FOR PATIENTS | Patients We've Helped

No Hat for Tara

Tara’s story is a dramatic one: Since she was twelve, Tara had keratoconus and was forced to wear uncomfortable hard contact lenses over her corneal scar tissue. She could not see the chalkboard at school, and even in her wedding photos, she had reddened eyes from the painful lenses. Tara spent most of her life indoors due to the pain of bright lights on her eyes, often wearing sunglasses, or if she had to go out, always wearing sunglasses and a hat outside. In 2001, she had a corneal transplant in her left eye. Unfortunately, the result was she had no vision and the pain was intolerable.

After reading the testimonials from other patients on the BFS web site, her husband realized that his wife might qualify as a patient. Tara was reluctant to come to Boston in fear of getting her hopes up, only to possibly have them dashed again. Once at the BFS office, she experienced a painless exam and other friendly, supportive patients. Tara was also impressed that the office staff and doctors were so caring and took so much time to talk to her and fit the lens.

This was a new medical experience for her. What happened when Tara tried on her new Boston Scleral lens? “I felt light-headed,” she describes. “I really felt like I was going to pass out. Everything was coming at me, because I could see so many things so quickly.” She ran out of the office to see what the world looked like with her first pair of trial lenses One woman even yelled at her to put a hat on during a very cold January week in Boston, but she loved the feeling of being outdoors without a hat. “I am the happiest I have ever been in my life,” Tara now says. “I never dreamed in my wildest dream that this is possible. I can’t express this in words. I can’t express my gratitude.” The Inside Edition TV crew came to the BFS office in Chestnut Hill to interview Tara and followed her to her home in Ottawa when she returned home to see her ten-year-old daughter and eight-year-old son clearly for the first time.

One of Tara’s goals for the future is to appear on Canadian television and pressure the Canadian government to insure the Boston Scleral Lens as a prosthetic device rather than rejecting coverage as a cosmetic aid. She is energized and ready to go without her hat.

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