A Site for Sore Eyes

With her pupils still dilated after an extensive eye examination at the Eye Care Clinic, Maria Dimas got the good news: no serious vision problems.

“Your eyes are healthy,” student optometrist Elizabeth Wiles told the 44- year- old woman who was getting her eyes checked for the first time.

Dimas, who said she could not afford to get her eyes checked, is one of scores of low-income diabetics who are receiving vision exams at a discounted rate.

The rate of $30 was negotiated by Santa Ana-based Latino Health Access, a nonprofit group that helps poor people with diabetes by raising money for their treatments and teaching them how to control their diets and monitor their blood-sugar levels.

The Fullerton-based Southern California College of Optometry, which runs the clinic, offered its services at the reduced rate. Students conduct the vision exams, which began two weeks ago and will continue through the summer.

About 200 people will be given the vision exams.

Dr. America Bracho, executive director of Latino Health Access, said patients must pay $15 and then raise the remainder by making and selling low-fat tamales.

She said volunteers from her organization have told program participants about the importance of vision exams and how uncontrolled diabetes can lead to blindness. They explained a condition called diabetic retinopathy, a blood vessel problem behind the retina that causes blindness in connection to high blood sugar levels.

The condition often strikes without symptoms, said Dr. George W. Comer, the clinic’s chief of staff.

“That’s why it’s especially important for diabetes patients to get an eye examination every year,” he said. “The key is to catch future problems early. It’s just not that hard and not that costly to catch diabetic retinopathy in the early stages and prevent blindness.”

Bracho said that some doctors hesitate to give poor people complete eye checks for fear of finding that the only hope to save their sight is expensive laser surgery--something indigents cannot afford.

But the people who want to save their sight find creative ways to pay for the necessary surgeries, Bracho said. She cited the story of a Santa Ana woman.

The 70-year-old, who has no job, no insurance and no government benefits, was diagnosed with diabetic retinopathy a year ago and underwent a $3,000 laser surgery that saved her vision. She raised most of the money by making and selling pineapple turnovers and by making crocheted butterflies.

The story exemplifies “what can be done when you are poor and really want to save your sight,” Bracho said.

Evelina Ayala, 47, had her eyes checked for the first time Monday by student Dawn Chivers.

Chivers said that while she examined Ayala’s dilated pupils, she spotted the beginnings of diabetic retinopathy. Because the problem is not yet severe, Chivers will be able to treat her without expensive surgery.

“I’m so thankful I finally got to check my eyes,” said Ayala, who lives in Orange. “I feel so relieved now after having lived so many years with the thought that someday I might go blind. Now, I can prevent that.”