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• Your eyes sometimes look red in a photograph because light from the flash reflects off the choroid, blood vessels that nourish the retina. To avoid this reflection, ask your subjects to look slightly to the side of the camera. • A person blinks once every five seconds. That means most people's eyes are shut for nearly 30 minutes while they are awake each day. • Each of your eyes weighs 1/4 ounce, measures less than one inch in diameter, and is shaped like a slightly flattened ball. • More than one-half of all people in the United States use some type of lens to correct their vision.
Vision...more than meets the eye
June 13, 2002 My 15 year old daughter underwent cornea transplant surgery today in her left eye. This surgery was made possible because of a decision made by you and your loved one. Thank you. I know this gift was made possible because of someone else’s loss, and I want you to know that your gift has been received by a young girl who realizes and appreciates your kindness. In fact, because of what she has been through, she has told me she wants to be an organ donor too. My daughter’s cornea was damaged when she had chicken pox just before her third birthday. She has been dealing with eye problems and almost monthly eye doctor’s appointments since that time. Her cornea had permanent scarring and even with a very thick corrective lens, she has never been able to see 20/20 in her damaged eye. She wasn’t a candidate for laser surgery because her cornea has become so thin and weakened over the years. There was also the very real risk of cataracts and/or glaucoma due to the steroid eye drops she must take daily. Glaucoma is irreversible. Her only hope for better vision was through a cornea transplant, and today you made that possible. Tomorrow morning we go to the doctor’s office and the bandage over her eye will be removed. Although her vision in her left eye will continue to improve over time as the cornea heals, there is a chance she will be able to see better out of that eye tomorrow than she did today without a corrective lens. That would be amazing. I hope you can find comfort in knowing you and your loved one have made a difference in someone else’s life. Thank You
Tremendous advances have been made in eye, tissue and organ transplantation in recent years, offering the hope of life and or of significant quality of life improvements for many individuals. Yet much remains to be done to overcome the shortage in supply of donated eyes, tissues and organs. President Ronald Regan proclaimed the first National
Eye Donor Month in 1983, and since then Congress has designated
each March as national Eye Donor Month In 2002, the Wichita Eye Bank helped restore sight to 632 people. Nationally, more than 46,000 Americans, ranging in age from a four month old to an 80 year old grandmother received corneal transplantations. Since 1960, eye banks nationwide have made possible more than 700,000 sight restoring corneal transplantations. But each year more donors are needed to meet that need. Signing a donor card is a good first step but more importantly: talk to your love ones and let them know of your donation wishes. Please contact the Mid-Continent Eye Bank at 688-3937 or visit our web site at www.mid-continent.org for further information.
April 20-26 is National Organ and Tissue
Donor Awareness Week.
• Because of its many rods, the eye's sensitive cells that provide night vision, the owl can see ten times better in the dark than a human. • The chicken has only cones, the cells that provide sharp, daylight vision. And, although it can spot the smallest insects in the barnyard dirt during the day, at night the chicken is completely blind and helpless against the invading fox.
With the growth of the Eye Bank over the past year, we have added two new members to our family: Erkin Abdullayev, M.D., CBET: Erkin has actually been with the eye bank since 1997 as a part time procurement technician but joined us fill time in April. LaDonna DeOsio, CST:
LaDonna joined our staff in September to assist us in providing
better service to the Topeka area.
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A
giant 8-foot model of the human eye, affectionately called 
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Now
you can support Mid-Continent Eye Bank while you're
on vacation! When you plan your vacation, become a member, or renew
your membership with AAA, a donation will be made
in support of Mid-Continent Eye Bank. Just mention
this program at the time of booking! Qualifying travel includes
cruises, tours, and pre-packaged vacations pre-paid to AAA
Travel.
© 2003 Mid-Continent Eye Bank