Tammy Guntner is a mom who nearly lost her sight..

''If I had to choose which sense to lose, it wouldnt be my sight. I want to watch my son grow up.''

A routine eye exam alerted Tammy Gunter to a condition she had feared all her life diabetic retinopathy. Insulin dependent from an early age, Tammy, 30, learned that vessels in the retina of her eyes were swollen and threatened to leak blood into the vitreous, or fluid inside her eyes.

Tammy had a series of laser treatments to abort the growth of the abnormal vessels, but the problem persisted. When she became pregnant, her eye specialist knew this would exacerbate the diabetic retinopathy, so referred Tammy to Dr. Robert Devenyi, Ophthalmologist-in-Chief and Director of Retinal Services at Toronto Western Hospital.

Many diabetics suffer impaired vision. Left untreated, they can go blind a frightening prospect for anyone and catastrophic for a young, expectant mother. Laser treatments helped, but towards the end of her pregnancy Tammys left eye hemorrhaged, leaving her with only blurred vision in the right eye. In February she gave birth to her baby, Sam, then When my right eye hemorrhaged in the summertime, it was a stressful time. I could hardly see at all and couldnt drive. I was scared, Tammy recalls.

Dr. Devenyi performed the first of two vitrectomies on the left eye, by now filled with blood. After draining the eye, he replaced the fluid with a gas bubble that exerted sufficient pressure on the leaking blood vessels to seal them off permanently. Gradually, Tammys own fluids replaced the gas, the retina healed and she could see again. Four months later, the procedure was successfully repeated on the right eye.

Tammys ordeal took two years in all, traveling from out of town and putting in long waits to be seen by a renowned retinal surgeon who counts the Toronto Maple Leafs among his patients. And how was she treated at Canadas largest ophthalmology department? I had excellent care, says Tammy. Dr. Devenyi and his team were great, and the Operating Room nurses and staff made me feel calm and comfortable. They took very good care of Sam and me.

Each year, thousands of patients like Tammy Gunter depend on our Vision Program for the best in specialized eye care. World-class c linician-scientists like Dr. Devenyi take their medical findings from the lab, to clinical trials, to treatment innovation.

The Vision Program at Toronto Western Hospital is a national leader with over five decades of experience. It ranks among the top five programs in North America. It is the largest program in Canada, treating over 60,000 patients every year. In addition, we are home to the largest Retinal Surgery unit in North America treating the most complex retinal cases and the largest Glaucoma unit in Canada.

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• Dr. Rob Devenyi
• Vision Program
• Toronto Western Hospital