At Press Time

"Gift of Sight" Tradition Lives On

Holiday Season Cataract Surgeries for the Needy.

By René Luthe, Senior Associate Editor

■ In an interesting coincidence, the philanthropic impulses of two ophthalmic surgeons led them to participate in unrelated programs for free cataract surgeries for the needy that happen to have the same name: "The Gift of Sight."

Robert P. Lehmann, M.D., of Nacogdoches, Texas, just celebrated the 16th year of his Gift of Sight program, which he founded in east Texas. Scheduled annually on the Monday before Thanksgiving, Dr. Lehmann created the program to fill what he saw as an urgent need. "There were so many who presented with vision loss from cataracts but no ability to pay for the necessary surgery," recalls Dr. Lehmann. "They weren't old enough to be on Medicare and they had no insurance or access to other programs. I decided I was going to do one eye of each of those patients at no charge. I think we did five or six that year. And then it grew until we did almost 30 eyes this year."

Originally scheduled during the Thanksgiving-Christmas season, the practice eventually settled on the Monday before Thanksgiving. "It seemed like the most obvious time of year to share something truly special, the gift of sight, with those truly in need," explains Dr. Lehmann.

The majority of candidates are referred by comanaging area optometrists and physicians. Throughout the year, they send the practice information on needy candidates. Beginning in September, the practice asks candidates to come in for a complete cataract evaluation. The needed cataract surgery is performed in one eye on the Gift of Sight day, and many patients come back to have the other cataract removed the next year.

Dr. Lehmann has been able to restore sight to patients who had been living under very trying conditions. "One patient was blind in one eye and had developed a mature cataract in her sighted eye. She lived alone and had resorted to ‘walking’ around her house on her knees to reduce the injuries from falling," Dr. Lehmann says. "She was well into her 70s, but had never been eligible for Medicare."

Dr. Robert Lehmann with a cataract patient on his "Gift of Sight" day.

While many of the patients are elderly, congenital and trauma-induced cataracts mean that young people need the surgery as well. Dr. Lehmann operated on one patient who was only 13 years old. Representatives from ophthalmic companies such as Alcon donate IOLs and other necessary supplies. "Without doubt it is the most gratifying day of the year," Dr. Lehmann says.

At Nature Coast EyeCare Institute in Perry, Fla., the practice continued its Gift of Sight initiative in memory of its founder, Joel K. Shugar, M.D., who died in a skydiving accident last May. Their program is also scheduled just before Thanksgiving. This was their ninth year of participation, with James Roberts, M.D., and Richard Palmer, M.D., performing the surgeries in order to keep the tradition going. Dr. Shugar had performed an average of 30 free cataract surgeries, and some years as many as 50. This year, they did only 12 as they adjusted to a practice without a full-time surgeon to replace Dr. Shugar. Practice Administrator Mary Ann Prevatt says Nature Coast intends to perform greater numbers again as soon as possible.

"We've probably done about 370 surgeries in the 9 years we've had the Gift of Sight program," notes Prevatt.

Like Dr. Lehmann's practice, Nature Coast sees patients with cataracts so severe that they have been compelled to stop working and driving. "This was the first time that Dr. Roberts has ever done anything like that [Gift of Sight]," Prevatt says. "And he told me, ‘These are some of the worst cataract cases I've ever done in 22 years of surgery.’"

The practice advertises in local newspapers to find candidates.

Alcon donates IOLs to Nature Coast as well; eye drops come from both Alcon and ISTA Pharmaceutical. Even the local doughnut shop participates, Prevatt reports, donating snacks for surgery day.

Nature Coast's goal is to persuade ophthalmic surgeons all over the United States to participate in the Gift of Sight. "Dr. Shugar's brother has set up a foundation called the Shugar Magic Foundation to help get this going," Prevatt says.

GIVING BACK: Committed to Compassion:

Dr. Palmon's Humanitarian Efforts Started Early.

By Jerry Helzner, Senior Editor

■ After compiling a highly impressive academic record at Georgetown University, where he was a Phi Beta Kappa and graduated magna cum laude, Rick Palmon moved on to the Tulane University School of Medicine, where he was trying to decide on an area of medical practice that would best suit him.

There, a classmate, who would later become his wife, urged him to consider ophthalmology, which she said could be an interesting and rewarding career for both of them.

"She soon lost interest in ophthalmology and became a radiologist," recalls Dr. Palmon. "But I fell in love with it. Ophthalmology met two of my primary goals: building long-term relationships with patients and an opportunity to develop my surgical skills."

As a resident at Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia, Dr. Palmon was able to spend 3 weeks on a humanitarian mission to rural areas of the Philippines.

"I was born and raised in the United States, but my family originally came from the Philippines," he says. "It was a good opportunity to see the country and also to provide eye care to people who have very little and a great need for this kind of care."

After a fellowship at the University of Minnesota in cornea and refractive surgery, Dr. Palmon established himself in practice in Florida, where he is now a partner in Southwest Florida Eye Care, based in Fort Myers. Dr. Palmon then found time to participate in two ORBIS missions — one to Mongolia and another to China — and a church-sponsored mission to the Dominican Republic.

In October of 2008, he went on his second trip to Haiti, part of an ongoing effort sponsored by the Northwest Haiti Christian Mission. The trip was particularly timely because Haiti was ravaged by four hurricanes in 2008 and times are harder than ever in that impoverished country with the loss of most of the important rice crop.

Dr. Palmon (right) performed sight-giving corneal transplant surgery on the two young Haitian girls who joined him and a colleague for this photo.

"Two Kansas City ophthalmologists, Drs. Bill White and Andy Moyes, deserve most of the credit for this mission," says Dr. Palmon. "Dr. White has been doing this for 7 years and Dr. Moyes for 4 years. This was a real team effort. We had five U.S. doctors plus support staff in Haiti for a week and saw about 800 patients. We did cataract surgeries, laser treatments for severe glaucoma and also treated corneal disease and pterygium."

One of the highlights of the trip for Dr. Palmon was performing corneal transplants that brought sight to two young girls blinded by congenital corneal disease. A third child, a boy, also received a new cornea in a procedure performed by Dr. Moyes.

"These were the first corneal transplants performed in Haiti in more than 25 years," says Dr. Palmon. "We got the corneas from the Tampa Lions Eye Bank, used ice to keep them at the proper temperature, and performed the surgeries as soon as possible after we reached the clinic in St. Louis du Nord."

Care has since been turned over to two local ophthalmologists, Drs. Cedric Marcelus and Bridget Hudicort.

"We are in close touch with them," says Dr. Palmon. "The first 3 to 6 months are crucial. Children are more likely to reject corneal transplants than adults but so far they are doing well."

Though Dr. Palmon has already been on a number of missions, he still feels he can do more.

"I have a partner now so I think I can start doing two trips a year," he says. "I am committed to the Haiti mission and I would like to do one other trip each year, possibly to Africa or India. I can think of nothing more rewarding than to go into an area where the need is great and restore people's sight."