00:16:11,717.41821749 And we have so many advances. 172 00:16:11,992.41821748 --> 00:16:14,852.41821749 in the technique for corneal transplants. 173 00:16:15,282.41821749 --> 00:16:23,982.41821748 The other great news is with corneal collagen cross linking, we can stabilize the cornea to prevent the need for corneal transplantation. 174 00:16:24,502.41721749 --> 00:16:27,272.41721748 So thank you so much for sharing your story. 175 00:16:27,732.41821748 --> 00:16:33,462.41821748 And I encourage all of our listeners to take a look at your photos because they are fantastic. 176 00:16:33,902.41821748 --> 00:16:36,722.41821748 Thank you so much for joining us on Clearly KC. 177 00:16:36,762.41821748 --> 00:16:45,692.4182175 Please listen to all the episodes of the Clearly KC podcast on Podbean or your favorite podcast app to subscribe and get future episodes. 178 00:16:45,732.4182175 --> 00:16:46,712.4187175 For now, I'm Dr. 179 00:16:46,712.4187175 --> 00:16:47,452.4172175 Melissa Barnett. 180 00:16:47,692.4182175 --> 00:16:49,532.4182175 See you next time on Clearly KC.
Welcome to episode 23 of the Clearly KC podcast, featuring information about life with keratoconus.
I'm your host, Dr.
Melissa Barnett.
.999We are so happy to have Carl Domke of McKinney, Texas, with us today.
Carl is this year's winner of the World KC Day photo contest.
Congratulations, Carl.
(00:26):
Well, thank you very much, and thank you for inviting me in.
Yes, you have some amazing photos.
.999The judges picked your submission, which layers three different photos together, and the finished product shows you holding a lens with a clear view of a landscape inside the lens.
And outside the lens, the view is very blurry.
(00:48):
In your submission you wrote, without this little lens, my life would have been much different.
.999Can you tell us how you came up with the idea to create this photo? Well, you know, it's 80 years experience, I guess, or 60 years with the contact lens. 13 00:01:05,909.999 --> 00:01:08,99.998 It's kind of a love hate relationship. 14 00:01:08,119.998 --> 00:01:18,739.998 It isn't quite that bad, but Hard contacts are difficult, you know, they were a blessing to my generation when we first got contact lenses. 15 00:01:19,279.998 --> 00:01:35,9.998 How old were you when you first got contact lenses? I was heavy into scouting, and I had gone on a scout trip to the National Scout Camp down in New Mexico, about 900 miles away, and I was fine. 16 00:01:35,49.998 --> 00:01:40,629.998 But coming back, riding the bus, Looking out the windows for that long trip. 17 00:01:41,349.998 --> 00:01:45,109.998 I noticed my right eye was getting blurry. 18 00:01:46,459.998 --> 00:02:01,619.998 So I got home and mom and dad took me to a, ophthalmologist and he was a family of friend, so he took quite a bit of time and he looked at it, he was able to fit glasses over my li eyes. 19 00:02:02,889.998 --> 00:02:07,939.998 it was only my right eye, but he fit me for glasses and he said, I think. 20 00:02:09,119.998 --> 00:02:17,719.998 You've got keratoconus, but we're going to try glasses for now and see how it goes, see if it progresses at all. 21 00:02:18,599.998 --> 00:02:23,159.997 And so we tried glasses and within three months they were blurry. 22 00:02:23,974.998 --> 00:02:28,664.998 And we got back in with him again, and he said, Carl, you're going to have to go to contact lenses. 23 00:02:30,724.998 --> 00:02:34,614.998 I didn't know anything about contacts, you know, so, we tried on contacts. 24 00:02:34,634.01618182 --> 00:02:46,72.74345455 with keratoconus? I was, 15, and I just turned 16 the next month, so it was basically 16 years old. 25 00:02:46,512.94345455 --> 00:02:50,72.94295455 Just going into, 10th grade in high school. 26 00:02:50,522.94295455 --> 00:02:51,452.94295455 In high school. 27 00:02:51,562.94195455 --> 00:03:02,792.94195455 so at that time, what sort of contact lenses did you wear? Were they PMMA lenses? Were they the hard lenses? Actually, they were just plastic lenses. 28 00:03:02,792.94195455 --> 00:03:04,722.94195455 There was nothing magic about them. 29 00:03:05,722.94195455 --> 00:03:07,262.94195455 He tried on a few lenses. 30 00:03:07,352.94195455 --> 00:03:10,352.94195455 You know, they have a trial pack at the office. 31 00:03:10,992.94195455 --> 00:03:16,242.94195455 And I tried on a few of them, and we found one that fit pretty well. 32 00:03:17,32.94195455 --> 00:03:17,832.94195455 And I wore that. 33 00:03:17,833.04195455 --> 00:03:20,32.94295455 It was a clear lens. 34 00:03:20,472.94295455 --> 00:03:22,142.94295455 We didn't add any correction to it. 35 00:03:22,142.94295455 --> 00:03:27,257.94295455 I wore that probably for three or four years without correction. 36 00:03:27,357.94295455 --> 00:03:30,697.94295455 That's all I needed was just that contact lens over the surface. 37 00:03:32,347.94295455 --> 00:03:45,977.94295455 And how have things changed over the years? Have you had different types of lenses? Did you eventually need a corneal transplant? During my high school times, I stayed with that one, just a clear lens. 38 00:03:46,367.94295455 --> 00:03:50,207.94295455 And my left eye also, became affected with keratoconus. 39 00:03:50,657.94295455 --> 00:03:53,437.94245455 So I wore two lenses, but they were just clear lenses. 40 00:03:53,437.94245455 --> 00:03:56,387.94195455 I wore those probably through most of college. 41 00:03:57,147.94295455 --> 00:04:05,187.94195455 And then at some point in college, they began to put some correction into the lens, but they were just always just a straight lens. 42 00:04:05,217.94295455 --> 00:04:07,277.94295455 We didn't have anything else that I know of. 43 00:04:08,97.94195455 --> 00:04:23,377.84095455 At some point, probably after my first corneal transplant, in the 90s or in the late 80s is the first time I heard of them using a stepped or graduated, curve inside the lens to fit my eye. 44 00:04:25,47.84095455 --> 00:04:29,887.84095455 And what sort of lenses do you wear now? they are a step curve lens. 45 00:04:30,257.84095455 --> 00:04:30,857.83995455 I don't know. 46 00:04:31,457.84095455 --> 00:04:35,237.83995455 It's just that one little bit beyond a normal contact lens. 47 00:04:36,497.83995455 --> 00:04:38,217.84095455 I don't have anything else. 48 00:04:39,767.84095455 --> 00:04:40,367.84095455 Got it. 49 00:04:40,567.83995455 --> 00:04:42,757.84095455 So getting back to your photograph. 50 00:04:42,887.84095455 --> 00:04:45,47.84095455 It's absolutely amazing. 51 00:04:45,57.84095455 --> 00:04:52,617.84095455 How did you come up with the idea for the winning photograph? Every day I try to walk. 52 00:04:53,527.84095455 --> 00:05:06,497.84195455 I probably only make it three or four times a week, but in my subdivision where I live I'm in the Dallas area, in Texas, and we have a pond in our subdivision. 53 00:05:07,297.84195455 --> 00:05:11,497.84195455 It's probably about a half a mile around, a nice walk. 54 00:05:12,297.84195455 --> 00:05:18,507.84195455 So I get out and I try to walk a mile and a half, two miles a day, three or four days a week. 55 00:05:19,287.84095455 --> 00:05:21,77.84095455 And I walk that pond every day. 56 00:05:21,747.84095455 --> 00:05:29,937.84195455 There are ducks out there, blue herons, green herons, a few geese once in a while in this early spring. 57 00:05:32,367.84195455 --> 00:05:37,237.84195455 Quite a few fish fishermen out there you know, and it's a lot of fun, it's a beautiful area. 58 00:05:37,237.84195455 --> 00:05:38,377.84195455 I love the outdoors. 59 00:05:38,377.84195455 --> 00:05:40,317.84195455 I have lived in the outdoors. 60 00:05:40,367.84195455 --> 00:05:45,807.93995455 As I told you, I was a Boy Scout when I was young and the outdoors is my, my place. 61 00:05:47,357.93995455 --> 00:05:50,927.93995455 As a matter of fact, when I walk, a lot of people nowadays walk with. 62 00:05:51,262.93995455 --> 00:05:57,552.93995455 earbuds and they have their radios on and music playing and then you walk by them and say hello. 63 00:05:57,592.93995455 --> 00:05:58,972.93995455 They don't even respond to you. 64 00:05:58,972.93995455 --> 00:06:02,162.93895455 They're in another world, but not me. 65 00:06:02,162.93995455 --> 00:06:04,242.93995455 I have to hear what's going on. 66 00:06:04,242.93995455 --> 00:06:05,482.93945455 I have to hear the nature. 67 00:06:05,482.93945455 --> 00:06:10,172.93995455 I have to see the birds and, Know what's going on around me. 68 00:06:10,622.93995455 --> 00:06:11,622.93995455 it really helps, too. 69 00:06:11,622.93995455 --> 00:06:18,442.93995455 A lot of times, I only wear one contact lens, so I don't see very well with the other one. 70 00:06:19,122.93995455 --> 00:06:23,132.94095455 I really need to keep alert as to what's going on and around. 71 00:06:23,142.94095455 --> 00:06:24,232.94095455 You just don't know. 72 00:06:25,372.94095455 --> 00:06:38,413.03995455 We have bobcats in the area, we have coyotes, we have, stray dogs that are running, you have to stay alert you know, I'm now getting a little weaker and a little less stable and they have to be aware of what's going on and around. 73 00:06:39,513.04095455 --> 00:06:50,158.04045455 When I walk that pond at the very end of it is a chair or a bench to sit on there at the lake, and that's exactly where I took the picture from. 74 00:06:50,158.04045455 --> 00:06:51,358.04045455 I sit there every day. 75 00:06:51,838.04045455 --> 00:06:52,818.04045455 I look down the lake. 76 00:06:52,868.04045455 --> 00:07:00,698.04045455 There is that fountain in the lake that helps keep the lake fresh in the summertime when we have this tremendous heat. 77 00:07:01,658.04045455 --> 00:07:08,329.48331169 And I look at that and I see that fountain and I relate that to my contact lens. 78 00:07:08,359.48331169 --> 00:07:14,539.48331169 The contact lens has given me that ability to see that vision, to see that sight. 79 00:07:15,689.48331169 --> 00:07:35,659.48331169 And I picture myself, kind of like putting my hand up I mean, how many times do we do that with that contact lens on it? It doesn't really stand quite that direction, but It's the way I see it coming into my eye when I put my contact lens in every morning and maybe during the day I have to take it out and clean it, put it back in again. 80 00:07:35,729.48331169 --> 00:07:48,904.48431169 It's a constant thing with contact lenses, but that's what I see and I know that contact lens gave me A lot of the things I have, I would not have gotten through high school without that lens. 81 00:07:49,4.48431169 --> 00:07:53,744.38431169 We were right at the edge of getting contact lenses in 1959. 82 00:07:54,124.48431169 --> 00:07:57,904.48431169 I don't know even how long they'd been around, but they're difficult. 83 00:07:57,904.48531169 --> 00:08:00,574.48531169 And if I didn't have that lens, I wouldn't have made it through high school. 84 00:08:01,374.48531169 --> 00:08:02,224.48531169 It wouldn't have happened. 85 00:08:03,194.48531169 --> 00:08:06,624.48531169 And as a result, you know, I've been able to do a lot of things. 86 00:08:07,384.48531169 --> 00:08:23,674.48531169 My doctor at the time when he diagnosed me at SKC, especially when you get out of the office and you have to go back and forth a lot to see the doctor and he's watching the curvature of my eye and how it's progressing. 87 00:08:25,244.48431169 --> 00:08:43,353.04526821 You think about the big question, am I going to lose my eyesight? How far will this go? Am I going to be blind? These things go through your head, especially as a 16 year old, where am I going with this? You know, and he was a family friend. 88 00:08:43,385.28623922 --> 00:08:49,647.11571749 this going to affect my life? Oh, yes. 89 00:08:50,252.11571749 --> 00:08:55,32.11571749 When you're told something about your eyes, you know, that's what you immediately go to. 90 00:08:55,82.11571749 --> 00:08:57,92.11571749 No, I would have gotten the long okay, I think. 91 00:08:57,92.11571749 --> 00:08:59,132.11571749 And it doesn't mean it's the end of the life. 92 00:08:59,132.11571749 --> 00:09:01,742.11471748 I don't mean to say that, but it would have been certainly different. 93 00:09:02,2.11571748 --> 00:09:03,302.11471748 It would have been a different life. 94 00:09:03,352.11571748 --> 00:09:09,782.11571748 And my doctor told me that, Carly said, this is a progressive thing. 95 00:09:09,782.11571748 --> 00:09:12,387.01571748 In most cases, it will stop. 96 00:09:12,847.11571749 --> 00:09:14,717.11571749 It will go so far and stop. 97 00:09:14,717.11571749 --> 00:09:22,17.11571749 As a matter of fact, in many cases, it's not even diagnosed because it doesn't go far enough. 98 00:09:22,697.11571749 --> 00:09:24,727.01671749 And people don't even know they have it. 99 00:09:25,752.01671748 --> 00:09:34,162.01671748 But in your case, it is progressing and it will maybe stop and you won't have any problem, you just have to wear contact lenses. 100 00:09:35,412.01671748 --> 00:09:39,942.01571748 But he said there is possible, maybe in 20 years you'll have to have a corneal transplant. 101 00:09:41,662.01671748 --> 00:09:48,342.01671748 And of course, 16 year old boy, you know, now what's going to happen? A corneal transplant. 102 00:09:49,72.11671748 --> 00:09:52,832.11671748 kind of frightening, but he said, don't worry about it. 103 00:09:54,602.11671748 --> 00:09:55,962.11671748 You're not going to go blind. 104 00:09:56,162.11671748 --> 00:10:04,92.11671749 There are things happening in research and things happening with this condition that is, that they're progressing and you're going to be fine. 105 00:10:04,152.11671749 --> 00:10:08,617.01671749 We're just going to keep watching it and be aware of what you have and be careful with it. 106 00:10:09,987.11671749 --> 00:10:18,117.11671749 And that's really, really was the best advice, maybe in 20 years, of course, that 20 years stuck in my mind I'm now 80 years old. 107 00:10:18,117.11671749 --> 00:10:20,607.11671749 And I remember that pretty clearly. 108 00:10:21,987.11671749 --> 00:10:25,927.11721748 And as you see the records there, I have did have a corneal transplant. 109 00:10:26,742.11721749 --> 00:10:30,602.11721748 I went through school and I became a civil engineer. 110 00:10:31,552.11721749 --> 00:10:35,852.11721748 I had a job with a very large, steel fabricator in Chicago. 111 00:10:36,892.11721749 --> 00:10:42,682.11921749 And, I was a designer for them and, began to move around the country as a contracting manager. 112 00:10:43,612.11921748 --> 00:11:10,202.12021749 And I got up into New York, I was living in, Philadelphia, working in New York, and my boss, or actually the man I worked with, he, told me, Carl, we have, a tremendous hospital in Philadelphia, that with your eyesight, and with your eye problems, you need to go see them, it is the Will's Eye Hospital, I believe it's the oldest eye hospital in the country. 113 00:11:10,202.12021749 --> 00:11:12,902.12021749 And you're right in their backyard to go down and talk to them. 114 00:11:13,242.12021749 --> 00:11:14,342.12021749 And so I did. 115 00:11:15,202.12021749 --> 00:11:17,182.12021749 And I was with them for about a year. 116 00:11:17,192.12021749 --> 00:11:19,992.12021749 And They thought it was time for me to have a corneal transplant. 117 00:11:21,397.12021749 --> 00:11:24,547.12021749 As my doctor had told me, he said two things can happen. 118 00:11:24,547.12021749 --> 00:11:35,257.12021749 Number one, the cornea gets so steep that the contact lenses you're wearing become difficult to wear for long periods. 119 00:11:36,317.12021749 --> 00:11:44,257.12071749 And the other thing can happen with the steepness, your cornea may get so thin, it becomes very dangerous to wear. 120 00:11:45,457.12071749 --> 00:11:51,527.12071749 And then what had happened was I was only being able to wear my lens probably until about 4 or 5 o'clock in the afternoon. 121 00:11:52,67.12071749 --> 00:11:57,667.12071749 And I had to get it out, so the Will's Eye Hospital recommended corneal transplants. 122 00:11:57,667.12071749 --> 00:12:02,67.12071749 Now, back in that day, we had to get the line. 123 00:12:02,97.11971749 --> 00:12:05,497.12071749 It was a waiting period because the corneas were not available. 124 00:12:06,497.12071749 --> 00:12:16,552.12071749 so they told me it would be, Oh, probably three to six months before I could get one, but they would put me on the waiting list and call me when they had one. 125 00:12:17,642.12071749 --> 00:12:26,72.12071749 Well, that sounds great, but you sit someplace for three months and think about it as to what's going to happen. 126 00:12:26,542.12071749 --> 00:12:38,622.12071749 What will end up when you have, when you get this lens? And so I went two months and I knew I was getting close to that time period. 127 00:12:39,582.12071749 --> 00:12:46,782.21871749 So I began to get, a fear to answer the phone in the morning if the phone rang, I wouldn't answer it. 128 00:12:48,572.22071749 --> 00:12:49,527.21971749 I'm just not ready. 129 00:12:49,527.21971749 --> 00:12:52,412.21971749 I gotta, I gotta wait just a little bit yet. 130 00:12:53,617.21971749 --> 00:13:00,287.21971749 And finally I was going to go to work with another, employee and I were friends and he said, Carl, I'll drive you in tomorrow. 131 00:13:01,487.21871749 --> 00:13:06,227.21771749 The phone rang in the morning and I said, Oh, he can't make it, something's happened. 132 00:13:06,247.21871748 --> 00:13:09,207.21771749 So I answered the phone and there was the doctor. 133 00:13:10,547.21771748 --> 00:13:13,407.21871748 And I took a deep breath and he said, this is Dr. 134 00:13:14,107.21871749 --> 00:13:14,567.21871749 Aronson. 135 00:13:14,577.21871749 --> 00:13:16,137.21871749 we've got a a cornea for you. 136 00:13:17,897.21871749 --> 00:13:19,717.21871749 We think this is the time to do it. 137 00:13:20,947.21871749 --> 00:13:23,377.21871748 And I said, Oh, I've got work at the office. 138 00:13:23,377.21871748 --> 00:13:25,77.21871749 I'm not sure I can make it this week. 139 00:13:25,127.21871748 --> 00:13:27,237.21871749 Let's just put it off till you get the next one. 140 00:13:28,877.21771749 --> 00:13:31,227.11721749 It's that three month time period. 141 00:13:31,227.11721749 --> 00:13:33,167.11771749 It's just this builds in your mind. 142 00:13:34,187.11671749 --> 00:13:39,517.11671749 And he said, well, Carl, he said, this cornea is 25 years old. 143 00:13:40,697.11671748 --> 00:13:43,827.11671748 He said, I think this is a tremendous opportunity for you. 144 00:13:43,827.11671748 --> 00:13:49,777.11671749 I was 38, maybe 35, he said, I think this is a great opportunity. 145 00:13:50,697.11771749 --> 00:13:54,807.11771748 He said, this one's 25 years old and I think it's the one you should have. 146 00:13:56,197.11771749 --> 00:13:58,327.11771748 So I said, I'll be there in an hour and a half. 147 00:13:59,757.11771749 --> 00:14:00,337.11771748 That was the end. 148 00:14:00,397.11771749 --> 00:14:08,197.11771748 I mean, we got in there and at that time, the transplants were much different than they are now. 149 00:14:08,217.11671748 --> 00:14:10,617.11771749 This was going to be a three day deal. 150 00:14:11,337.11771749 --> 00:14:12,17.11671749 I was. 151 00:14:12,432.11771749 --> 00:14:19,452.11771749 In a room with another man, a young man who was around 21, 22, he got the other eye. 152 00:14:20,182.11771749 --> 00:14:22,672.11771748 We were in together, so we talked to each other. 153 00:14:23,662.11771749 --> 00:14:26,902.11771749 They took us both in, and then we got our transplants. 154 00:14:27,712.11671749 --> 00:14:29,112.11671749 And we stayed overnight. 155 00:14:29,372.11771749 --> 00:14:31,382.11771749 And the next morning they got us up. 156 00:14:31,772.11771749 --> 00:14:34,772.11771749 Now, the Will's Eye Hospital is a teaching hospital. 157 00:14:35,917.11771749 --> 00:14:50,447.11721748 So they take us into the room, and they've got students in the room along with them, you know, so they unwrap the bandages very dramatically, and then he just pops you into the chair with a microscope in front of you. 158 00:14:51,297.11721748 --> 00:14:53,547.11721748 And they shine that bright light right in your eye. 159 00:14:53,547.11721748 --> 00:15:02,787.11721749 You've just had this operation, your cornea has been replaced, and they put this bright light in your eye, and then every student has to look at the same thing. 160 00:15:02,787.11721749 --> 00:15:05,392.11721749 And you kind of went, wow, this is really trying. 161 00:15:06,432.11721749 --> 00:15:12,42.11721749 We could see, well, you know, not, not a hundred percent, but it was really pretty good. 162 00:15:12,847.11721749 --> 00:15:41,577.41821749 And then we stayed over another night, and, then they released us, I could have driven home, although my parents had flown in, and they took me home, back up in North Philadelphia, and we got home, and then of course the stitches are still in the eye, and back then they didn't take the stitches out until they broke, which they estimated would be in the first year to two years. 163 00:15:43,167.41821749 --> 00:15:47,827.41821749 So, we had the stitches in the eye, but it eventually broke. 164 00:15:49,127.41821749 --> 00:15:50,317.41821749 And they came out wonderful. 165 00:15:50,497.41821749 --> 00:15:52,817.41821749 I mean, it was absolutely wonderful. 166 00:15:52,827.41821749 --> 00:15:58,127.41721749 And then once the stitches were out, they put the contact lens on, and I could see perfect. 167 00:15:58,137.41821749 --> 00:15:59,687.41721748 It was wonderful. 168 00:15:59,737.41721749 --> 00:16:01,367.41821749 It was such a relief. 169 00:16:02,987.41721748 --> 00:16:04,527.41721748 That is wonderful. 170 00:16:04,757.41821748 --> 00:16:09,287.41821748 And you're absolutely right that corneal transplants have changed so much over the years. 171 00:16:09,797.41821748 --> 00:16:11,717.41821749 And we have so many advances. 172 00:16:11,992.41821748 --> 00:16:14,852.41821749 in the technique for corneal transplants. 173 00:16:15,282.41821749 --> 00:16:23,982.41821748 The other great news is with corneal collagen cross linking, we can stabilize the cornea to prevent the need for corneal transplantation. 174 00:16:24,502.41721749 --> 00:16:27,272.41721748 So thank you so much for sharing your story. 175 00:16:27,732.41821748 --> 00:16:33,462.41821748 And I encourage all of our listeners to take a look at your photos because they are fantastic. 176 00:16:33,902.41821748 --> 00:16:36,722.41821748 Thank you so much for joining us on Clearly KC. 177 00:16:36,762.41821748 --> 00:16:45,692.4182175 Please listen to all the episodes of the Clearly KC podcast on Podbean or your favorite podcast app to subscribe and get future episodes. 178 00:16:45,732.4182175 --> 00:16:46,712.4187175 For now, I'm Dr. 179 00:16:46,712.4187175 --> 00:16:47,452.4172175 Melissa Barnett. 180 00:16:47,692.4182175 --> 00:16:49,532.4182175 See you next time on Clearly KC.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!