When Gabriola Islander Vladimir Yakimov started to lose his eyesight he turned to his dog, Ziggy, not as a service animal, but as a spirit-booster.
Yakimov’s eyesight started to become steadily foggier years ago, due to the hereditary condition Fuch’s dystrophy. His sight, however, was saved last year with corneal transplants.
But years before the 69-year-old had his own sight saved with the transplants, Ziggy went blind due to cataracts brought on by canine diabetes. But the dog never seemed to act unhappy.
“People, when misfortune like that hits, some go and drink, some get depressed,” said Yakimov. “But this dog, even though it was heartbreaking to watch, he just adjusted.”
When Yakimov took Ziggy for a walk, they would head for an open field. When called, Ziggy would head for the sound of his master’s voice. Walking along a forest trail, Ziggy navigated by moving from side to side, touching brush on either side of the path.
And in 2008, Yakimov took Ziggy to a veterinary surgeon in New Westminster, who removed the cataracts and the dog could see again.
“I would be imagining things and telling old wives’ tales if I was to say: ‘He was really happy,” Yakimov said. “You couldn’t see it.”
It was about that time Yakimov started to notice his own vision was getting foggy. He never went blind, but slowly had to give up things he enjoyed: cooking, working in his workshop, repairing things, watching TV or going to movies.
He had cataracts removed about three years ago, but the doctor doing the procedure discovered problems with his corneas. Yakimov was put on a list for a transplant and didn’t have to wait long before both eyes underwent corneal transplants at Nanaimo General Hospital.
“My distance vision is now so clear and so beautiful and I just put glasses on when I want to read something,” he said.
He gave thanks to the two donors and their families who agreed to have their corneal tissue harvested for transplant. Yakimov also credited medical staff at palliative units who raise the issue of transplants with their patients.
Shannon Leonard, nurse and donor development liaison for the Eye Bank of B.C., said that last year the palliative care unit in Nanaimo General Hospital completed 57 donation surgeries for corneal tissue, the most in British Columbia.
Victoria Hospice was No. 2 with 46. In total, 626 were performed in B.C.
Leonard said corneal tissue, unlike hearts or kidneys, receives no blood, so no tissue match is necessary to perform a transplant.
Also, the cornea can be donated by people aged two to 75. Issues like cancer or even some eye conditions, like glaucoma, don’t rule out a patient as a donor.
Other portions of a person’s eye, such as the white, the sclera, can also be used to repair damage to an injured eye.
As many as eight patients can benefit from tissue taken from just one donated eye.
So Leonard encourages individuals and families to consider signing up as tissue or organ donors while they can make the decision for themselves.
It can be very hard on families to have that discussion if a loved one dies suddenly, she said in an interview from Vancouver.
To learn more about corneal transplants and other issues of the eye go online to eyebankofbc.com and transplant.bc.
