Patient Stories

Lakshmamma, a field worker, believes that she injured her eyes in the field when she accidentally brushed her face against a thorn. Trying to mask the pain, she continued working despite noticeable swelling in her eye.

On the third day after the incident, the pain became so unbearable for Lakshmamma that she felt as if her eyeballs were going to fall out. At that point, she slowly started losing her vision. Slowly, she noticed that her eye had started getting filled with pus.

Lakshmamma’s nephew, who had himself visited the Tej Kohli Cornea Institute multiple times before, recommended that she visit the institute soon. At the institute, Dr Mukesh Taneja examined Lakshmamma’s condition. He noticed that she had a serious infection in her eyes which were made worse by the fact that she was not responding to medicines.

The team of doctors at the Tej Kohli Cornea Institute debated whether Lakshmamma should undergo a corneal transplant. However, due to the severity and nature of her infection, the chances of a corneal transplant being successful was low. The doctors, therefore, decided to administer antifungal injections to Lakshmamma.

Lakshmamma responded well to the antifungal injections and gradually her infection completely disappeared. She is now asymptomatic and completely free of any pain in her eyes. Lakshmamma visited the hospital weekly for her treatment and felt immensely grateful for the fact that the doctors did not charge her any fee for her treatment.

After returning to her village, Lakshmamma often tells others in need about the brilliant work done by the experienced team of eye doctors at the Tej Kohli Cornea Institute. Both Lakshmamma and her nephew are grateful for the compassion and empathy shown by the doctors, who patiently examined and healed her.

World over, many people suffer from visual and eye-related conditions. Healthcare remains a priority for most nations, however, only a handful of countries have a premium and affordable eye care institute that serves all sections of society. In search of such eye care institutes, people often have to travel around the world until they find one.

Shukri Murhad Sarhan, a 10-year-old boy from Yemen, was suffering deeply due to his visual impairment. Shukri’s visual impairment stemmed from an allergy that he had been suffering from for five years. To get his son assistance, Shukri’s father met multiple doctors in Yemen, who told him that Shukri’s cornea was completely damaged in his right eye. Due to limited facilities in Yemen, Shukri was unable to find any options for his cornea transplant. With just two large hospitals in the country, Shukri’s father was suggested to visit India.   

Dr Pratik Gogri, Cornea Cataract and Refractive Surgeon at the Tej Kohli Cornea Insititute first examined Shukri. He noted that Shukri’s previous doctors were not able to provide him with adequate treatment for his visual impairment due to his advanced stage of Keratoconus. The doctor also felt that if Shukri’s condition were to be prolonged, he would permanently lose his eyesight.

Since Shukri’s right cornea was completely damaged, it had to be replaced. The surgery was successful, thanks to the experienced doctors and facilities. After the surgery, the doctors and Shukri’s father witnessed a drastic improvement in his vision. Thanks to this, Shukri also became much more confident.

Shukri’s father, who found many similarities between Yemen and India during his son’s treatment, praised the Tej Kohli Cornea Institute for conducting a thorough examination and for providing treatment for his son.

Young people who grow up in rural India have to overcome a lot of challenges to achieve success in their life. These challenges get compounded even further when tragedy strikes in the form of a health issue.

Shivar, a teenager from a rural town in Telangana, always nursed high hopes for his future. To be able to work and contribute to his family, he had to first focus on excelling in his studies. While studying, Shivar noticed that his eyes had started watering. This made it extremely difficult for him to concentrate. For a long time, even though he was unable to see clearly, Shivar was afraid of informing anyone in his family about his condition.

A few months into his ordeal started, Shivar’s father started noticing his pain and insisted that Shivar should seek treatment. Together, Shivar and his father visited multiple hospitals in Mahbubnagar for almost an entire year. To support his family and to afford Shivar’s medical expenses, his father took up many odd jobs.

After multiple suggestions, Shivar visited the Tej Kohli Cornea Institute in Hyderabad. At the institute, Shivar presented his case to Dr Muralidhar who diagnosed him with a common corneal condition called Herpetic corneal disease. After long deliberation, the team of doctors undertook a procedure called Anterior Lamellar corneal transplantation.

Fortunately, once the surgery was completed, Shivar started recovering and showed significant visual improvement. Shivar himself felt much better after getting this treatment and was glad that he could get treated before his tenth class. Shivar studied hard and was able to achieve good results in his examination, thanks to his improved vision.

Doctors at the Tej Kohli Cornea Institute were glad that Shivar never had a recurrence of infection throughout his course. Shivar felt thankful to Dr Muralidhar who patiently listened to his problems and worked out the best solutions for him. Shivar aims to work hard and become a civil engineer in the future so that he can provide a good life to his family.

Sheshrao Bhonjai used to earn a living by selling gas balloons. In 2015, Sheshrao was involved in a tragic accident when a gas cylinder blew up. The blast was so severe that it resulted in him losing vision in both of his eyes.

Immediately after the blast, Sheshrao was admitted to a small local hospital in Apala for 18 days. However, due to his case being so severe, he was not able to get appropriate treatment at that hospital and returned home disappointed. Soon after, Sheshrao travelled to Mumbai in search of better treatment and was admitted at Nair Hospital in the city. He underwent 5-6 operations at the hospital but was unable to get any better.

As a consequence, Sheshrao’s wife became the sole earning member of the family and Sheshrao became dependent on her modest income of Rs. 400 – Rs. 500 ($5 – $7) per week.  After losing his vision and livelihood, Sheshrao found it so hard to deal with life positively that he even attempted suicide twice.

Eventually, Sheshrao visited a doctor in Mumbai, who told him to visit the Tej Kohli Cornea Institute and to consult Dr Bhupesh Bagga. Dr Bagga noted that Sheshrao had already had corneal transplantation performed on both of his eyes and had no vision at all. While his prognosis was severe, Sheshrao was determined to undergo another transplantation.

Dr Bhupesh Bagga and Dr Sirisha conducted a transplant on Sheshrao’s right eye. The surgery was successful. Sheshrao regained his vision partially. Because of this, he can now do small domestic chores and personal tasks, which is a massive improvement from his earlier condition. Sheshrao now says that anyone suffering from eye-related issues should visit Tej Kohli Cornea Institute and get appropriate treatment.

Shanmukhapriya was just six years old when her mother realized that her young child was experiencing problems with her vision. Shanmukhapriya could see blurred images of people at a distance, but could not identify them. Upon further observation, Shanmukhapriya’s mother noticed that a small spot was visible on her cornea.

Dr Pravin Vaddavalli first examined Shanmukhapriya at the Tej Kohli Cornea Institute. One of the key challenges of diagnosing a child so young was that she was not able to verbalize the problem that she was facing. Upon further examination, the doctors suspected that she was suffering from Keratoconus, a condition wherein the cornea starts bulging outward. Shanmukhapriya’s parents were informed about the necessary precautions that they needed to take to ensure that her condition did not deteriorate further.

A few years later when Shanmukhapriya turned nine, doctors at the Tej Kohli Cornea Institute performed collagen cross-linking for her left eye. This procedure is minimally invasive and halts the progression of corneal ectatic conditions. This helped to stabilize Shanmukhapriya’s Keratoconus and prevented it from getting worse. A year later, when she turned ten, doctors performed a corneal transplant for her right eye.

After the transplant, Shanmukhapriya’s vision improved significantly. While her left eye still has some problems, thanks to the corneal transplant, Shanmukhapriya’s right eye was able to regain normal vision and she was able to get close to 95% vision in her left eye.

Thanks to these procedures, Shamukhapriya will be able to grow into a normal teenager with normal vision. Her treatment has helped her regain normalcy in her daily life and she is now able to focus on her studies.

There are many barriers to quality healthcare in India, and one of the biggest is poverty. Poverty doesn’t only mean that an individual is unable to pay for his or her medical treatment at a trusted facility, but often manifests as an inability to travel to healthcare.

Since specialist healthcare institutions are generally located within the capital cities of different states, marginalized and poverty-ridden Indians often find it difficult to even travel to these institutions.

One such story is that of Rama Krishna, who is a 48-year-old manual labourer. For several years, Rama Krishna’s work and earnings supported his entire family, which consisted of his wife and two kids. For every two hours of work, Rama Krishna used to earn Rs. 100 – equivalent to $1.34 It wasn’t much, but it was enough to look after his family.

However, for two years, Rama was not able to work due to his poor visual acuity. Rama was not able to perform menial tasks and even found it difficult to identify people who would walk past him. Due to Rama Krishna losing his eyesight and his job, his wife was forced to take up work to support the entire family. Along with losing his eyesight and job, Rama Krishna also felt like he was slowly losing his respect as people would often bully him.

His ordeal reached a turning point when he presented his case to the doctors at the Tej Kohli Cornea Institute. Rama was able to access these specialist doctors at a secondary centre named Swarna Bharat Eye Centre in Nellore.

Upon examination, the doctors noticed that he had an early cataract and corneal scars, which is also known as spheroidal degeneration of the corneas; which is characterized by the development of small, white to golden spheroids in the cornea.

The doctors at the Tej Kohli Cornea Institute reaffirmed that he would be fine and that his vision would also improve after treatment for his corneas and cataract. The doctors proceeded with his treatment, by removing his scars by separating the layers of the cornea. After a successful and free of cost procedure, Rama is now able to see properly through one eye.  His other eye is still yet to be treated.