The town of Mandeville in the Central Jamaican Parish of Manchester was slowly stirring to life, but at the Eye Clinic located at the Mandeville Regional Hospital, several persons from across the Parish and beyond had already arrived and were seated in the waiting area. Some hoped to get their eyes tested and others were anxious about the possibility of being approved for a surgical procedure.
On this particular morning some patients, who only 24 hours earlier had cataract surgery, were seated in another section of the Clinic where their bandages were carefully removed from their eyes. For a few minutes their world seemed to standstill and then they beamed with joy.
I can see, thank God I can see your face….. I can see a thousand times better, you see when she took the bandage off this eye I could see. I can see your face you know, and imagine I only did surgery yesterday. Yesterday it was dark, I couldn’t see, I couldn’t see”” shouted Mena Larmond, 87, in a voice that belied her age.”
“I can laugh now, I’m not in pain, I rested so well last night” said Kenneth Higgins who could not contain his joy. Seated Higgins beside was Mary Smith, 65, a devout Jehovah’s Witness who for years prayed that her failing eyesight would be restored and even resorted to drastically changing her diet.
But when all of her efforts failed and the cataract remained she was referred to the Eye Clinic. “I couldn’t see to read, I could see very, very big letters but not the small ones. Now I am
feeling much, much better, I expected to feel some pain, but I felt no pain at all, I was wondering how come there is no pain, but I had a good Doctor” said Smith, 24 hours after her surgery.
Mary Smith, while being examined by Dr Gavin Henry remarked, “I am very happy I didn’t expect to see out of my eye but the best Doctor worked on me.
Another patient was Cedric Smith (no relation to Mary Smith) a few hours before surgery he nervously paced the floor and disclosed that he was bit nervous about the procedure. As he wanted to be examined by Dr Henry he nodded in agreement with comments made by the other patients. ” I am proud of this Clinic, I feel very good. I now want to look after the other eye” said Cedric Smith.
But in the midst of the excitement the Head Nurse at the Clinic, Nurse Joyce Gooden, had words of caution for the patients. “You have had major surgery …the act that you can see is not the be all and end all you now have to take care of the sight which you have gotten. There are a few little points for you to abide by, I will advise that you have a pack of cotton and boiled
water prepared, to wipe off the eye with clean tissue and throw it away. Remember inside the eye is liquid and any heavy lifting can cause the lens to be displaced , we don’t want any of that, we want everything to be perfect, just as how it is this morning” Nurse Gooden said.
For the patients, cataract surgery has undoubtedly brought their lives into sharper focus. It’s the simple acts of love such as seeing the smile on a loved one’s face – that would have been impossible before eye surgery. “This is the best Clinic, not just in Jamaica but around the world. It opens early and everyone is very professional, I come at 7 a.m. and the place is full, we get first class service here. We have the best of everything,” said Higgins.
For anyone visiting the Clinic, they will leave with the touching reminder of the struggle faced by adults and children in Jamaica and the wider Caribbean, of the work being done by the Caribbean Council for the Blind (CCB), and their appreciation of the gift of sight will be reinforced.