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Play Ball with the Tri-City Valley
Cats!
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In
order to raise awareness of the great need for organ,
eye and tissue donation, the Li ons Eye Bank at Albany
hosted a New York State Donor Registry Drive during a
Tri-City Valley Cats baseball game. The game was
held on August 30, 2009 at the Joseph L. Bruno Stadium,
Troy, NY. It was a great night of baseball and
the sixth largest crowd in the history of the Valley
Cats Baseball. The Lions Eye Bank invited the family
of Lisa Hollenbeck to throw the first pitch. Lisa
gave in death, as she gave in life. Lisa’s
final act was to give the gift of sight through eye donation.
Pictured
here: Valley Cats mascot “Southpaw” wearing
Donate Life tee shirt.
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2009 Visionary of the Year
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The Sight Society of Northeastern New York, Inc. (Lions
Eye Bank at Albany) is pleased to announce that they
have chosen Jeffrey Hubbard, M.D. to be their “2009
Visionary of the Year”. He was chosen for
this distinction because of his unending commitment to
donation. In appreciation for all that he does
to promote the “Gift of Sight” Dr. Hubbard
was presented the 2009 Visionary Award during the Donor
Memorial Service held on October 4, 2009 at the Desmond
Hotel and Conference Center, Albany, NY.
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Golf Tournament a Success
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The Sight Society of Northeastern New
York, Inc. (Lions Eye Bank at Albany) held its 19th
Annual Benefit Golf Tournament and 7th Annual Lions
Club Challenge, on Monday, August 3, 2009 at the Colonie
Country Club, Voorheesville, NY.
It was a great day for golf. The day was sunny,
warm and sixty five golfers enjoyed the beautiful golf
course while supporting the eye bank and its mission
- to provide one of life’s greatest gifts, the
gift of sight.
The following Lions Clubs participated in the 7th Annual
Lions Club Challenge: Ballston Spa, Chatham, Dover, Duanseburg,
Herkimer (two foursomes) and Hyde Park.
The Herkimer Lions won the challenge and will keep the
trophy for another year. The tournament’s
winning team was also from the Herkimer Lions Club, while
second place went to the Saratoga County Sheriff Department’s
foursome.
Many thanks to all of the sponsors whose
generosity helped
to make the day a success. A special thanks to
Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation, Dinner Sponsor,
Jaeger & Flynn Associates, Lunch Sponsor, and Keeler
Honda, Hole-in-One sponsor.
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Sight Society honors Vicki Adler
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The Sight Society of Northeastern New York, Inc.
(Lions Eye Bank at Albany) recognizes Vicki Adler for 10
years of Service, 1998-2008.
For her commitment and compassion in the care of grieving
families along with her outstanding accomplishments and
best practices used to facilitate cornea donation.
Pictured here from the left – Roger Swartfiguer,
Chairman of the Board, Vicki Adler, Executive Director
and Chris Jackson, Board President. |
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Life
Pass It On Trust Fund
Through the New York State Department of
Motor Vehicles you now have the opportunity to make a $1 contribution
to the LIFE PASS IT ON TRUST FUND. This opportunity
is available on the application for Drivers License or Non Driver
ID Card. A
contribution to the Fund is used for organ donation and transplant
research and educational projects promoting organ and tissue
donation. This was made possible by Legislation that was
passed in 2006. |
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LEGISLATIVE
PACKAGE ENCOURAGING ORGAN & TISSUE DONATION
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver announced that the Assembly
will take up a 12-bill package aimed at encouraging greater donation
participation in New York State. Joined at a Capitol news conference
by a bipartisan group of key legislators who are sponsoring bills
in the package, as well as numerous advocates, Silver stressed
the importance of raising public awareness in order to increase
the rate of organ donation in New York State.

“Every day thousands of desperate New Yorkers wait for
the phone to ring with news of an available kidney, liver, heart
or lung. For these individuals, organ donation is their last
option,” said Silver. “By taking
up these bills and calling attention to this national crisis, we are hopeful
that more New Yorkers will choose to make this ultimate, lifesaving gift.”
The organ donation issue has received renewed interest in New
York State following the announcement last month by Assemblyman
Richard Brodsky that he will donate a kidney to his 14-year old
daughter, Willie, who is suffering from an autoimmune disease.
“New York State lags behind the rest of the country in organ and tissue
donation. This legislative package is aggressive and visionary and has the
potential to vastly improve donation in New York State. In particular, Assemblyman
Brodsky’s idea to establish a commission to study presumed consent can
make a big difference for New Yorkers waiting for transplants,” said
Elaine Berg, President and CEO of the New York Organ Donor Network.
“The need for life saving transplants grows every day. As of June 19,
there are 92,278 people on the national waiting lists; over 8,000 are from
New York. In addition, eye sight is restored, burns are healed and mobility
regained because of altruistic people willing to share the gift of life. These
innovative policy changes can make a difference to those on the waiting list,
said Carla Williams, Executive Director of the New York Alliance for Donation.
Of the 12 bills that were introduced, 7of them passed the Assembly
and the Senate. We are awaiting the governor’s signature.
This was a great day for all New Yorkers. |
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Reflections
of Love
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The Sight Society of Northeastern New York,
Inc. (Lions Eye Bank at Albany) hosted its fifth Annual
Donor Memorial Service to honor those who have given the
gift of sight. This memorial service was held Sunday, October
4, 2009 at the Desmond Hotel, Albany, NY.
There were over 350 donor family members in attendance for this memorial service
at which they were presented the New York State Gift of Life Medal of Honor.
Thanks to the support of several state legislators, Governor George E. Pataki
signed legislation in 2002 establishing the New York State Gift of Life Medal
of Honor Program to recognize the selfless, life-saving contributions of organ,
eye and tissue donors. As part of that legislation, the Governor commissioned
a medal to be presented to families of deceased organ, eye and tissue donors
and to living organ, bone marrow and peripheral blood stem cell donors.
The New York State Police Honor Guard helped us pay tribute to our Donor Families
by Presenting the Colors. The New York State Police plays a vital role in the
giving of the gift of sight by helping to transport corneas to those in need.
Keynote Speaker, Dr. Eileen Leary-Kelly, a grief therapist spoke to the family
members about their grief journey. Vicki Crosier, a donor mom, shared
her own personal story. Vicki Crosier, whose son Kyle, died several years
ago in a tragic accident said “being able to donate her son’s organs,
giving the gift of life to another, made something positive come from her loss”. Other
speakers included Claudia Meyer, Chaplain, Albany Medical Center and Robert Brass,
M.D., Associate Medical Director of the Lions Eye Bank, a corneal transplant
surgeon. Also, sharing her own personal story was Elizabeth Drum, a cornea
recipient.
The service concluded with a video presentation displaying pictures of those
who gave the gift of sight, which was followed by a light reception.
Special thanks to all who helped make this memorial service
such a special event:
The Desmond Hotel
Darhon Rees-Rohrbacher (harpist)
New York State Police Honor Guard
Patricia Schoof
Howard Fogelson (photographer)
The Sight Society of Northeastern NY, Inc.’s
Executive Board of Directors, the Medical Advisory
Board and The Donor Memorial Planning Committee.
We recognize and thank the following
for their generosity either through donations or
by financial support of this memorial service: |
Bailey,
Filipp & Wakil, Eye Physicians and Surgeons
Bethlehem Lions
Bud’s Florist
Cornea Consultants of Albany
Faxton-St. Luke’s
Healthcare
Fleurtateous Designs
Gabriels Eye Center
Golub Foundation
Herkimer Lions Club |
Hyde Park Lions Club
Manchester Ophthalmology – Dr. Petashnick
Nagengast Florist
Middletown Lions Club
Saugerties Lions Club
Scotia Glenville Lions Club
Seton Health-St. Mary’s Hospital
Utica Lions Club
Waterford Lions Club |
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Special thanks to all who helped make this memorial
service such a special event.
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American
Academy of Ophthalmology
Dr. Belin is pleased to report that an
ongoing project partially funded by the Lions and the Sight Society
of Northeastern New York, Inc. has been accepted for presentation
at the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.
Dr. Belin says “while
we typically get papers accepted at meetings associated with or
preceding the Academy, getting a paper accepted at the Academy
meeting is a major accomplishment.” His paper states the
results from the Multi-Center Boston Keratoprosthesis Study Group.
Congratulations to Dr. Belin! |
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celebrations
for 100th anniversary of corneal transplant
In 2005 the Lions Eye Bank at Albany and the EBAA (Eye Bank
Association of America) celebrated the 100 year anniversary
of the first corneal transplant. It seems an appropriate time
to look, not at the last 100 years, but more recently to what
has changed in the field of corneal transplantation. Transplanting
the human cornea has had an excellent and long successful track
record. The majority of transplanted corneas are accepted (not
rejected) and remain clear affording the patient a significant
improvement in their daily living. There are, however, certain
aspects of the surgery that limits the degree of ultimate success:
First, the visual recovery is slow and full healing of a standard
transplant can take up to one year. While most patients go home
from surgery the same day and can resume near normal activity
in just a matter of days, visual recovery is much slower and
can fluctuate for the first year.
Second, the final shape of the transplanted cornea often does
not resemble the patient’s preoperative corneal shape.
At times, the transplanted cornea exhibits an irregular surface
with increased astigmatism, necessitating either a thick spectacle
correction or, more commonly, a rigid contact lens for the patient
to see clearly.

FIGURE
1 – schematic showing the area of the posterior cornea
removed during selection transplantation
Finally, a small proportion of patients have their transplant
fail usually due to repeated immunologic rejection. For these
patients, each repeated transplant carries a higher rejection
rate and subsequently an overall much poorer prognosis.
The last five years has seen the emergence of a number of new
procedures each attempting to address some of the above concerns.
Traditionally when a corneal transplant is performed the entire
cornea (full thickness) is transplanted. More recently we have
begun selectively transplanting different layers of the cornea.
For patients with corneal edema (swelling) we can transplant
just the back half of the cornea. Selectively replacing the posterior
portion of the cornea allows for a more rapid healing and retains
more of the patient’s original corneal shape leading to
a quicker visual rehabilitation.

FIGURE
2 – A microkeratome device is used to prepare anterior
layer to transplant from the donor cornea
For patients with corneal scars in the anterior cornea, we can
now replace the front half of the cornea while leaving the patients
posterior cornea behind. The posterior layer of the cornea (endothelium)
is the layer responsible for immunologic graft rejection, so
selectively replacing the front portion almost eliminates the
risk of graft rejection.
Finally, the last few years has seen a dramatic increase in
the use of the Keratoprosthesis (artificial cornea) for patients
who have had multiple previous graft failures. The artificial
cornea allows patients, whom otherwise would have not a chance
of useful vision, the opportunity to live a productive life.
The Albany Medical Center Lions Eye Institute is the national
data collection site for the major keratoprosthesis in use today.

FIGURE
3 – Appearance of the keratoprostheis (artificial cornea)
one day after surgery
All of the above procedures require new, complicated, and at
times costly equipment, much of which has been supported in part
by the Sight Society and Lions Eye Bank at Albany. For this,
my patients, partners at Cornea Consultants of Albany and I are
forever grateful
Michael W. Belin, MD
Professor & Director Cornea & Refractive
Surgery Albany Medical College
Medical Director Lions Eye Bank at
Albany |
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Lions
Eye Bank at Albany recognizes Saratoga Hospital
with Hospital of the Year Award
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Pictured above: Vicki Adler, Executive Director, Lions
Eye Bank at Albany presenting the “2009 Hospital
of the Year” award to Angelo Calbone, President and
CEO of Saratoga Hospital. |
The Sight Society of Northeastern New York, Inc. (Lions Eye
Bank at Albany) selected Saratoga Hospital, Saratoga Springs,
NY, for their 2009 “Hospital of the Year” award recipient.
In recognition of Helen Keller Day, the Lions Eye Bank at Albany
presented the award to Saratoga Hospital officials on Tuesday,
June 2 at 11:00 a.m. during a brief ceremony held in the hospital’s
conference room. Angelo Calbone, President and CEO, accepted
the award on behalf of the hospital. “The award’s
purpose is to recognize Saratoga Hospital for their commitment
and compassion in the care of grieving families, along with their
outstanding accomplishments and best practices used to facilitate
cornea donation,” said Victoria Adler, RN, BSN, CPTC, CEBT,
Executive Director/Tissue Bank Director, Sight Society of NENY,
Inc. “With the help of Saratoga Hospital, the Lions
Eye Bank at Albany was able to honor the wishes of 17 donor families
last year, thus restoring the sight of 27 people suffering
from corneal blindness.” Vicki added, “the hospital’s
selection was not based totally on numbers, but on the great
feeling that we get from the hospital”.
Erica Berman, cornea recipient shared her feelings regarding
cornea donation. “It is an amazing legacy to leave. Those
who have donated their corneas and their families are the unsung
heroes”. Joining the staff of the Lions Eye Bank
at Albany to recognize Saratoga Hospital was PDG Dusty Rhodes,
Board of Directors, Sight Society of NENY; several members of
the Saratoga Lions Club; and members of the hospital’s
Executive and Management Teams, as well as nursing staff. |
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58th
Annual Membership Meeting
Pictured here Sight Society’s Executive Board of
Directors left to right: PDG Dusty Rhodes, PDG Dick Ralston,
PDG Dave Harris, PDG Lettie Saheim, Lion Janice Monahan,
PDG Ed Blodgett, PDG Roger Swartfiguer, Jim Downs, Fran
Harrison. Back row: Lion Marco Cuuozzo, Lion Pete
Lyons and Lion Chris Jackson.
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The 58th Annual Meeting of
the Sight Society of Northeastern New York, Inc. was held
on Sunday, April 25th at the Desmond Hotel and Conference
Center, Albany, NY.
A luncheon followed the Board of Director’s business meeting. This year’s
guest speaker was Dr. Edward Wladis. Dr. Wladis gave a very informative
presentation entitled “Characterization of the Molecular Biologic Milieu
of Idiopathic Orbital Inflammation”. Chairman of the Board, Roger
Swartfiguer and Executive Director Vicki Adler in their annual message was pleased
to announce that the eye bank had one of their best years. Their efforts helped
to restore the eyesight of 467 people suffering from corneal blindness in 2009.
The Sight Society of Northeastern New York, Inc. also recognized PDG Ed Blodgett
for his many years of outstanding service, generous contributions and unending
commitment to the preservation of vision and the gift of sight. |
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Edward
C. VanDenburgh Memorial Award
The Sight Society of Northeastern New York, Inc., Lions
Eye Bank at Albany is please to announce that April Y. Zhang, a
member of the Class of 2009 at Niskayuna High School is this year’s
recipient of the Edward C. Vandenburgh Memorial Award. Congratulations,
April. |
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Stewarts
Donation
The Sight Society of Northeastern New York is pleased to announce
that the Stewarts Holiday Match 2009 has donated $600 to the
SSNENY. This generous donation is to be used for children 18
years of age and younger. The Sight Society of Northeastern New
York has continued to assist a number of children who are blind
or visually impaired to attend summer camp, purchase computer
hardware and educational teaching tools for the visually impaired. |
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Dr.
Robert Schultze, Medical Director, Becomes
First in Northeastern New York to Correct Nearsightedness with
New Lens Implant
The procedure, which approved by the FDA following three years
of clinical trials, included several thousand patients. Now an
option in this country for those who are severely nearsighted
and who-for whatever reason-cannot wear contact lenses or have
Lasik surgery.
The procedure, which only takes about a half hour, must be performed
in a sterile operating room environment and only one eye should
be done at a time. To implant the lens, which is approximately
one third the size of a contact lens, an incision is made in
the eye and the lens is carefully positioned behind the cornea,
the outer clear portion of the eye. It features two tiny clasps
that allow the eye surgeon to attach it directly onto the iris.
After a brief recovery period (generally an hour or so) the patient
returns to the ophthalmologist the following day for an eye examination
to check for complications, which are rare but which can include
swelling of the cornea and increased pressure on the eye. While
there may be an immediate improvement in vision, the visual effects
of the surgery take two weeks to a month to stabilize. The second
eye can be done soon thereafter.
The lens used in the procedure is a hard plastic one, made from
the same material (polymethylmethacrylate) that intraocular lenses
used for cataracts have been made from for years. Known as Verisyse,
the “Phalic IOL” device is marketed by Advance Medical
Optics of Santa Ana, Calif. While it is designed to be permanent,
it can be surgically removed and replaced if necessary (due to
an eye injury or change in the eye’s shape that requires
a different prescription).
Like Lasik, insurance companies do not cover the procedure. It
costs approximately $3,500 per eye. |
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Poster
Award Ceremony Recognizes Children's Efforts
The 10th Annual Poster Award Ceremony was held on April 30,
2009 at the Empire State Plaza. Over 370 children from the Albany
Catholic Diocese participated by submitting a poster of what
the “Gift of Sight” means to them. 13 Posters were
selected to create a calendar and one for our holiday greeting
card. Pictured here is Mayor Jerry Jennings, Mayor of Albany,
and Sister Jane Herb, Superintendent of Schools, Roman Catholic
Diocese of Albany along with the student’s whose artwork
was selected for our 2010 Calendar and our 2009 Holiday Greeting.
Congratulations to all of our winners. |
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Support blind children by purchasing a
"Through Their Eyes - The Gift of Sight" 2010
Calendar.
Children Helping Children
The Sight Society of Northeastern NY, Inc. (Lions Eye Bank at Albany)
hosts a yearly poster contest “Through Their Eyes-The Gift of Sight.” This
year students from the Catholic Schools of the Roman Catholic Diocese
of Albany were asked to create a picture based upon what they appreciate
about having the gift of sight. Hopefully, these student artists will
discuss this new appreciation of the gift of sight with their families
and friends. Through such discussions, our society may gain a deeper
understanding of the wonderful gift of sight and reach out to those who
suffer from blindness. All of the students’ artwork was on display
at the Empire State Plaza for a full week in April to celebrate National
Organ and Tissue Donor Awareness Week. Although, each of the 370
posters is truly a winner thirteen have been selected to adorn a calendar
for the year 2010 and an additional one for our 2009 Holiday/Christmas
Greeting. A reception honoring the student artists, family and friends
was held at the Empire State Plaza. Jerry Jennings, Mayor of Albany,
NY, publicly recognized the winners and presented awards during a brief
ceremony. The calendars that are produced from the posters are
available for sale and the proceeds will be used to help less fortunate
children in need of eye care and educational materials. This project
is about children helping children!
Please make
checks payable to:
Lions Eye Bank at Albany
$8.00 per Calendar - No Tax Due.
2010
Calendar Order Form
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Lions Eye Bank at Albany
6 Executive Park Drive
Albany, NY 12203
Phone: 518-489-7606 |
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Lions Eye Bank 19th Annual Benefit Golf Tournament
Colonie Country Club,
Voorheesville, NY
August 2, 2010
Your
help with our 20th Annual Golf Tournament will directly affect
the LEB efforts here in Northeastern New York.
The following 3 links outline many ways you can support the LEB Benefit Golf
Tournament. To insure your place please make your choices early and return the
registration as soon as possible.
Thank you for your consideration.

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Sight
Society of NENY Acknowledges Centennial Anniversary
We often take the simple pleasures of life for granted. Seeing
your children or grandchildren, the sunrise or the necessity of
driving, that is until they are lost. Vision is one of our most
precious senses and one that modern medicine has made miraculous
strives over the last century. We now celebrate the 100th anniversary
of the first corneal transplant, a procedure that now routinely
restores vision to patients who were previously functionally blind.
In the U.S. over 46,000 corneal transplants are performed annually,
and corneal transplantation is the most successful transplant being
performed. On behalf of all the past and future recipients, I would
like to thank the families of past donors and the Sight Society
of Northeastern New York (Lions Eye Bank at Albany) for their generosity
and effort.
Michael W. Belin, MD
Medical Director, Lions Eye Bank at Albany
Professor of Ophthalmology – Albany
Medical College |
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Upcoming
Events
Look for us at these upcoming events
- January —Albany Medical Center Winter EMS Symposium
- January 9th—Elmira “Jackels” Donor
Awareness Hockey game 7:30pm, First Arena, Elmira,
NY
- March—Eye Donor Awareness Month
Legislative
Education Day
Kingston
Lions Expo & Home Show Exhibit
- April—Gift of Life Month Awareness—Hospital
and Public Exhibits
“Through
Their Eyes” student art exhibit and reception
- April 25th—Sight Society of NENY, Inc. Annual
Meeting Desmond Hotel and Conference Center, Albany,
NY
- May 14th —16th Lions MD 20 New York/Bermuda
Convention, Buffalo, NY
- June 5th —National Kidney Foundation Walk-a-thon
- June —Hospital of the Year Award
- July —Kiwanis Summerfest, Averill Park, NY
- August 1st—National Minority Donor Awareness
Day
- August 2nd —20th Annual Benefit Golf Tournament
- September 26th—Donor Memorial Service
- October 14th—World Sight Day
- November —St. Francis Hospital Trauma Conference
- November, two weekends before Thanksgiving National
Donor Sabbath Weekend
- November 25th—ThanksGIVINGDay Give Thanks. Give
Life.
- December — Lions Eye Bank Week
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