Diabetes is the #1 cause of blindness in Saipan and the CNMI, and the doctors at Marianas Eye Institute use advanced techniques and treatments to stop and even reverse diabetic eye damage. An eye exam is the first step to keeping your vision.
Our Center for Advanced Diabetic Eye Care brings together advanced technologies, expert doctors, and educational resources to help you. In fact, our founder, Dr. David Khorram, MD, wrote the book, “Diabetic Eye Disease – Don’t Go Blind from Diabetes” for his patients in the CNMI. The book has become an best-seller, sold internationally through Amazon.
Diabetes: An Eye Exam Can Save Your Sight
At Marianas Eye Institute, one of our top priorities is to prevent blindness from diabetes. Our advanced technologies and our experienced eye care professionals make us a leading center in the region for diabetic eye care.
We take the time to make sure you understand your condition and your treatment. With our advanced retinal camera we are able to take pictures of the inside of your eyes, show you the status of your condition and show you the progress with treatment.
Are you one of the CNMI’s 4000 people with diabetes? Did you have an eye exam in the past 12 months? Diabetes is the leading cause of blindness in the CNMI, and an eye exam is the first step towards preventing visual loss. People with diabetes are required to have an eye exam at least once a year. Yet statistics from Marianas Eye Institute and the Division of Public Health show that at best, only about 20% of people with diabetes get an eye exam in any given year. Are you or a family member in the 80% who did not get your eye exam in the past 12 months? If so, let’s talk about how Marianas Eye Institute can help you.
Now You Know
It is possible that you do not know that you are required to have an eye exam every year. A survey we conducted showed that less than half of all diabetics know that they need an eye exam every year as the first step towards preventing blindness. One of our major efforts is to make sure everyone with diabetes knows this simple fact. If you have diabetes, you need an eye exam at least once a year.
Some Reasons You May Have
What we find is that many people with diabetes, even those who know that they need an eye exam every year, have many reasons why they don’t get one. Something keeps you back. Perhaps you are afraid of finding out that diabetes has affected your eyes. Maybe it is inconvenient for you to go to the eye doctor. Maybe you worry about the cost. In any event, you may have a list of reasons why you don’t go in for your eye exam. These reasons are valid concerns. However, if these concerns end up leading to blindness, that’s a problem.
Why Do You Want to See?
We spend much of our time helping you shift your focus away from why you don’t want to go in for an eye exam, to why you want to keep your vision. After all, it is easier to stay home and watch TV than to get up and make the trip to the eye doctor. But the real question is, “What pleasure do you get from seeing?” Maybe seeing the faces of your loved ones. Or having the independence to drive or cook or to move around your own house. What pain would you experience if you could not see? What would it be like to not be able to drive, or to read, or to see the food on your plate, or to watch the faces of your children or grandchildren as they grow? Keep your focus on these things. Any time you start to become afraid or think of the hassles or all of those other reasons why you don’t want to go in for an eye exam, shift your focus to why you want to see and why you want to keep your vision. Shifting your focus is the key to doing the things you need to do. Keep the goal of keeping your vision in the forefront of your mind. As they say in sports, “keep your eye on the ball.” It’s easy to get distracted by everything else on the playing field and in the stands.
Don’t Wait Until Your Vision is Bad
Every day, someone with diabetes walks into our office and tells us their vision has suddenly gone bad. This is not a situation you want to get yourself into. When diabetes has caused enough damage that the vision has gone bad, everything is much harder to treat. The reason that an eye exam every year is so important for diabetics is that if we catch the eye problems before the vision gets bad, we can treat them much more successfully. If you already have some damage to your eyes, then we will want to monitor your eyes more often than just once a year.
Take Action Now
Now you know that diabetes is the leading cause of blindness in the CNMI. You know that if you have diabetes, you need an eye exam at least once a year. You may have plenty of reasons why you don’t want to get an eye exam. Don’t focus on these reasons. Instead, focus on why you want to keep your vision. What pleasure do you get from your vision, and what pain would you experience if you could not see? Think deeply about these things. Now you know that if you wait until your vision goes bad, we can help, but it is much harder. And also, you know that early diagnosis and treatment of diabetic eye disease gives you a better chance of keeping your vision. Now, with all of this knowledge, it is time to take action. If you have been putting off getting an eye exam, call or send us an email right now to schedule your appointment. If you don’t have diabetes, take this action for a family member or friend who does. Take the first step towards making sure you can enjoy the beauty and freedom that good vision brings.
Diabetes affects nearly every family in the CNMI. If you have diabetes, an eye exam every single year can help prevent the devastating effects of diabetic eye disease. Most people wait until they have vision problems, but by then it can be too late. If you have diabetes, get your eyes examined every year even if you are seeing perfectly well. It’s the early disease that can be treated most successfully. An eye exam can save your sight.