Clinic Blog: 2012 Richmond Clinic Blog 2

December 4, 2012

Day 2: “Boy, there sure are a lot of stations” (click title to view photos)

By sara

As overwhelming as it initially seems to a clinic member learning all the stations, we might forget how overwhelming this can be to the children going through the stations! We were reminded of this today when a little boy reached the 6th station, the pupilometer. Upon his arrival, he informed Tyla, "boy there sure are a lot of stations". Being on a clinic we are able to rotate stations thus allowing the opportunity to create moments in a variety of ways. Today I was on the tonometer (used to check for glaucoma) when I encountered a memorable girl. Baiyianah cheerfully sat down in the chair (which is sometimes unusual at this station as having a puff of air in your eye seems to be something no one enjoys… I'm sure this includes many of you as well) and ended up having a really high reading (average of 26 in the right eye and an average reading of 25 in the left eye). This could be caused by a couple different things, including if the child holds their breath while having the test done, causing their blood pressure to increase, thus having an increased reading. However it gives the doctors a warning to check this during their exam. Having glaucoma at this young age going undetected can lead to a loss of their peripheral vision.

Today we had 2 girls Jena & Jaylah, who informed us that they were not only friends…and not only sisters, but twins. They came in all excited because it was glasses day, because they knew they needed glasses. Their journey through the stations created moments for Craig and Heidi:

Two twin, 3^rd grade girls (Jaylah and Jena), came to see me at visual acuities, and I could tell by just looking at them that they weren’t seeing well when walking and looking around. They would end up struggling through many of the eye tests this day. Their eyes would sometimes turn inward and they seemed shy and quiet. I walked them into and out of the doctor exam area and over to pick out their frames. It had been 9 years without seeing much and they couldn’t wait to get glasses. They were saying “yay we’re going to get glasses, and then we’ll see much better!” By the end of the clinic, their serious and shy demeanors had become smiles. The two girls would be getting 3 pairs of glasses between them - 2 pink pairs and 1 brown pair of frames. I wanted to put their glasses on them right there, so they could start seeing better immediately. But, I explained the glasses would need to be made, and there would be just 1 more day of waiting for them. Jena’s prescription was so strong (+6.50) that I walked her by hand through clinic to find her coat and some of her papers, and on to her bus to leave. She gave me many hugs and “thank yous”. Tomorrow she will receive the gift of sight. I’m really happy for her. Better grades in school, much more confidence, and a lot more smiles will be coming from these two sisters very soon—Craig Alter

Day 2 of clinic I encountered a little girl named Jena who was not finding any frames that she liked well enough to wear full time. Jena would have a frame on for less than 10 seconds and decide she didn’t like it after glancing into the mirror. I looked at her rx and saw that Jena definitely couldn’t see up close, let alone know how great these frames looked like on her. I handed Jena a mirror that magnified her image and she instantly fell in love with the frame she had on. She started to smile and pet the frame saying “Oh I love this one!” I thought to myself if this little girl can light up with a magnified mirror image wait till she sees through the actual rx! I feel confident Jena will wear her glasses with a smile on her face and her future will be changed from the OneSight clinic!-- Heidi Kendall-LensCrafters store 287

It’s also important to thank the volunteers whose time and dedication to both their community and OneSight provides much needed extra hands as Carl recognizes:

Day 2 of clinic and day one of ever doing dilation. Certainly, it is a skill that requires lots of practice and courage. I am so thankful for our volunteers from JSR who operated our dilation process as pros. We had so much fun with the children playing games and keeping the experience as fun as possible. Yeah, how fun can stinging eye drops be you ask? We saw 230 children yesterday with 88% of them requiring eyewear. That’s 365 in 2 days with 88% requiring vision correction. Wow, what an amazing job our screening nurses have done to ensure we are seeing those most in need. We saw a number of special needs children who were so brave, so patient and so in need of vision correction. Looking forward to tomorrow.—Carl Highsmith

That’s right! Today we saw 230 kids and 88% of them required eyewear!!!! Such an eventful and another rewarding day!