PHOTOS: Blind Former Sudanese Slave Taken To The US For Eye Surgery

UPDATE (Friday 9/2, 10:00 am) — Ker had his exam at Wills yesterday. Dr. Haller said his eye pressure was good and was in the high teens, low twenties so that was good. He can see a hand waving without an additional lens but can’t tell the direction of the wave. His retina looks good and he is keeping his head down although he still has the sniffles and watering of the eye. We will not really get a handle on how much vision he will have for six weeks. Part of that as a corneal transplant it takes a while to connect to the eye.  He is bothered by bright sunlight which is a good sign. None of this would be possible without the work of the team at Wills Eye Institute.

On another front, Ker is still a teenage boy from a different culture. He was a slave, his life was not his own and he is illiterate but very fast to pick up English. He is having trouble having a woman doctor even when I explained that she was the most famous retinal surgeon in the world. He did ask in English the other day. “Dr. Haller, how are you?”   When I remarked to him that I had to keep my head down during all my retina surgeries (4 in all) he remarked that he was ” a man and could take it.” I have to say it is a lesson for me as to how ingrained culture is —both the Dinka culture and the Arab/slave culture he grew up in.

— End Update —

UPDATE (Monday 8/29, 4:00 pm) — Some more photos of Ker, post-surgery, courtesy of Roger Barone at the Wills Eye Institute:

He’s coming along steadily.  Could see best view yet of attached retina today.  Inflammation decreasing. Pressure is still mid-20s since tube still closed to keep bubble in, but it is holding and not increasing.  We are seeing them back on Thursday morning.  We will not know about extend to vision before six weeks.

— End Update —

UPDATE (Thursday, 3:05pm) — Here are some photos and another update from Thursday morning. Again, all photos come courtesy of Roger Barone from the Wills Eye Institute:

Great news from Drs. Haller and Hammersmith:
Follow up exam this am shows no infection, no complications, no swelling in the wall of the eye, no bleeding in eye from overnight. He does have raised Interocular Pressure. He’s also coming out of anesthesia nicely. When Dr. Hammersmith waved her hand in front of his naked eye this am he could notice something moving. Dr. Haller says, “He looks fabulous.”

“It’s great – we’re taking one step at a time,” she added.

Ker still has to keep his head down because there’s a gas bubble that was put in the eye yesterday during the surgery that pushes the retina to the back of the eye so, as it rises, he needs to keep his head low.
Dr. Haller believes part of the worst is over – he still has a little ways to go but so far so good!

Doctors want his eye to continue “marinating” in anti inflammatories. His cornea is also getting “plenty of nourishment.” He’s scheduled to return for another follow up tomorrow at noon here at Wills with Dr. Haller.
Medication-wise, he’s on a drop and a pill for pressure in the eye, he’s starting Acutane to reduce the chances of the retina detaching, he’s on antibiotics, cream for the cornea, and steroids.

No restrictions on what he can eat. He can bathe or shower – just as long as he protects the eye with a cover so he doesn’t bump into anything or get an injury during this crucial recovery time. Still needs to keep his head down. At least for a few more days.

They were leaving to return to the hotel to rest.

PS: One other nugget of good news, Ker complained of the bright light when he left Wills Eye Institute today. That is very good news!!

— End Update —

UPDATE (5:45 pm) — Here are a few photos from today’s surgery, all courtesy of Roger Barone from the Wills Eye Institute:

For a full set of photos from today’s surgery, visit our Latest Photos section, located on the homepage of talkradionews.com. Or, click here to view them on Flickr.

— End update —

We are in Philadelphia and Ker will be getting surgery at 7:30 am. I met Ker on one of my trips to South Sudan. Christian Solidarity International (CSI) introduced Ker to me as they knew I had eye contacts and had lost most of my vision in my right eye. I became very attached to Ker.

(CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT KER ALEU)

For those of you new to this, Ker is the teen that was taken to slavery with his mother as part of war booty during the war between the North and the South that lasted 22 years. The North is Arab Muslim and the South is Christian. Ker’s slave mater was afraid his mother would leave and hung him upside down from a tree, lit a fire under him and rubbed hot peppers in his eyes. That, I am told is like pouring acid into his eyes.

After much pushing we finally got him a visa to come to the United States. He came a week ago and is having surgery at Wills Eye with a glaucoma surgeon, a retina surgeon and a cornea transplant surgeon. The outcome we have been warned will most likely not be good and the most we can expect is useable vision — shapes, colors but not the ability to read. However, useable vision at this point would be a vast improvement.

He was alsoevaluated at Lighthouse International and will get services for low vision soon! The head of this team is my Surgeon, Dr. Julia Haller, who is the chief at Wills.

Most of you know I am a Spiritualist — I believe in distant healing — please send good, thoughts, energy and prayers if that is your belief to Ker — I will be updating though the day.

Update on Wednesday, August 24, 2011 at 8:49AM by Geoff Holtzman

Ker went into surgery at Wills Eye Institute at 7:30 this morning. First is the Glaucoma surgeon to make sure the eye pressure is controlled. Then a plastic cornea so Dr. Haller can look and see if there needs to be any retina repairs, then Dr. Hammersmith will put in a donor cornea.

The cornea is from a young person (not good for that young person who passed) and is donated by the Lions. Dr. Hammersmith says it is a beautiful cornea. We could not ask for a better eye team in the whole world. He will not get a lens, but as I learned from my eye you do not need a lens to see. That would be too much surgery for today. Dr. Haller said to have low expectations, that is difficult.

Below is a photo of Dr. Haller, Dr. Hammersmith, Ker’s translator, Agot, and the nurse and Ker.

Update on Wednesday, August 24, 2011 at 11:45AM by Staff

Dr. Haller called from the OR. When I talked to her about a half hour ago she said there was lots of methodical work left to be done. Ker had about 30% of his nasal retina detached (the other eye is totally gone so there was no surgery on that today).

It was chronically detached and cysts were formed there (retina) and scar tissue — they removed the vitreous — the used laser and flattened it. She has air filling it right now — the Glaucoma surgeon put a reservoir in back of the eye — he will have long acting gas in there (which means his head must be down for a few weeks — from my limited experience with four eye surgeries) — they put in the plastic corena so Dr. Haller could see the retina.

Now, Dr. Hammersmith will put in the donor cornea — Dr. Haller said this is basically good news and that they have a 50/50 chance this will do the trick (remember he will not most likely have readable vision even if the result is good)— there was some glaucoma damage to the optic nerve.

So that is your update — more when he is out of surgery!!

Keep Ker in your thoughts!! I believe in distant healing — Ellen

Update on Wednesday, August 24, 2011 at 12:10PM by Staff

Ker is still in surgery, so that will mean when he is out in about a half hour it will be five hours in the OR.

Dr. Hammersmith said that Dr. Haller finished the retinal detachment. His lens was dislodged and was not
sitting in the right position. Dr. Haller fixed the retina and Dr. Hammersmith said that she replaced it
with a clear, beautiful cornea. The cornea was donated by the Lions Eye Bank (they usually cost $2500.00)
and was from a 20-year-old. We will write a thank you letter to the family who donated their child’s cornea.

The cornea does not like air so we are hoping that by Ker keeping his head down over the next three-six
weeks that we can keep the new cornea well. The challenge is the eye pressure and Dr. Mantravadi is
putting in a small device that will help with the pressure — he will have to be on a drug called Diamox.
I am a veteran of Diamox and it is a horrible, horrible drug, but I was an old bat (or goat) when I was on it
and he is young.

As Dr. Hammersmith says, challenges persist — there was glaucoma damage to the optic nerve — we should know in a month or two, but he maybe able to see more light as early as tomorrow. One challenge now is keeping the retina attached, and I can tell you from personal experience that it is a challenge. With extreme luck, and we are talking extreme, he could see the big E — for reference in my bad eye I cannot
(that is 20/400). That would be a miracle!!!!

Keep thoughts, prayers or how ever you send good energy in our direction.

Update on Wednesday, August 24, 2011 at 1:53PM by Ellen Ratner

I apologize for those of you that are physicans if I did not get all the terms correctly.

Ker is out of surgery— five hours— they are taking him from anesthesia slowly as they have learned from Vietnam vets that  anestheisa can cause flashbacks so it is important to bring him out slowly so he does not re-experience the trauma. Agot Deng, who is translating was scrubbed into the OR at the very end so if he woke up she could talk to him to prevent fear from flashbacks of the trauma.

Three were three surgeons Dr. Mantravadi went first— he is the Glaucoma guy, he put in a resevoir—then Dr. Hammersmith the cornea person— the entire iris was fused to the back of the cornea —along with the cataracted lens and the vitreous gel— everything in the mid portion of the anterior chamber was obliterated. The retina was 30% detatched and there was fibrotic bands of scar tissue under the retina.  Then Dr. Hammersmith put the new cornea on— the good news is that the vitreous was solid (because he is young) and held the good part of the retina in place.

Dr. Haller shaved down the vitreous so that it was flush with the retina— and pulled out the bands of scar tissue— all the three surgeons in the room debated about the bubble— should they put in oil or gas (I have had both during various surgeries) There was mild to moderate damage with the optic nerve— they put a tube for glacoma in the parsplana-as well— then Dr. Mantravadi covered the tube with tissue— They went with gas— C3F8 gas put in by Dr. Haller.

There is a suture around the resevoir and it will hold it in place for the next 4-6 weeks— Dr. Haller (who is the chief here at Wills) said that every one was pumped in the OR. They are all on the Ker team. We could not have asked for anything or anyone better than the team here at Wills!!!! The macula was not detached so that is good news. Dr. Haller says a lot has to happen — the retina has to stay in place— he must keep his head down to have as little scaring as possible— they gave him high does of IV steroids and will continue on high doses if he can tolerate it over the next week via pill.

Dr. Haller is using off-label Acutane (acne drug) as that has been found to impact scarring—as she says she is”throwing in the kitchen sink.” The donor we found out was a twenty year old girl and we will write a very long thank you note to her family and to the wonderful people at the Lions Club. Her cornea could not have gone to a more deserving person than Ker!

If all goes well and we are very, very, very lucky Ker will be able to see the Big E at some point. That would be a result way beyond what we  thought would be possible when he was evaluated a week ago when he first came to the USA. I was feeling pretty hopeless then.  

Keep your healing thoughts and prayers coming — Ker will need it to prevent complications and rejection of the cornea and the repaired retina from detaching.

OPINION: Seven Lessons On Turning 60

As I look to beginning my seventh decade (I will be 60 in a week), I thought I would share with you some of my observations about what this means.

Many of us have undergone this transition and nearly 4 million baby boomers are turning 60 in 2011. We all make our peace with it in different ways. I decided to begin GoatsForTheOldGoat.com as a way of poking fun at my own age and raising money for people in South Sudan. There a goat can mean the difference between nutrition and malnutrition for recently liberated slaves from the North. It has been a good way for me personally to cope with the perils of this milestone birthday.

My body is not where it was in my 20s, but my mind is more focused than it was back then. The nicest things about turning 60 are:

1) People’s opinions of you don’t matter. Most of us spend a good part of our social worry time and energy worrying about what people think of us. If someone doesn’t like you, then it feels bad or you try and make sure they like you. Recently, an older relative took off on me for asking him for a contribution that I never requested. Previously I would have written a note, sent a gift and apologized profusely. After responding that it never happened, I just let it go. The relationship will not be the same again. It is what he thinks, and I am not going to be able to change his view. The people I love and who love me are what matters. It’s time to let people like that go and not allow them to live rent free in my head.

2) I don’t have to look at the want ads or career opportunities. Yes, some of us 60-somethings will need to get a new job, but most of us don’t have to worry anymore about what we are going to be or getting retrained and finding a new career. It is what it is. Circumstances and our own choices have made our lives, for better or worse. We may take a new job, but, for most of us, we don’t have the anxiety of deciding to go back to school or worry about getting that next job to advance our careers.

3) Obituaries begin to look interesting, and I read them daily. When you are young, you don’t really pay much attention to them. Now I love to read about people’s lives, muse about how much time I have and think about how much these newly passed-on people have put into their years, not how many years they have had on the planet.

4) “Send me a card.” I used to hear that from older people when I asked them what they wanted for their birthday. That was when I was in my acquiring phase. Now, I realize what a simple act of sending a card can mean. It represents someone taking the time to think of a thought or sentiment, and it is worth a whole lot more than some random object that has either been re-gifted or that I want to regift.

5) The sun coming up takes on new meaning. Each day is a gift, and waking up and seeing a beautiful sunrise has no comparison. It is a joy to see and a view into the wonderment of life.

6) Finding a friend on Facebook is an unexpected pleasure. Recently, a friend from 1966 sent me some old photos – right out of the blue. I couldn’t have found her if I tried. There she was, and we have been writing to each other ever since.

7) Erik Erickson was right. The main task of getting older is the challenge of generativity versus stagnation. We can sit in our homes or at work watching the world go by, or we can take the challenge of giving back, taking on a new project, volunteering our time, spending it taking care of young people and allowing ourselves to be the givers to the generations after us. It is that challenge that we 60-somethings face, and I am glad to take it on.

If you are 60 (or older), you know what I am taking about. If you are not there yet, then enjoy the ride. It has its ups and downs, but it is definitely worth it.

OPINION: How America Can Stay The Greatest Nation

Saturday was the day of the Iowa straw poll and also the announcement by Gov. Rick Perry that he was throwing his hat in the ring.

The Republican establishment never thought Perry was going to make the run. They thought he could not raise the money. They were in favor of Romney, someone with whom they could do business and who hailed from the Michigan, Utah and Massachusetts. Romney would not be tainted as “another governor from Texas.”

Perry was quickly attacked by the Democratic Party and Michele Bachmann, despite her win. A press availability by DNC Chair Deborah Wasserman Shultz was not the main focus of the media, even though her photo made it to the front pages of newspapers and websites.

The problem with the media hype about the Perry announcement and Iowa straw poll is that we are not getting a realistic look at the problems faced in America. Debt reduction, spending habits are the mantra of the Republicans, and no new taxes are part of their pledge they must take to win. That is simply not enough.

The horse race in politics that all of us must endure is drawing attention away from real problems and real solutions. A soon-to-be-released book by Thomas Friedman and Michael Mandelbaum, “That Used to Be Us: How America Fell Behind In The World It Invented and How We Can Come Back,” details where we ran into trouble and what we can do about it.

I have an advance of their book and, without stealing their thunder, I just wish and hope that the GOP candidates could have had a copy before they went on the stump. A few of the talk-show hosts I interview with daily get upset with criticism of America, saying that we are the greatest country, period.

We were the greatest – and we may be now, but without profound changes we will not stay that way.

Friedman and Mandelbaum outline what many of Americans have been saying for a while: We need to invest in America. This investment is not just money, but work, community and education.

Of their many views, I am most concerned about the education part of their message. It is a message missing from the GOP debate and discussion. You do not have to be a rocket scientist to know that without focusing on education we are in big trouble.

Recently, I spoke to educators and community leaders in a Jackson, Tenn. I was asked, “If there were one thing you could change or do in America, what would it be?” I answered that I would put in education and social stimulation for children who are zero to four, even before Head Start. People clapped in the audience, especially the teachers. Shortly after my speech, I interviewed Gov. Gary Johnson, a candidate for president. When I asked him about this, he got annoyed and said this was a result of my big-government views.

The problem with throwing around this kind of rhetoric is that it has little to the reality of our competition. China is making education a priority and, as Friedman and Mandelbaum point out, Singapore, a country with no natural resources, is out educating us. Singapore’s education is readying their young population to compete in a world where technology is king.

Often we hear that the parents need to do what schools can’t. However, what if a large part of our population is undereducated and can’t help their children develop the neuro-pathways necessary for entering school at age 5? Do we as a society just ignore that part of America? Can we afford to?

The answer is that it would be wonderful if parents stimulated children, read to them and helped them prepare for kindergarten. Unfortunately, because of their own educational deficits, many parents are not up to the task. If we care about the future of the U.S., then we must help children get ready for school. Friedman and Mandelbaum point out we need to continue to support our youngsters’ education by rewarding great teachers and providing the learning environment for this next generation.

America will not be great without a competitive workforce. We won’t have a competitive workforce without an educated populace. Now is the time to hear the plans from the candidates concerning how they will help our country achieve greatness and make our education system competitive with the rest of the world.

OPINION: Recovering America's Glory

I have been covering Congress since 1991, when I first started in radio. I have seen the House banking scandal, the impeachment of President Bill Clinton and many other issues such as 9/11 in 2001 and the Iraq war in 2003. I have sat in the White House press room for 18 years and have heard the questions from my colleagues to the press secretaries, beginning with Dee Dee Myers. However, the downgrading by Standard & Poor’s is unlike any other crises I have seen because it points to the weakness of our political system.

Politics is politics, except when it affects every American profoundly and deeply. The debt crises has and will continue to affect us. The United States downgrading on Friday from an AAA to an AA+ rating, is the first time in American history that it happened.

I am sure that many conservatives will say that this is the fault of President Obama and the liberals in Congress, such as Nancy Pelosi. If that analysis were only so simple. The bond raters are not seeing it simply. They ran the numbers, and they noted that the American political process is as concerning as the numbers.

In a few weeks, millions of young people will return to school. How their American government and political science teachers are going to explain what took place with the debt negotiations would be worthy of a Broadway play. I would not want to be teaching in a classroom, speaking to America’s next generation and explaining the behavior of the adults who have been the actors in the debt play.

The negotiations have consisted of a shameful tip of the hat to each political party and the upcoming elections. Each side became more worried about how this was going to play back home and for their re-election than getting the work of the country done. It is a scary situation that would remind a student of world history of the partitions of Poland.

To quote Wikipedia: “During the reign of Władysław IV (1632–48), the liberum veto had evolved. This policy of parliamentary procedure was based on the assumption of the political equality of every ‘gentleman,’ with the corollary that unanimous consent was needed for all measures. A single member of parliament’s belief that a measure was injurious to his own constituency (usually simply his own estate), even after the act had already been approved, became enough to strike the act. It became increasingly difficult to get action taken.”

Is this the fate of America? No, we do not need unanimous consent for every law but the process that was described daily over the debt negotiations certainly seemed that way. The sides were as polarized and demanding of “no deal” if things were not exactly as the political niches wanted them to be. It paralyzed our country and resulted in downgrade. This should never have happened.

The White House recognized the peril in which these negotiations put our country. Over the weekend, the press secretary’s office released a statement that in part read, “The bipartisan compromise on deficit reduction was an important step in the right direction. Yet, the path to getting there took too long and was at times too divisive. We must do better to make clear our nation’s will, capacity and commitment to work together to tackle our major fiscal and economic challenges.”

The only hope now is that the fiscal commission appoints its members without a lot of political haggling and that the commission comes up with recommendations that not only include cost cutting but real ways to cut subsidies that serve corporate interests but do not serve the American people. It also needs to look at tax loopholes and other less popular ways to increase money coming in, as well as cut the red ink of money going out.

Last but not least, America needs to focus on job creation. If jobs were created, debt would be reduced, consumer confidence would increase and so would worldwide confidence in the American dollar.

We are in danger of losing our status in the world and becoming so political that we look like Poland did in the 17th and 18th centuries. Poland never really recovered its glory, and we are in danger of doing the same.

OPINION: The Legacy Of Walter Reed

I recently received some criticism from a reader of the this column for its being titled “Liberal and Proud.” He thought the name was sinful. There are many ways to be proud – one is ego, and another is taking pride in those people, events and happenings around you. I am proud, and what I am proud of is the United States Army’s medicine. It is unparalleled the world over, and last week’s “Casing of The Colors” at Walter Reed Army Hospital should give every American of every stripe something to be proud of.

The Base Realignment and Closure Commission decided in May 2005 that Walter Reed Medical Center would be closed and that the Army hospital would integrate its resources with the Navy in Bethesda, Md., where the Naval Hospital is located. The closing ceremony was Wednesday, but the hospital will not have its last patient leave till the end of August.

Since 1909, when the first patients were admitted, the hospital has been in the forefront of Army medicine. I had a chance to tour the hospital last December and was amazed at the technology and care given to our soldiers. The detail was without parallel, even down to making sure that a tattoo was replicated on a leg prosthesis so that the soldier could maintain his identity. Family members are brought into the soldiers’ care early, and everything from banking needs to transportation is thought of by the staff. The physical therapy area is not only state of the art but is used as a model in other hospitals all over the nation.

The namesake of the Center, Walter Reed, is worthy as a model for Army medicine. A brilliant student born in 1851, he is still, 160 years later, the youngest student to ever graduate medical school. He graduated at 17 years old. He joined the Army in 1875 for financial security and the opportunity to travel. He headed up a board responsible for finding a cause for typhoid fever, then a major problem for soldiers of the Spanish American War. He is most famous, however, for his work with yellow fever, which, according to the Army, “killed more soldiers than the enemy.” Walter Reed, at the time still also working on typhoid, became most famous for working with other physicians in proving that mosquitoes transmitted yellow fever. Army medicine had established itself as being at the forefront of American medicine.

It has not given up that role. In South Sudan, where the local peace committees work with cattle grazers in the Arab North to free slaves taken as war booty, a cow vaccine is used as payment. The developer of this vaccine was the U.S. Army, invited by the government of Kenya over 40 years ago to set up labs and work on the problem. Now, the Army labs in Kenya and Thailand are hard at work on developing an AIDs vaccine, and they are in clinical trials of the first malaria vaccine.

The closing ceremony last week was “bittersweet,” as many of the speakers said. Lt. Gen. Eric B. Schoomaker, 42nd Army surgeon general and commanding general of the U.S. Army Medical Command, talked about the history of the hospital and the men and women who served there. The hospital had some recent controversy, and Gen. Schoomaker was the “go to” guy to clean it up. He is a man with attention to detail and a heart of gold, a very caring physician married to a former Army nurse.

As the flags were brought forth and “cased” in their sleeves, the new flags were proudly shown. Gen. Schoomaker and others watched the closing of this great institution. The hospital will close, but the name will continue – and so will the care and the research that benefits all of us.

Patients are still there, and after the official closing ceremonies, the Doobie Brothers, arranged by the USO, treated the patients and staff to a concert. On the last day, patients will be transferred to Bethesda by ambulance. In military precision, they will leave the grounds of Walter Reed every three minutes till the last patient has been transferred.

I am liberal, and I am proud of Army medicine. With the likes of people such as Gen. Schookmaker and the men and women who devote their lives to taking care of our wounded warriors, there is much to be proud of.