She once was blind, but now she sees

Woman sees for the 1st time in 12 years

Photo Provided Dr. James Chodosh, an ophthalmologist at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Institute in Boston, examines Sumter native Cynthia Dicks, who has a rare but serious condition known as Stevens-Johnson Syndrome. The condition, which essentially robs the body of fluid, caused her blindness nearly 12 years ago.

By JASON WERMERS
Item Content Team Leader
jwermers@theitem.com

On June 9, Cynthia Dicks woke up, a patch was taken off her eye and she opened it.

"I see something white," she told Dr. James Chodosh at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, affiliated with Harvard Medical School in Boston. "He said, 'White? That's my lab jacket.'"

Then Dicks, of Sumter, saw her cousin Mary Peoples, who has taken care of her the past 12 years, since she lost her sight. Peoples and her husband, Bernie Peoples, have been with Dicks every step of the way, including taking her to appointments with Dr. Heather Skeens at Storm Eye Institute, affiliated with the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. Mary Peoples also accompanied Dicks four times this year to Boston.

"I was looking around," she said. "It was good to see something. I was looking at my cousin Mary. ... All I could do was holler. I couldn't cry."

Dicks has a rare but serious condition known as Stevens-Johnson Syndrome. She developed it after she came down with a severe case of pneumonia and was given Septra, a combination of two antibiotics typically used to treat urinary tract infection.

The syndrome is an allergic reaction that includes rashes and burns, a persistent fever, blisters and swelling of the eyelids. She was blinded and lost her left eye. The disease also essentially robs the body of fluid, meaning Dicks cannot produce tears, saliva or sweat. Her nerves are "totally destroyed," she said, and the syndrome has weakened her immune system so much that she can easily catch any infection she's exposed to.

Before this happened, Dicks lived a normal life, working in quality control at Madison Industries. She had never been sick enough to be hospitalized.

Jason Wermers / The Item Jennifer Field, physical therapist assistant at Sumter Physical Therapy, works with Cynthia Dicks. Dicks underwent surgery in June that has restored her vision in one eye to almost perfect. She suffers from Stevens-Johnson Syndrome.

As part of the June surgery in Boston, doctors cut a small hole in the eyelid and cornea of her right eye and placed a lens there. She still wears dark sunglasses to cover her eyes, which are swollen shut by the Stevens-Johnson Syndrome, but she can see out of that tiny opening through her right cornea.

Her vision has been improving since the procedure. She said it started at about 20/2,000 but then improved to 20/200, 20/60 and now 20/40. That means, uncorrected, she has to be 20 feet away to see what a person with normal vision can see at a distance of 40 feet.

"I got to see my 93-year-old grandmother (Itlene Nelson) again," said Dicks. "I was going to see her at the hospital. It was good to be able to see her again."

Dicks, 51, is by no means out of the woods. She suffers from neck and back pain associated with the syndrome, and she still does not produce tears, saliva or sweat because of how the disease burned the inside of her body. She also remains unable to drive.

But even the seemingly minor convenience of being able to walk in her home at Hampton Manor or in the office of Sumter Physical Therapy without being led by the hand is a major source of joy.

"Getting unattached after always depending on someone to do everything for me," Dicks said. "I'm enjoying it."

In the first few weeks after the surgery, even though Dicks could see, she started having doubts. Even though she had been assured her vision would improve, that change seemed to come about slowly — so much so that she worried she might lose her sight again.

"I went through a little depression," she said. "I thought the surgery wasn't going to be successful. But everything is great by the grace of God."

Dicks said she couldn't have come this far without the support of her family, friends and the many medical personnel who have attended to her.

Jennifer Field, a physical therapist assistant at Sumter Physical Therapy, said she and other staff at the office are "grateful for the opportunity to help Ms. Dicks." The office led a fundraising drive for Dicks before the June surgery.

"She's a wonderful, special woman," Field said after a physical therapy session last week with Dicks. "Everyone has come together as a team. They are so willing to help."

Dicks said she wants to start a Sumter chapter of the Stevens Johnson Syndrome Foundation to raise awareness of the disease.

"I know there's something out there for me to do," Dicks said. "I don't know what it is, whether it's counseling or helping others, but there is something I need to do. I know it'll come to pass. Whatever it is God has for me to do, I will follow through with it."



Contact Content Team Leader Jason Wermers at jwermers@theitem.com or (803) 774-1225.
For information on Stevens-Johnson Syndrome, go to the Stevens Johnson Syndrome Foundation Web site at sjsupport.org, or the Mayo Clinic at mayoclinic.com/health/stevens-johnson-syndrome/DS00940.

For information on Septra, go to drugs.com/pdr/septra.html.

HOW TO HELP
SAFE Federal Credit Union has set up an account to help Cynthia Dicks pay her medical expenses. To make a donation, call or visit any SAFE branch. She is scheduled to go back to Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary for a follow-up visit on Dec. 18, which would be her fifth trip to Boston this year. Dicks also invites e-mails from people who want to know more about her condition or how they can help. Her e-mail address is cdenisedicks@gmail.com.