Maria Fernanda Buendia

The Colours of Life

When I was 15 years old I started to have problems with my sight, a year later I was prescribed glasses and later on soft contact lenses.  Not until I was 19 years old it was found out that I had keratoconus and therefore started wearing hard contact lenses.

For 25 years I wore hard lenses but gradually I started to have a burning feeling in my eyes and a great deal of pain until I could not resist the lenses anymore.  When I consulted with the eye doctors in Ecuador they said that doing cross-linking would be the solution to my problem and that I will be able to wear the contacts again.  I underwent cross-linking in my right eye but I continued to have the same previous problems, cross-linking did not make a difference at all for me.  The doctors said that they will not be able to check my eyes again until I had worn the contacts they gave me for 8 straight hours.

I was unable to stand the contacts in my eyes for more than 2 hours and under great discomfort, in spite of the great emotional and physical distress from not being able to see well, I started wearing glasses, in reality I had no choice.  I had to replace the glasses every three weeks because my eyesight kept changing, but it became too expensive and draining.  I could not work any longer; I was working as a translator and needed my eyes in full.  Reluctant to quit completely with my normal responsibilities due to the fact that I could not see well, I kept on driving until I hit a car.  Everything in my world became difficult, and hopeless, I started to think what could be a possible occupation I can start to learn so that I can get by in the future, everything I know how to do require of my eyes.

Half a year had gone by and I decided to contact Galo Andrade at Stahl Eye Center, he asked me to send him the information I had regarding my eyes and tried to help me as much as possible over the phone, however we reached a point in which he said he needed my eyes in front of him to be able to help me further.  Very kindly he took me as his patient and as soon as I had an appointment I flew from Quito-Ecuador to New York.  Galo spent a great deal of time checking my eyes, did several tests and prescribed Rose K2 IC contact lenses which did wonders for me.  He also found that I suffer from moderate dry eyes and prescribed drops that I should put in my eyes constantly.  He also found that the prescription I had in my glasses was wrong and he corrected it.

It has been absolutely unbelievable to be able to see again, to be able to read, to keep on writing a book I had started sometime ago, to drive, to enjoy nature, even to clean and dust properly, in short, to have a normal life for the hours in the day in which I wear the contacts.  I have never seen as well as I do now, this has been a real miracle for me, I have reclaimed my life back, moved from a blurry and hopeless future into the brightness and colours of living, I count this blessing as one of the most important events of my existance, I am enjoying every second of being able to see again.  Although I still have to work on the fear of putting the contacts in my eyes as somewhere in my mind I still have the idea that putting them in will cause pain, I am sure I will overcome this feeling soon, it does not hurt at all but rather makes my eyes comfortable and my vision clear.

Seeing again has given me a new light for everything, I strongly feel I have been part of a miracle, the miracle of sight.  Thank you Galo!

Maria Fernanda Buendia, Quito- Ecuador