cathy🤍🫧

Yesterday, I attended to several lovely patients, but one man’s story genuinely surprised me. He’s 45 and came in complaining of blurry vision. On examination, I noticed he had manifest exotropia ( A condition where one eye turns outwards). Out of curiosity, I asked if it was his first time seeing an eye doctor. He told me it was only his second visit. The first was when he was just 7 years old. Apparently, the doctor had recommended treatment to align his eyes, but he refused. His reason? He felt his eyes made him unique, and he loved them that way. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting that answer. As eye care professionals, we sometimes focus so much on what we think needs correcting that we forget to consider how patients feel about their own appearance. Of course, the clinical implications of an eye condition still matter, and patients deserve to understand them. But their feelings and perspectives matter too. It was a good reminder that not everyone sees themselves the way the rest of the world sees them. Sometimes, what we think needs fixing is something another person has learned to love about themselves.