Doctor Helps Man Regain Vision in His Right Eye After 65 Years

A childhood accident cost Covina resident Carl Chapin the vision in his right eye. For 65 years he was told nothing could be done about it. Then a friend referred him to
Dr. Bud Kurwa, an ophthalmologist at Foothill Presbyterian Hospital in Glendora.

Chapin, 71, initially didn’t even see Dr. Kurwa about his right eye. A cataract was developing in his left eye and, since this was his sole source of vision, he wanted to do all he could to preserve it.

All eye surgeries carry a potential risk, so Dr. Kurwa first wanted to try to save Chapin’s right eye before operating on the working left eye. He performed two tests on Chapin — a potential vision test to be able to tell if the vision is improvable and an ultrasound b scan, which draws a picture of the eye and allows a doctor to see what is behind it.

Dr. Kurwa told Chapin that he saw some potential for vision but he wasn’t sure how the surgery would come out.

On September 12, 2006, Dr. Kurwa performed a two-hour surgery on Chapin at Foothill Presbyterian Hospital, during which he used an ultrasonic phaco machine to remove a cataract and scar tissue and corrected an astigmatism in Chapin’s blind right eye.

Chapin returned the next day to have the patch over his eye removed. After taking it off, the nurse asked him how he was doing.

“I started to cry because I said, ‘Well, I can see you,’ and that was pretty good,” Chapin said.

Chapin’s vision, which had been 20/400, was now 20/100. And it gets better. Dr. Kurwa could see the retina in the right eye was in excellent condition, so there was potential for Chapin’s vision to improve even more.

On December 15, Chapin underwent a laser capsulotomy, an outpatient surgery, at Foothill Presbyterian Hospital to remove scar tissue behind the eye. As a result of that surgery, his vision in his right eye is now 20/30.

Even though Dr. Kurwa has been helping improve people’s vision for 25 years, he had to admit this case was special.

“This is the kind of thing that makes it worthwhile because you have done something for someone who would not have seen otherwise,” he said. “This is why this technology at Foothill Presbyterian Hospital is so good.”

Dr. Kurwa is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons, a diplomate on the American Board of Ophthalmology and a past clinical professor at the University of Southern California.

Dr. Kurwa and Carl Chapin are both available for photographs and interviews. Please call Mike Flenniken in Public Relations at 626/813-2857.

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