European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 21, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse Saturday. December 21. 1985 the stars and stripes Page 17 Eye surgery for the nearsighted by Gayle Young United press International w Hen a Russia doctor Lisl introduced procedure i which faulty eyesight could be corrected by slicing and reshaping Iho Cornea patients and the medical Community gave a collective shudder. Now. Roro than five years inter no most 200,000 americans have their eyeglasses in Lavor of radial Keral Xiomy surgery and doctors across the country Are switching irom scepticism to enthusiasm Over Iho process. There me still ophthalmologists who will not do the surgery but Many More have crossed that line of said it. Mary Beth Moore assistant professor of ophthalmology at the University of Texas health science Center in Dallas. More people Are hearing about the procedure and Are willing to try it especially those who can t Wear contacts or Wear glasses because of their what changed both doctors and patients minds seems to be the recently released results of two separate studies on radial Kera Tolomay one conducted 31 the Behest of the National Eye Institute and the other by a private physician in Kansas City to who has performed the operation on Mote than 900 people. Both studies show an effectiveness rate of Over 90 percent with Lew complications said or. Seretha c. Cartwright of Emory University. Atlanta. A. Coordinator Oltha Eye Institute s study. The procedure was Lound to be Safe and she said. However not every patient walked away irom the operating room with 20-20 vision and Erma Bombeck Ortie reported Ihrer Vii n coi ilium change years i flt a ii . Six Aid in performing Racli in Karat ckirby. Surgeons Rennke eight a lit positioned in the Cornea like the spoken of a wheel those incisions la Ritter the Lens causing Light rays to four closer to the Relina which bungs faraway of sects into sharper focus. The surgery it Only effective on people with moderate to mild nearsighted Neva. Doctors say. Bui its Success has spurred a hurry of new Eye surgery techniques to Correct other deficiencies. . Where a Dnn Ili Cornea is carved in the shape of a Contact Lens and sewn Over the patient s own Cornea has been performed or five years at the Louisiana slate Center in new Orleans. We Call it the living Contact said or. Robert Arlla a fellow at the Center it s been especially successful for people with misshapen Corneas who cannot Wear regular in a third Type of corneal surgery called Kerala Miliusis. A slice of the patient s Cornea is removed and a pre carved piece of donated Cornea is sewn in its place its Tost results Are not yet Complete. Moore said. But radial Kera Toomy. Pioneered by a doctor in the soviet Union in the 1970s, is fast becoming the most popular operation of its kind As thousands of patients pay about 51,500 per Eye Tor the surgery. The operation can a done in an hour while the patients remain awake. Doctors too Are Hocking to the procedure. Louisiana stale has a waiting list of Over 1,000 doctors who want to a most 200,000 americans Hove opted for Eye surgery in the last five years. Loarn How to Perl uni radial Kera Litomy and the other new types of Eye surgeries developed within live years. You have a lot of intelligent career folks who warn to exist without the nuisance of contacts said or. Casmur a swinger a new York City Eye surgeon who was one of the first to perform radial Kera Toomy surgery in the United sales. Others Are people who Don t mind contacts bul want to pass a police or firefighters physical or want to become an airline Pilot they have to have perfect swinger is Quick to Point out radial Kera Toomy is not 100 percent effective in most cases. While almost All Eye patients Are less nearsighted than before surgery Many May still need eyeglasses for some activities such As driving a car he said the two studies also showed the vision of a third of the patients remained unstable for up to two years after surgery As they became or Jie Shively less nearsighted. Some doctors also argue people who have had the surge y May need eyeglasses again once they be aged because older people Are prone to farsightedness. The studies were very positive but they Lell us with a word of said swinger not All is perfect it s relatively Sale but it will Only take Lime to know if it s worthwhile Lor everyone " it s Tough enough at Christmas trying to buy the right Gill for the right person but the real Chal Lenge is buying a present Lor the person who squirrels away every gift and never uses it. We Veall got pm. Trie relative or Friend who opens up the Gilt thanks you and carefully folds it up and puts it Back in the Box never to be seen again. It goes to a Bureau drawer that already looks like a Ware House or a closet that is a Monument to cons teases past. There Are blouses hermetically sealed in transparent envelopes pantyhose that sleep silently in Embry onic eggs sweater thai Beckon Moths to come to lunch books that Are never read neckties never worn and umbrellas thai have never known rain. I had a grandmother who used to do that. You d give her a handbag and she d say. Lord child that s to Good Lor me to carry around and put it in a drawer you d give her a Blanket and she d say that s real Nice but i be got she was so practical. We All lived for Ine Day when she d walk into a room and smell like Mothballs. It never happened. I found myself shopping for her in a different Way. What is the Shell me of that Fruitcake ii they d say six or seven months with refrigeration i d say. You Don t have one that could hang on Lor 1� 20 years do you it 1 picked out wearing apparel it always had to be a generic style that would play in any Century. She was a Challenge Lor All of us. What could we possibly get her that she would be compelled to use Wear display Eal. Whatever it was we never Lound it. She died leaving behind an estate of gilts that were memorials to our tenacity. I have never understood the savers in the world. They re a lot like the woman who appeared Al the new York opera wearing curlers and when asked Why she said. I might go some place important what could be More important than now it s All we re sure of. Burn those candles they were never meant to sit there Wilh their Wicks collecting dust or melting in the attic. Too pretty to use they were meant to glow and cast lights on Bright shining laces who Are mesmerized by their Light. They can t get any prettier than that. Get those appliances out of the boxes and watch them work. Yoi d be amazed at the miracles they can perform. And those Little soaps shaped like shells and the lace trimmed hand towels. Use them yourself. Without someone to enjoy them they re nothing. My sister used to save All the icing on her cake until last. But after she ate the dry cake she was always too Lull for the icing. There s a Point to be made there somewhere. C 1.0 an a pet time Send Icahn
