After cataract surgery on just her right eye, Brenda Carter couldn’t believe the improvement in her eyesight.

“I was sitting on the sofa watching TV and a commercial came on. I read it top to bottom and then I started crying,” the Summerville resident said.

And on the ride to the ophthalmologist for a checkup, she said she was “reading license plates like a little kid.”

“I still can’t believe it,” Carter said. “I think I’m in shock.”

Carter is one of the first to benefit from a new nonprofit organization that helps people who need cataract surgery.

Drs. Kerry Solomon and John Boatwright of Carolina Eyecare Physicians have launched Operation Sight, providing eye surgery at no cost to uninsured tri-county area residents who fall within the foundation’s guidelines. A number of local optometrists also have volunteered to assist with pre- and post-operative care. Prospective cataract patients will be referred through organizations such as Access Health and the Association for the Blind.

“Operation Sight is a group of medical and eye care professionals who care about our community and aim to empower others by giving them the gift of restored sight,” Dr. Solomon said.

Dr. Boatwright added, “This new and very important service will benefit many of our neighbors who literally need a new outlook on life, and we are a grateful for this opportunity to serve our local community.”

Carter, who works for a nursing home in Walterboro, was wearing bifocals but had no idea why she still had such poor vision. In mid-October, she found out she had cataracts after her sister referred her to Dr. Solomon, who specializes in cataract correction.

Dr. Solomon – whom Carter refers to her “vision angel” – asked if Carter would want to have surgery through Operation Sight. Not only would Carter benefit from this new nonprofit, she would be making history. The surgery on her left eye was broadcast live on Oct. 22 to a gathering of the American Academy of Ophthalmology in Orlando, Fla. It was the first live broadcast of laser cataract surgery.

Dr. Solomon used the innovative Alcon LenSx® femtosecond laser technology to perform the cataract surgery. Dr. Solomon was the first in the Southeast to use this new technology at Physicians’ Eye Surgery Center in Charleston. It is the same technology used to perform LASIK procedures. By using a laser for cataract correction, ophthalmologists are able to plan and customize each procedure based on patient anatomy as well as create more precise and consistent incisions.

The day before the surgery on her left eye, Carter could barely contain her excitement.

“I wish I could put it into words and maybe at some point I can, but at this point, I still don’t believe it,” she said. “It’s like your eyes are being born again and literally they are. It’s like having new eyes and a new lease on life.”

For more information about Operation Sight, call 843-881-3937.

Cataracts by the numbers

• Cataract correction is the most commonly performed surgical procedure in the United States, with more than 3 million surgeries each year.

• Cataracts affect more than 22 million Americans age 40 and older (AllAboutVision.com)

• More than 30 million are expected to have cataracts by the year 2020 (AllAboutVision.com)

• 78 million baby boomers turn 65 in 2011. For the next 19 years, nearly 10,000 people each day will turn 65. (AARP)

• Those boomers will live longer and more active lifestyles and want good vision – and no glasses.

What is a cataract?

Light entering the eye passes through its lens. The lens focuses that light on the retina at the back of the eye. A cataract is a clouding of the eye’s lens. A clouded lens interferes with how light passes through it, in much the same way that fingerprints or smears on a window interfere with your view of what is on the other side of the glass. Some people with cataracts have described their vision as “looking at the world through waxed paper.”

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