Sister’s stem cell donation allows Bristol woman to get life-changing eye surgery
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) — Eye disease has been a part of DeAnna Moore’s life for as long as she can remember.
She was diagnosed with limbal stem cell deficiency and underwent a life-changing surgery in March, which was made possible thanks to a stem cell donation from her sister.
“I was diagnosed before I was two years old with a juvenile form of rheumatoid arthritis,” Moore said. “Now they call it J.I.A. In a small portion of children, not only the joints are affected, but also the eyes. So I guess I got kind of reverse lucky or whatever. And so when I was young, I had uveitis, which is inflammation in the eyes as well as the joints. And by the time I was a teenager, I had added glaucoma onto this.”
Moore told News Channel 11 that her right eye was removed and she now wears a prosthetic. After that, she said she started experiencing intense pain in her left eye.
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“I think of the cornea like my windshield, that clear part in the front,” Moore said. “And so mine just is kind of threadbare. It was. Sometimes I would accidentally rub it, or sometimes I would just wake up in the night with severe pain. And what had happened is a little area of the cornea kind of [had] broken down. And to think of it like a small maybe ulcer or defect.”
Moore spoke with local cornea specialist Josh Busscher M.D. with Johnson City Eye Clinic & Surgery Center. He was the one to diagnose her with limbal stem cell deficiency. He also recommended she get evaluated for a limbal stem cell transplant.
“The front of the eye normally has cells that spread out across it to keep it healthy, keep it clear. And when the stem cells that create that clear surface break down, the surface gets cloudy and scarred and you can’t see,” Busscher said. “This procedure allows you to transplant new stem cells onto the surface of the eye, so that the cornea, the clear front part of the eye, stays clear.”
During the procedure, a surgeon typically removes the limbal stem cells from a patient’s healthy eye and then transplants them into the other. The cells can also come from a living or deceased donor. In Moore’s case, she already had her other eye removed, so she required a donor for the procedure to even be an option.
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Moore’s sister volunteered for the donor surgery.
“I have one sister, and before I even said a word she said, ‘I want to donate cell tissue if I can.’ And it just kind of started coming together, and she was a good enough match.”
Moore went to Cincinnati, Ohio for surgery evaluation and approval by Dr. Ed Holland. She was accepted for surgery at the visit.
Dr. Holland performed Moore’s surgery in Cincinnati on March 13. Moore told News Channel 11 that both she and her sister have recovered well.
“I’m now [able to read] the eye chart now. It’s big. It’s like 2400 and I don’t know if that means anything to most people, but that’s bigger than the Big E, if they’re used to seeing that on the chart. But for me, going from seeing fingers in front of your face to actually seeing the chart across the room, that’s huge.”
“My hope is mainly pain control. Keep my cornea healthy and happy or healthier. And I’ve already gained a little bit of vision. So that’s like icing on the cupcake for me.”
Moore has also said she can see colors more vividly and was able to see a handrail for stairs that she wasn’t originally able to see before the surgery.
Dr. Busscher said he’s only had one other patient have a limbal stem cell transplant and that was before he became their doctor. He said he’s recommended the surgery to a handful of other patients, but the process of traveling for the surgery can be difficult.
“You have to travel to a doctor who can provide it. And the follow up is pretty rigorous. You probably stay up there several days at a time and have to go back for frequent visits at first to make sure everything’s healthy and progressing like it’s supposed to be. And so a lot of patients hold off until they absolutely can’t any longer.”
Moore was able to have transportation from her husband. She said this was her chance to not lose her remaining eye.
She said for others without eye disease, their range of vision with the surgery might be more.
Dr. Busscher said the success rate for a limbal stem cell surgery is high.
“It’s a pretty high level of success as long as the patient is able to take the medications that are required and follow up appropriately,” Busscher said. “If you look at the literature, the success rate for these transplants can be upwards of 70 or 80%.”
He recommends people to see a cornea specialist if they believe they have a limbal stem cell deficiency.
Moore has committed herself to a long road ahead as she attends post-operation visits and makes her way through surgery recovery. She said she’s grateful to her doctors, family and especially her sister, and wants the community to know that this procedure could be an option for them.
“Dr. Holland was telling us about a military member that had been blind from an injury while he was serving. He saw his three year old daughter for the first time after the surgery. This procedure. So my hope is that there may be someone out there like me. Maybe they’ve been told that there’s nothing they can do, they’re going to be blind for the rest of their life. And, maybe they’re just not aware that this procedure is an option. That’s my goal, is just to get the word out there. To at least look into it, if any of this sounds like something you’re dealing with.”
Moore is also a retired veterinarian and resides in Bristol, Tennessee.
She documents her journey with eye disease and having her limbal stem cell transplant on her YouTube channel.
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