Donations make surgery possible

Surgery to save Don Lamb's vision is set for next week.

The uninsured Carson City man had come to terms with the fact that he was going to go blind from glaucoma because he didn't have the $5,000 needed for the operation.

But after a January story appeared in the Nevada Appeal detailing Lamb's plight, people in the community donated to a medical fund for his surgery.

Now, with Dr. Robert Wolff donating his time, the procedure will take place May 5, said Lamb.

Lamb said donations will go toward covering the cost of the anesthesiologist, medication and glasses.

"I can't believe it," he said Tuesday as he prepared for his last eye doctor appointment before the surgery. "I would have never guessed that there's enough people out there to do something like (donating). You don't hear about good stuff like this that much."

Lamb said in the past few months he'd gone back and forth about whether surgery was the right thing for him. The surgery will only save the little vision he has remaining in his left eye and not restore the sight he's lost. But surgery is his only hope, he said.

"I only had one of two choices " go take the operation and hope it works or lose (his sight) within the next three years. That could have been tomorrow or it could have been next week. I've decided I'm going to go with it," Lamb said.

"Believe me, something's better than nothing. With all the people who helped out with contributions and having the best doctor around and God on my side " how can I lose? I firmly believe that."