Typical Day
Olivia Newheart wakes up at 6:00AM to the screeching of her radio alarm clock. Though a bit bleary-eyed and still sleepy, she hops out of bed, draws the curtains, and stretches deeply while loudly yawning. Before the sleepiness wins her over, she quickly changes into her running gear and dashes out of the house. She hits the sidewalk of her quiet neighborhood at 6:20AM.
Back home at 7:00AM after her run, Olivia has time for a quick shower and a little primping before getting to the office at 8:30AM. She's seeing a new patient this morning, one of the youngest ever in her five years as an orthoptist. Olivia is almost as nervous as she is excited. By starting so young with treatment, this patient will have a much better chance to avoid surgery. That's a win-win for orthoptists.
At 8:34AM she flips on the light in her office and removes the plastic bag protecting her freshly cleaned lab coat. It's a nice perk her boss provides, along with free coffee (which, to be quite honest, is often the reason their lab coats need to be cleaned). Coffee really should come in a clear formula for offices.
Checking the examination room, Olivia gets out some animal picture cards and a few toys and logs into her Pandora account to start some low volume, kid-friendly music to help her new patient feel at home. Children at this age tend to look eye level and down so she pushes the hanging phoropter (wasn't that a type of dinosaur?) up so it won't frighten the patient.
Lynn, the front desk registrar sticks her head in the door. "You all set for the stork to arrive?"
Olivia grinned. "Uhmm, just how young is this patient?"
"Not that young. I'm just trying to help you kick the jitters. We've had patients this young before. It will go fine."
At 9:00AM, the buzzer sounds up front, sending Lynn back to her post. Olivia takes one more deep breath. "I just have to find a way to help this child see," she thinks to herself. She dims the light slightly, and stands as they enter. "Good morning Mrs. Williams. Won't you and Amy sit here in the big chair? I think things will go better if you hold her most of the time."
Olivia runs a series of standard tests on baby Amy without too much trouble. As the exam wears on, she gets a little cranky, but Olivia fakes a sneeze to make Amy laugh. Whatever it takes to keep her happy. "I deserve an Oscar," Olivia thinks to herself.
At 10:30AM, after a full assessment, Olivia holds a few lenses in front of Amy's eyes and shows her pictures of a dog. All of a sudden, Amy's face lights up and she starts babbling, "Bobo. Bobo."
Mrs. Williams is amazed. "Our dog looks like this picture and his name is Bobo." Olivia gives Mrs. Williams some eye patches for Amy to wear a few hours each day over her good eye so she'll use and strengthen her weaker eye. They'll follow up in two weeks and order glasses but no surgery. She can go back to drooling all over Bobo with no interruptions.
Olivia's next patient is an elderly woman whose vision suddenly changed a few days ago. A few tests lead Olivia to believe the patient's had a light stroke. She prescribes some drops, exercises, and a follow-up with her doctor.
Next, at 11:30AM, she sees three year old Max who bumps into walls and holds a tablet right at the end of his nose to see it. Olivia spots a small misalignment of his eyes and tests him for nearsightedness. After he leaves, Olivia gets some kind words from Dr. Burnham, her boss. What a nice guy.
He thinks she would make a great ophthalmologist. Olivia reminds him they probably wouldn't work together if she becomes a full-fledged eye doctor, like him. The normally stoic doctor fakes a terrified face and shakes his head no, while walking backwards down the hall. Laughing, Olivia pulls the next chart and welcomes another patient.
After a late lunch, the office resembles an after school special―all kids. She goes to the waiting area to call Jake and his mom Lori. Jake is the first patient Olivia treated and the progress he's made is thrilling.
"Hi Jake. Hi Lori. If you're ready, follow me."
Jake stands and gives his mom the stop sign. "Mom, you don't need to go back with me. I'm in Kindergarten now. I can handle this."
Lori gives Olivia, who's stifling a giggle, a helpless look. "Okay, Jake. Let's try it your way. We'll call if we need you, mom."
Giving the eye chart a less than impressed look Jake says, "I can read now and this thing has no words on it. Is it supposed to be like that?"
"Yes. It's a long story why it needs to be just letters."
"That's okay. I just got out of school and I'm all storied out. My teacher thinks she has to read to us every day. I wish she'd let us read on our own."
"I bet she reads to your class because not everyone can read like you. Here, cover your left eye and I'll let you read to me."
Jake's follow-up exam goes well; Olivia is very happy. "Jake you are doing great and we can start seeing each other once a year instead of every six months. Okay?"
"Okay, I guess. I like being able to see the TV and stuff, but now mom makes me make my bed."
"That's the worst, huh?"
Olivia leads Jake back into the waiting room, where she tells Lori of his progress. After they leave, Olivia takes a seat in the breakroom, exhausted. She straightens up her exam room, hangs her still-clean (a miracle) lab coat on the rack, and shuts off the lights, leaving the office for the day at about 6:00PM.
When she arrives back at home around 6:47PM, she decides to heat up some leftovers and veg out to some bad TV before bed. Not for too long, though―she doesn't want to strain her eyes.