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Letters to the editor:

Thanks for the medical miracle

Joanne Gaida
The Ottawa Citizen

Thursday, January 17, 2002

Re: Ottawa researchers discover blindness gene, Jan. 12.

My family and I, who are affected by Wagner's disease, publicly thank the doctors who have worked so hard for this miracle.

Living with this disease is frightening and life-altering. Day after day you are never sure if tomorrow will show the colours of the world or if your children will suffer the same fate as you do.

But with doctors and researchers such as those at the Ottawa Eye Institute, and with the discovery of a test for the gene, hope is restored and tomorrow seems many times brighter. Without their faith and dedication, this breakthrough would not have been possible. But most of all, without their hearts, the lives of me and my family would not have been changed for the better.

Of four children, my brother, François, and I have Wagner's disease. I had my first retinal detachment at eight years of age. I am now considered legally blind in one eye, and cannot drive, at the ripe old age of 24. My brother, 22, was diagnosed at 12 and has undergone numerous operations. He is half-blinded.

With this genetic test, my husband and I are now able to plan a family. Infants and children tested and found to have this hereditary disease can receive laser eye surgery to reinforce the retina. When I was young, there were none of these tests so whenever you hit your head or saw something in your eye that wasn't normal, you worried about retinal detachment.

We thank Dr. Sanjoy Gupta, Dr. Brian Leonard, Dr. Karim Damji, Dr. Dennis Bulman, Amy Bovell and the others who have made this test possible. For most people who read your article, it was simply another medical breakthrough. But for my family and me, it is a long hoped for miracle and the start of a bright new future.

Joanne Gaida,

Trenton

© Copyright 2002 The Ottawa Citizen.

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