Volunteering with CNIB

DrLee

My favourite part of Christmas is wrapping presents! 🙂 We had a handful of customers yesterday – People are getting their shopping done early!
This month Dr Lee is volunteering with the Canadian National Institute for the Blind’s Holiday Gift Wrap program at Fairview Mall in North York, Ontario. We have gift wrapping and coat check. Please come support if you’re at Fairview Mall. All proceeds go directly to CNIB!

Every 12 minutes, someone in Canada develops significant vision loss.
75% of vision loss can be prevented or treated.
Vision loss costs Canadians $15.8 billion every year.

CNIB has many programs to promote vision health and enhance independence for people who are blind or partially sighted. For more info, visit http://cnib.ca

DrLee

Happy Thanksgiving to our American friends!

This is something I found last month, and it serves as a reminder to not take our vision for granted. Be grateful for your eyesight and your ability to see all the sale signs this weekend! Be grateful that you don’t need to rely on your other senses, because all the extra hustle and bustle would be very confusing for your ears. Be grateful for this amazing sense which allows you to gather information about the world around you, and remember to take care of your eyes.

Tod and Justin Purvis suffer from choroideremia, a condition which causes progressive blindness. It starts with difficulty seeing at night, and causes tunnel vision, which eventually extends to your central vision. 6 years ago, they took a trip across America to gather memories before going completely blind. They filmed the experience, which you can watch in their documentary, Going Blind. Tod Purvis went on the internet community Reddit to answer questions about his trip and what it is like to go blind.

Here are some interesting descriptions of his vision, from Tod Purvis:
“It’s hard to describe nothing. It’s not black, it’s like if you were looking through a tunnel, and the walls of the tunnel were made of mirrors and it reflected what was at the end of the tunnel”

“It’s all on the outside, I would say it’s blurry/fuzzy. Honestly there’s no such thing as BLACK to a blind person. There’s just nothing. It’s very hard to describe. One of the best scenes in a film, is in the film BLINDNESS, a children (who’s blind in the film) walks into a desk, that the audiences does not see and then it pops into view. That moment is EXACTLY how we see.”

“Close, [wear] sunglasses and smeared them with vaseline, and wore them all the time that would be kind of like it. [sic]”

“My vision was fine as a kid, I really didn’t notice it until my mid 30’s where I noticed the losing the outside and the night vision. Justin noticed it much earlier than I.”

Additional descriptions of vision loss from other users:
“Try this: Close both eyes, then hold your left eye closed, open your eyes and look out your right eye while keeping the left one held closed. Notice how your left vision just vanishes, but it doesn’t go black, it just doesn’t exist anymore. Try it with the other eye too.” – user KernelTaint

On why they took the trip:
“But we took the trip to put the memories in our brain where we could always call them up even if we completely lost our sight. There is an amazing scene in the film about a man who is almost totally blind who calls up his memories in order to live a full ‘visual’ life.”

The most beautiful places they visited:
Devil’s Tower in Wyoming, Glacier Park in Montana, Grand Canyon

Their film’s main message:
“”No matter what your situation … live your life to the fullest.”

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See the rest of their responses here : Choroideremia Ask Me Anything (NSFW)

They also created an award winning documentary about their experiences which can be found here: Driving Blind

To help support those with Choroideremia, you can donate to the causes listed here: Choroideremia.org and here: Blindness.org

DrLee

This week, Dr. Lee partnered with Kids2See to provide free vision screenings for JK and SK students at Secord Elementary School in Toronto. Kids2See is an initiative run by University of Toronto Med students Emily Wright, Aaron Chan and Eli Kisilevsky with the purpose of identifying children with vision impairments which require early treatment, and ensuring that they receive a complete eye exam from a qualified eye specialist further to the screening. They also strive to educate parents and school officials on the importance of routine eye exams, as 10-20% of vision problems may be missed by the screening. The school screenings only flag certain problems, so it is still important to have yearly comprehensive eye exams for complete assessment of your child’s eye health.

Kids2See will be visiting other schools weekly throughout November – January. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to help out! 🙂

kids vision screening — Checking one eye at a time!

*No pictures of the kids due to privacy reasons

DrLee

Halloween is just around the corner, and while a crazy pair of contacts might seem like the perfect addition to your costume, DO NOT buy unprescribed lenses from over-the-counter or online sellers. Anyone who is not an optician, optometrist, or ophthalmologist selling contact lenses is doing so illegally. This also applies to circle lenses or any coloured lenses you can buy randomly at non-optical stores at the mall or online. Many websites claim to sell “100% authentic” and “#1 brand” lenses, but this is not safe.

Contact lenses are medical devices, which means they are subject to specific safety requirements. Online and over-the-counter products are produced by unknown manufacturers, who don’t follow the requirements. Contact lenses are NOT one-size-fits-all, and just like wearing the wrong shoe size, ill-fitting contacts can cause major discomfort and damage to your eyes.

The main concern is that these manufacturers may use unknown materials to make the lenses, and the sealed packaging does NOT guarantee that the lenses are sterile. Contaminants may scratch your cornea, cause an allergic reaction, or cause a serious infection which may result in permanent scarring and vision loss.
The risk of corneal infection when using cosmetic lenses compared to prescription contacts lenses is 12.5 times higher, as shown in a recent study

“In the past year we have received numerous incident reports from optometrists who have treated patients with serious cases of infection, corneal ulcers, corneal abrasion, allergic reactions and swelling resulting from novelty contact lenses,” said Dr. Paul Geneau, CAO president.
Read more here: Cosmetic contact lenses may cause blindness, warn doctors

You may think it’s not a big deal if you wear them for just one night…. Lots of people have prescribed contact lenses from their doctor for occasional wear! However, the risk is MUCH, MUCH higher with unprescribed lenses because 1) those lenses have not been approved for safety and 2) you have not been fitted with by a licensed professional.
In this 5 On Your Side clip, Robyn Rouse talks about wearing decorative lenses for a short period of time. “I put them in – wore them for 5 minutes… Took them out and went to sleep,” recalled Rouse. “In less than 24 hours – this is something that I have to deal with now for the rest of my life,” she added. Robyn developed an eye infection, which, after 10 years of eye problems, resulted in her having to get a corneal transplant.

There are good options out there for coloured lenses approved by Health Canada! You need to be fitted, even if you want non-prescription “strength” in the lenses. Make an appointment with Dr. Lee and let the staff know you are interested in coloured lenses so we can order in some trials to have ready at your next visit.

If you notice redness, swelling, excessive discharge, pain or discomfort from wearing contact lenses, remove the lenses and seek immediate medical attention from an optometrist. Eye infections like keratitis can quickly become serious and can cause blindness if left untreated.
Dr. Lee can be reached in Markham at (905) 805-0889 or in Pickering (905) 420-7070

DrLee

Here are great tips from Dr Dina Kulik, Pediatrician from Toronto on preparing your child for his/her first eye exam. Children should be seen at least once around age 2-3 before starting school, and the first exam can be as early as 6 months. Parents mistakenly believe that kids would complain if they couldn’t see, but they don’t because they accept it as normal.

Talk about the upcoming visit with excitement. If children are excited they are less likely to become fearful.
Schedule an appointment at a time when your child is alert and interactive, not during a naptime or mealtime.
Book yourself plenty of time. Rushing will stress you out and by extension your child will have less fun.
Use books or props to help prepare your child for the experience; we have a book about ‘Critter’ getting his eyes checked.
Use a low power flashlight on yourself or partner to show your kids how the eyes grow and shrink to the light. Then let them try it on you. Use this time to talk to your child about the use of bright lights before the appointment.
Rewards, rewards, rewards. When you start talking about the appointment tell your child about the reward he or she will get for behaving well.

See More at How Vision Problems Can Affect Your Child’s Abilities. (Yummy Mummy Club.ca)

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October is Children’s Vision Month in Canada, so book your eye exam today! Children are covered for one full exam per year by OHIP.

Also visit Doctors of Optometry Canada to enter for a chance to win one of five weekly prizes including an HP laptop, and a chance at the grand prize valued at over $5000!
Click here to enter the Children’s Vision Month Sweepstakes

Volunteering with CNIB

What It’s Like to Go Blind

School Vision Screening for Kids

Costume Contact Lenses Carry High Risk of Infection

Your Child’s First Eye Exam