BVRMC infusions restore Aurelia woman’s vision after thyroid eye disease

Diane Blake was seeing double, struggling to move her eyes and watching her face change when Buena Vista Regional Medical Center’s infusion center helped restore the clear sight she had lost.

Blake, a retired banker who helps run her family’s farm near Aurelia, first noticed trouble in July 2024. What started as a strange change in her eyes turned into a long stretch of appointments, testing and referrals before she learned she had thyroid eye disease, an autoimmune condition that can threaten vision if it is not treated.

Thyroid eye disease, also called Graves’ eye disease, can cause bulging eyes, dryness, eyelid changes, eye pain and pressure, light sensitivity and double vision. It usually affects both eyes, and symptoms can last for 1 to 2 years. The National Eye Institute says about 1 in 3 people with Graves’ disease develop eye problems, while the American Thyroid Association says the eye symptoms usually show up within the first year after a Graves’ diagnosis.

A specialist recommended Tepezza, the first drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for thyroid eye disease. The medicine is given as an infusion, with one treatment every three weeks. FDA labeling calls for a first dose of 10 milligrams per kilogram, followed by seven more doses at 20 milligrams per kilogram. Each infusion takes about 60 to 90 minutes, and the drug can cause infusion reactions, high blood sugar, hearing problems and flare-ups of inflammatory bowel disease.

Blake received the treatment at BVRMC’s Oncology & Infusion Center in Storm Lake, which provides outpatient hematology and oncology care along with infusions for cancer, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease, blood transfusions and other therapies. The center works alongside the June E. Nylen Cancer Center, giving local patients a place to receive specialty care without leaving the region.

For Blake, that mattered as much as the medicine itself. Winter travel for appointments was a concern, and the treatment changed her routine quickly. She said she could see clearly again within 10 days of her first infusion, and later felt her vision was even better than before the illness. Her experience shows how a service once tied to larger specialty centers can now be delivered close to home, with real impact for Buena Vista County patients who need advanced care but do not want to spend it on the road.

Blake’s advice is simple: pay attention when something feels wrong and do not wait to get help. In her case, acting on the warning signs restored more than sight. It gave her back daily life.