Success in sight

Macular degeneration changed Verna Gilbart’s life.

Doctors diagnosed the 86-year-old with macular degeneration about five years ago. Abnormal blood vessel growth as blamed for her vision becoming impaired. She required about 10 needles in the eye to stop the bleeding.

The treatment held, but her condition wouldn’t improve.

Verna’s husband, Lloyd Gilbart, said sometimes Verna could see planes in the sky but couldn’t recognize hockey star Wayne Gretzky he appeared on a television set right in front of her. Verna used to be an avid reader and enjoyed driving her car, but that changed after her diagnosis.
"You can’t live with someone who has macular degeneration without being involved," Gilbart said. "Every day she brings the phone to me and says ‘I want to phone so and so.’ You just automatically become very involved."

He said he was grateful for the quality of care available at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre.

When he heard that the hospital needed help to raise $120,000 to replace its old Visupac Camera system equipment, he said he jumped at the chance to help. He kicked off the campaign Monday with a donation of $10,000. That was made in addition to his previous $25,000 through the Ophthalmology Fund.

"I don’t want to sound like a smart aleck, but it just seems like the right thing to do," he said. "When I heard about the possibility that this machine would pack it in and patients would have to go to Winnipeg I blew my cork."

Chris Francis, an Ophthalmologist at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre, said the seven-year-old Visupac system is on its last legs. The hospital needs a new machine that’s reliable and offers crisper images quickly.

Francis sees about 700 patients a week but that number could soon increase.

"Everybody has a good chance of getting macular degeneration if they live long enough," Francis said. "As our population is ageing it is becoming more and more common. We see lots of it every day. The other disease we see commonly is diabetes. The Visupac system is used to attack leaky blood vessels."

He added that he was confident the hospital would be able to reach its targeted goal.