Berks County Medical Society Medical Record Summer 2017 - 14

organ donation transforms lives
continued from page 13

bill pors
I

awoke each morning and looked at the world through a veil of fog that would
only start to dissipate hours later. The Fuchs Dystrophy that caused my corneas
to fog got progressively worse during the 6-7 years before my surgery. It was very
difficult to see the computer screen and even to clearly see the students standing in my
doorway, in my job as a high school counselor. Driving became difficult and activities
such as golf were impossible to enjoy (I could not track the ball through the air once
I hit it... even though most times it landed in the woods or the water, which had
nothing to do with the Fuchs!).
My optometrist, Dr. Leslie Brodsky, carefully cared for my Fuchs and my overall
vision until he indicated it was time for me to have the corneal surgery. He referred
me to Dr. Jonathan Primack for the procedure. Dr. Primack's knowledge, experience
and wonderful bedside manner quickly relieved any fears I had of proceeding with
the surgery. He recommended that I have my cataracts taken care of first, which he
masterfully completed. My vision before this surgery was approximately 20/900 and
after closer to 20/20. One can imagine how genuinely happy and thankful I was not
to have to wear glasses for the first time in 55 years! I then had DSAEK surgery on
my right eye and a few months later DMEK surgery on the left eye. I could finally
see clearly upon waking and throughout the day and am now able to enjoy all the
activities I participated in prior to the Fuchs diagnosis.
Words can't express how appreciative I am to my doctors and the staff that took
care of me throughout this process. Of course, none of this would have been possible
if not for the caring individuals who donated the cornea tissue used in my surgeries. I
will never know who they are but I'm eternally grateful to them.

jeremy renninger
T

Jeremy with his aunt,
Alice Blanchard, who donated a
kidney for her nephew.

14

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he unexpected diagnosis of Kidney Failure
came at a very inconvenient time in my
life. I had just gotten married earlier in
the year and I was excelling at my sales career at
Automatic Data Processing. Life was just coming
together and beginning to make sense when I was
told by the doctors it wouldn't be long before I
needed a kidney.
Within a few months I was being treated
at home with peritoneal dialysis. It wasn't the
ideal situation, but it allowed me to continue
working my sales job during the day so I
could get treatment at night while I slept. The
technology was amazing, however, I didn't have
a lot of energy by the end of the day. I felt wiped
out. One of the worst parts for me was having a
restricted diet. I worked in food service for many
years and I enjoy so many different foods. That
part was very hard to deal with.

Jeremy and his wife, Amanda, with their
son, Christian
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Berks County Medical Society Medical Record Summer 2017
