PROSE

Grace Avila was having back pain when her physician prescribed a muscle relaxer. Within a few weeks, blisters appeared across her body. Doctors thought she had a hand, foot, and mouth disease, a common viral infection in young children that sometimes occurs in adults. Over and over, she was told, “Just let it run its course.” But to Grace, whatever was happening to her body felt like it was eating her alive. She couldn’t eat, walk, or see. When her sister visited, she immediately called 911. Grace had blisters covering her mouth, eyes, throat, torso, and more. “I’d rather be dead than be here,” she told her sister. Living with Stevens-Johnson Syndrome A nurse by profession, her sister was convinced Grace had Stevens-Johnson Syndrome (SJS), a severe condition that affects the skin, genitals, eyes, and mucous membranes, including the lining of the digestive tract. Stevens-Johnson Syndrome is caused by an adverse reaction to medication or, sometimes, infection and can cause severe symptoms such as Grace’s that require months to heal, if they heal at all. Grace’s condition was so debilitating that she spent two weeks in the hospital with her eyes completely covered by bandages and her mouth sealed shut because of blisters. She was kept alive via IV fluids. After two weeks in care, she had surgery, where surgeons placed membranes on her eyes to prevent further scarring. Following her hospital stay and surgery, Grace’s left eye didn’t produce any tears, and it never will again. When she [...]

We recently sat down with Dr. Brittany Yelle, a PROSE Provider at Precision Cornea Centre in Ottawa, Canada, to learn about her experience using PROSE treatment and scleral lenses, and how she chooses between these modalities when working with patients.  Prefer video? You can watch Dr. Yelle answer our questions here. What led you to become a PROSE (Prosthetic Replacement of the Ocular Surface Ecosystem) provider?  What led me to become a PROSE Provider was having really complex cases sent over by my cornea colleagues and not being able to get adequate fittings. I wouldn’t put up with telling them that there was nothing else that could be done. So, I decided to become part of the PROSE family so that I can help those patients out.  How has fitting specialty lenses changed your perspective on the needs of your patients?  Fitting PROSE or specialty contact lenses has definitely changed my perspective in the sense that I we’d put up with things beforehand and say that’s all that could be done. And now, we’ve got so many other options for patients. So, if patients are motivated, I tell them that we should never give up and keep going.  When do you use PROSE treatment vs. a traditional scleral lens?  I consider PROSE treatment to be like a tailored suit. Some patients prefer having their suits tailored right off the bat, and some patients have no choice but to get a tailored suit. And so, depending on the case, I’ll often [...]

We recently sat down with Dr. Christina Abuata, a PROSE Provider at Baylor College of Medicine, to learn about her experience using PROSE treatment and scleral lenses, and how she chooses between these modalities when working with patients.  Prefer video? You can watch Dr. Abuata answer our questions here. Why did you choose a career in specialty contact lenses? What drove me to fit specialty contact lenses was an externship that I did in optometry school. I was with a really great mentor who taught me the foundations of fitting scleral lenses, and during those appointments with the patients, patients always would say ‘you really need to do this, we never got the care that we needed and that we wanted, and we need more doctors like you’. And I was still a student at the time so I thought that maybe pursuing a residency or a fellowship and creating a stronger foundation would lead me to that path, and that’s why I wanted to fit specialty contact lenses PROSE vs scleral, what’s the difference? I fit both PROSE and scleral lenses, and the main difference that I take into consideration when I’m doing a consult with patients is their underlying condition. If it is a chronic progressive condition or somebody that I feel needs more time to fit, a little bit more hand-holding in the beginning, and maybe more customization, that’s where I draw the line and I say that they’re a PROSE candidate. If I have a patient [...]

For almost 20 years, Lindsay Hendrix’s poor ocular health limited what she could do and where she could go. After surviving toxic epidermal necrolysis (a severe allergic reaction that is fatal to 30% of those who contract it) at age 10, her ability to enjoy life on any given day was dictated by the condition of her eyes. In grade school, her main symptoms were excessive tearing and severe light sensitivity. BostonSight PROSE patient, Lindsay Hendrix “I had a really hard time,” remembers Lindsay. “I had red puffy eyes and looked like I was crying all of the time. I was embarrassed.” Lindsay tried BostonSight PROSE treatment but, “had a difficult time inserting the prosthetic device, and the idea of shoving a piece of plastic into my irritated eye confused and scared me. Dr. Jacobs and I weighed the pros and cons and decided I didn’t need PROSE yet.” Despite her challenges, Lindsay earned her Doctorate of Physical Therapy and joined the adult working world. But her eyes got worse, and around 2014 her symptoms changed. “My main issue was dryness; it felt like someone was holding a fan in front of my eyeball.” Her left eye dried out each day, and by early evening it would completely close. Over time, her eye began to close earlier and earlier in the day. Soon Lindsay could no longer drive at night. She began to worry about her future, and the future of her eyes. When Lindsay became engaged to [...]