Dr. Rachana Patel of Florida Eye Specialists recently made a pro bono procedure possible for a young woman quickly losing her vision to keratoconus. The patient, Kia Bowman, was misdiagnosed at age 21 which lead to many tough choices, such as waiting until she was completely blind to receive cornea transplants, until she met Dr. Patel.
“Dr. Patel gave me my life back,” Bowman says.
The degeneration of Kia’s vision left her out of work and scrambling for a solution to save her sight before it was too late. Kia became very depressed, had to stop working, couldn’t enjoy simple things such as watching television and eventually lost her job, along with her insurance. After several years of back and forth with various doctors and specialists, Kia was referred to Dr. Rachana Patel who explained that she was battling keratoconus, a hereditary condition in which the clear tissue on the front of the eye bulges outward.
Dr. Patel explained to Kia that she would be performing Corneal Cross-Linking. This procedure would not improve her vision but would stop it from getting any worse. After the procedure, she would still need special contact lenses.
“Dr. Patel knew exactly what she was doing. She was very comforting and knowledgeable and calmly explained what the procedure would do for me … I cannot thank her enough,” Bowman says of Dr. Patel. “She is wonderful! There is no one else like her. She’s truly amazing and very down to earth … there are not enough positive words to describe her. Every time I see her I say ‘thank you’, but anything I could say is not enough.”
Kia is now recovering from the procedure on her second eye and says she can feel the difference and see more through her right eye than before the procedure. She eternally grateful to Dr. Patel and Florida Eye Specialists for saving her vision and transforming her life.