Email this pageAbigail's Story
A three-year-old girl gets the gift of sight.
Every mother feels a rush of happiness upon the delivery of her new baby. But for Jannette Riggins, that feeling turned to one of concern soon after the birth of her daughter, Abigail.
"Right after delivery, I noticed that Abigail's eyes were different," recalls Jannette. "They were glossy blue, with nothing else to them. There was no pupil. No iris."
Jannette thought that perhaps after a few hours, Abigail's eyes would go back to normal. She thought that the coloring of her eyes might be due to the drops that are put into the eyes of all newborns. But inside, she still felt the concern of a mother for her baby's health.
The next day, Jannette thought Abigail was acting strangely: She would keep her eyes tightly shut, as though the light in the room was hurting her. Jannette felt some relief when her pediatrician, arrived to examine Abigail.
"When he examined Abigail, he paid particular attention to her eyes," says Jannette. "I was getting worried. I thought, ‘She's blind.' I could tell something was wrong."
When he finished his exam, he shared his thoughts with Jannette. He thought that Abigail might be suffering from congenital glaucoma. Jannette became even more upset. She felt a need to get all of the answers, right at that moment. Her pediatrician told her that he would find an ophthalmologist to help.
Jannette was shocked that her baby could have a disease she was told was exceedingly rare. So before he left, Jannette asked her pediatrician, "How can you determine this?"
He told her, "Because my son was born with congenital glaucoma, too."
The ophthalmologist that he called was Dr. Matthew Gearinger of the University of Rochester Eye Institute. When he came to see Jannette and her husband, Elgin, the next day, he seemed doubtful that Abigail had this very rare disease. Then he measured the pressure within Abigail's eyes. It was 39–40 mm Hg. A normal pressure is in the range of 10–20. Abigail not only had congenital glaucoma, a blinding disease characterized by high intraocular pressures but a severe case of it.
"It was so overwhelming," says Jannette. "I just totally lost it again. But Dr. Gearinger was very optimistic. He gave me the feeling that there was hope."
Abigail was put on eyedrops and an oral suspension of a dehydrating medicine to help relieve the pressure within her eyes. Not long afterwards, she received surgery to open her Schlemm's Canal, a small part of the anatomy of the eye responsible for draining fluid. This helped somewhat. She would have weekly checks of the pressure within her eyes. Sometimes the pressure would be close to normal, other times it would still be very high.
Still, no one was sure just how much Abigail could see. Her corneas had become very thick from the pressure and constant stretching. So Abigail was referred to Dr. James Aquavella, also of the University of Rochester Eye Institute which is part of the University of Rochester Medical Center, for a procedure called corneal scraping.
"Dr. Aquavella told us we needed to make sure light was getting into her eyes before she was 9 months old," Jannette says. "It was important for her development."
The corneal scraping was successful, helping to let more light into Abigail's eyes and allowing her brain develop at least a minimum of vision. Still, Abigail's situation was causing her doctors great concern. So when Abigail was about one year old, Dr. Gearinger spoke to Jannette and Elgin about a completely different approach: Giving Abigail a corneal transplant.
"Dr. Gearinger thought this might be the best approach for us," relates Jannette. "But we were totally against it. We thought she was much too young. And we had heard that the failure rate was high among children." The Riggins decided to wait. But about a year later, Dr. Gearinger spoke to them again, about a different kind of transplant. He told them how Dr. Aquavella had been performing a new kind transplant that involved an artificial cornea . He had even done the procedure on infants, and they were doing very well.
"The success rate convinced us," says Jannette. "Plus we just trusted Dr. Gearinger so much."
Jannette and Elgin soon found even more reasons to believe. They learned that Dr. Aquavella was an internationally known expert on corneal transplants. People came from all over the world to be treated by him. He was recognized as a pioneer in corneal transplants, and had treated nearly 50 children—all of whom had regained sight to varying degrees.
Dr. Aquavella would treat Abigail's weakest eye first. The procedure took about 3 hours, and Abigail then had to wear a patch over her eye until the next day. But when it was removed, the changes in Abigail were almost immediate.
"She was looking all over, checking out her surroundings," Jannette recalls. "It was obvious she could see things. She was just a happier little girl."
But the changes on that day were nothing compared to those that would follow after Dr. Aquavella completed the procedure on her other eye.
Abigail, now three years old, has a life that would make most preschoolers envious. "She ice skates, she horseback rides, she does gymnastics," says Jannette. "She attends her brother Taylor's sports games and cheers. She goes to preschool, and thinks she's the teacher some times!"
"You wouldn't even know she ever had a visual impairment," says Jannette.
The changes were significant for Janette, too. "Now I think like a normal parent," says Jannette. "I used to think about her vision all the time. It consumed my thoughts."
"She amazes us every day," relates Jannette. "Dr. Gearinger told us that she'll probably never be able to drive. But if we sit too long at a light, Abigail will shout, ‘It's green!'"
Abigail now only goes in for eye checkups once every six months. But Jannette's opinions on her doctors and the University of Rochester Eye Institute are just as strong as ever: "Dr. Gearinger is amazing. Just so modest and humble. And Dr. Aquavella, well he's a Godsend."
Jannette is thankful for having the right people at the right time. And now, she and Elgin are becoming those people for other parents.
"There was a family from London who came to see Dr. Aquavella," says Jannette. "They were struggling to make a decision about what to do about their little boy. So they met with us, and met Abigail. And they decided to have their child get the transplant, too."
Like Jannette's story, theirs has a happy ending, as well: "I hear he's doing very well."
