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Dealing with cataracts: Seeing things in a whole new light By Marcy Shortuse Photos by Marcy Shortuse and Christine Cunningham When Christine Cunningham walked through the doors of a Venice/ Englewood Lions Club vision clinic screening she was legally blind. As the art director of Gasparilla Island Magazine she found herself struggling to see while driving at night and after too many hours in front of the computer; but she had no idea just how bad her eyes were until she went in for a consultation. Christine found out not only was her eyesight poor, it was poor for a very bad reason: She had cataracts in both eyes, one much worse than the other. “I could barely see the big “E” at the top of the eye chart out of my right eye, and with the left I could only see the E and the second row of letters,” she said. “That’s when I realized I was pretty much legally blind as far as driving. This Lions Club vision clinic introduced me to Dr. Dee Stephenson, who in turn, has turned my life around again.” Dr. Stephenson works with the Venice Lions Club to help restore sight for many people each year. She was also the very first female president of the Venice Lions Club (in 1995), and has been involved with the organization for 29 years. She shares her knowledge with ophthalmologists worldwide, and with ophthalmology residents as an Associate Professor at the Univer-


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