Eyes, the window to the soul
Tasmyn Fisher wants to raise awareness for Keratoconus and other eye diseases.
Tasmyn Fisher is a bubbly, friendly and confident 24-year-old.
Speaking from her Delville home, one would never suspect that behind her spectacles is a 54-year-old’s left eye.
Tasmyn received the eye in a transplant in 2014, after a three-year wait, and has been lucky that her body has not rejected it.
“After the operation the three years of waiting felt like nothing,” Tasmyn said.
She was first diagnosed with the disease in 2011, when she was in matric.
“My eye just didn’t feel right, I just couldn’t keep my eyes open, so I asked the teacher if I could please go home,” she explained.
“My mom took me to the optometrist; we thought I just needed glasses, but it was there we found out something was seriously wrong.”
“We were told to take Tasmyn to an eye specialist,” said Joy Pietersen, Tasmyn’s mom.
“The specialist tested her eyes and explained that she had Keratoconus.”
The family had never heard of the disease, and began to do as much research as they could.
Keratoconus is a progressive eye disease in which the normally round cornea thins and begins to bulge into a cone-like shape.
This cone shape deflects light as it enters the eye on its way to the light-sensitive retina, causing distorted vision.
“We were told she could have got the disease in one of two ways, either a hard knock to the head or from her bloodline,” explained Joy.
Joy was very despondent after finding out about the Keratoconus.
“Tasmyn was strong in her faith, it was only when a cyst in her eye burst that she realised how serious the situation was,” she said.
Though Tasmyn luckily didn’t lose her sight, she described her vision as opening your eyes underwater.
“You can see, but not clearly,” she explained.
Tasmyn had her first operation in 2012, which was a cross-linking operation in her right eye; this process was repeated just two weeks ago.
The cross-linking will not stop the eye from deteriorating, but it will delay it.
“We know that Tasmyn will have to have another transplant, we just don’t know when,” Joy said.
Tasmyn has not let her disease slow her down and is now a pre-school teacher.
“I have to put eye drops in my eyes several times a day and, when my eyes have recovered from my latest operation, I will go back to wearing my hard contact lenses,” Tasmyn said brightly.
“No one can touch my eyes though, except my doctor and I.”
Tasmyn and her mother want to raise awareness about eye diseases and conditions.
They encourage people to regularly have their eyes tested regularly and not to ignore warning signs.
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