Welcome to White Cane Connections.

My name is Sue Boman. Yes, that’s me in the picture posted here. I have called this blog White Cane Connections because I am one of the many people who use a white cane. I began this blog because I wanted to write about a project I undertook in 2012. The plan was to complete a series of walks using my white cane. Between March and September, I walked in 82 different locations across Canada. So, the blog begins by telling of my experiences and the many people I met along the way.

While this particular journey has now been completed, I find that I still have much to write about. I am continuing to make new white cane connections, and so for the time being I will continue to add regular posts to this blog. I am hoping that you will be a partner in the journey.

Sue


Friday, 4 November 2016

November 4 - Visiting the Optometrist



It’s a good policy to visit your optometrist annually, and I try to do just that. It’s all part of taking care of the health of your eyes. Even though I know the condition that affects my sight, this doesn’t mean that I am exempt from other conditions - conditions such as macular degeneration, glaucoma or cataracts. A person can have more than one condition in the same eye.  Most of these can be detected when you visit your optometrist.

Most of the adults I speak with do take good care of their eyes, but did you know that it is also important for children to have their eyes checked? Last week I went with my daughter when she took their nine month old to the optometrist. I was curious to see what he would do. Obviously our granddaughter was too young to read the big E at the top of the chart.

The optometrist was excellent. He sat on the floor with Lexi and moved a small object back and forth to determine if her eyes were tracking together. Later he took a small light to look into her pupils and used lenses of varying strengths to look behind the eye. Lexi was fascinated by the light and the small toy that the optometrist held in his other hand. 

I told my Monday morning coffee group about the exam, saying I didn’t know that babies this young should have their eyes checked.  Cindy, one of the women in the group, said that her grandson had had eye surgery at the age of six months. I guess it’s never too early, and the good part is that the eye exam was covered by Alberta Health Care.

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