LAST WORD
Truly Rewarding
by Erinn Morgan

Cynthia Staub
Dave Edwards
Cathy Tibbets, OD

Eyecare professionals work in a healthcare business, which can lead to some truly satisfying experiences. This month's question: What is the most gratifying experience you've ever had with a patient/customer?

I have been working with kids with albinism and low vision for years. I have fit them with colored, therapeutic contact lenses and dark, mirrored sunglasses.

One patient, a girl now in junior high, wears the telescope around her neck all the time and is an advocate of the devices for others.

It has been so gratifying to hear them say, "I am so happy I don't have to put my hands over my face anymore when I walk outside and see the sun."

— Cynthia Staub, CPO, Romie Lane Optometric Center, Salina, Calif.

The most gratifying experience for me is fitting a child with a first pair of glasses. I still get the same feeling of satisfaction from this that I did 28 years ago when I first started in the business. You see their eyes light up when they can see across the street, and it's really great.

— Dave Edwards, general manager, South Florida Vision,
North Lauderdale, Fla.

My most rewarding moments as an optometrist haven't come from heroic feats such as saving lives by finding brain tumors. They come from the thank yous of patients who can see with their glasses and contact lenses.

Now that I am 50 years old and can actually relate to the problems of seeing up close, I seem to be getting more and more patients my age in the same predicament. We sit down and chat, take our time trying different contact lens modalities. It's almost like we're out having coffee.

When I was a kid, I asked my optometrist what he liked about being an eye doctor. He said he liked it because when people left his office, they said "Thank you, doctor." That always stuck in my mind, and now I know what he meant.

— Cathy Tibbets, OD,
Farmington, N.M.

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