For many Dry Eye patients managing the disease is the journey of a lifetime. Those of us who embarked on the journey to healing, know that lots of people helped us reach our destination. Family members, friends, neighbors, doctors, their staffs, pharmacists, nurses, shuttle drivers, even the mail carrier bringing a fresh supply of some critical medication, and many, many others, were all there for us when we needed them most.
Supporting Dry Eye Patients on Their Journey to Healing
Many people helped us in whatever way they could. Some opened their wallets, others their homes. Some people cooked for us and others cleaned. Some became our drivers and others traveled with us hundreds and even thousands of miles, staying with us in far-away cities. When the pain in our eyes was unbearable, there were those who Googled anything and everything related to the disease, searching for hope on our behalf. Some prayed with us and for us. Help came in many forms and on many days, many, many days.
And then there were our doctors who diagnosed and treated us. Some responded to our desperate texts, calls, and emails – at all hours of the night. Some held our hands or stroked our foreheads before surgery to reassure us. Their staffs took our calls and listened to us patiently.
Yes, it was their job, but it wasn’t always an easy job because the pain of Dry Eye could make us irrational, unreasonable, and inconsolable, crippling even the most stoic among us. Still, they helped us.
Our gratitude to each of these individuals knows no bounds. No matter what we do, no matter how hard we try, we will always be indebted to our legions of supporters.
On this day of giving thanks, we extend to each of them our deepest and most heartfelt gratitude. Thank you!
And now we’re asking for your support.
Supporting Dry Eye Patients on Their Journey to Healing
On average, about 250 – 300 people from around the world visit this website each day. Most are people just like us, looking for information about Dry Eye, wondering about their symptoms, wondering what might be the causes, and if there are any viable treatments.
We’d like to be able to continue this service and we’ll be able to with your generous support.
We don’t raise money through advertising of any kind because we believe it’s important to provide impartial information to patients.
Please consider donating just $3 to Not A Dry Eye Foundation this Thanksgiving via Paypal.
Or register on smile.amazon.com. Amazon will donate .5% of the purchase price every time you make a purchase (at no additional cost to you). Just select Not A Dry Eye Foundation as your preferred non-profit. It’s the same Amazon you always use, with the same prices.
Some of you have already made generous donations, and we’d like to thank you for your support. We receive messages all the time about how the information on this website is helping someone understand their condition. Your generous donation has made that possible.
There’s a scene in the 2016 movie Miracles from Heaven that’s probably all too familiar for some Dry Eye patients. When 5-year-old Anna Beam goes to the ER for the umpteenth time with stomach pains, the doctor says it’s acid reflux. Anna’s mother, frustrated to no end by what she knows to be yet another wrong diagnosis, demands that the doctor run more tests because she’s not leaving until she knows, for certain, what’s wrong with her daughter. It turns out not to be acid reflux at all.
Finding it Hard to Trust Your Doctor?
Medical research doesn’t always bet on the right horse, but medical research is what doctors rely on to inform the care they provide. Not that long ago eggs were the enemy. So was fat of any kind. Now we know that the decades-old study starting the trend that demonized fat was sponsored by, of all things, the Sugar Research Foundation (SRF).
singled out fat and cholesterol as the dietary causes of coronary heart disease (CHD) and downplayed evidence that sucrose consumption was also a risk factor. The SRF set the review’s objective, contributed articles for inclusion, and received drafts. The SRF’s funding and role was not disclosed. Together with other recent analyses of sugar industry documents, our findings suggest the industry sponsored a research program in the 1960s and 1970s that successfully cast doubt about the hazards of sucrose while promoting fat as the dietary culprit in CHD.
What does this say about studies funded by industries in other fields? Remember how the tobacco industry convinced doctors to prescribe cigarettes for anxiety in the 50’s and 60’s?
You can’t help but wonder about the results of studies sponsored by companies, and other stakeholders, that make the products they’re studying. Can we really believe there’s no conflict of interest? Can we know, for certain, that important data isn’t suppressed?
Finding it Hard to Trust Your Doctor
The Harvard sugar study isn’t the only example of medical research, and consequent medical care, that touts questionable, or outdated, facts. Regardless, these studies are what many doctors use to inform the care they provide. But when the studies aren’t good, or up to date, you might not get the care you need.
And then, bewildered, you might even end up finding it hard to trust your doctor, the way Anna’s mother did. It happens to Dry Eye patients all the time, especially to those of us who’ve gone from doctor to doctor to doctor, first just seeking care, and then later a “miracle.”
A Miracle for an Insurmountable Problem
But why does it have to get to that — seeking a miracle? Why does getting help for Dry Eye suddenly become an insurmountable problem?
We’re not really sure.
But maybe it’s because doctors aren’t experienced in treating Dry Eye and meibomian gland dysfunction as a unit, with a truly comprehensive approach to managing the signs and symptoms of these diseases.
Take for example the American Academy of Ophthalmology’s guidelines for these two conditions that often co-exist and overlap: Dry Eye and blepharitis. The academy publishes one Preferred Practice Pattern (PPP) for Dry Eye Syndrome and another PPP for blepharitis.
If a doctor refers to one, but not the other, the picture won’t be complete. It’s not that the guidelines are inaccurate per se (although they’re already out of date having been published in 2013 — a problem in itself). It’s that individually they’re not comprehensive enough to cover anything and everything that might be going on. One document just doesn’t go deep enough to describe all of the possible underlying or co-morbid conditions, and the latest effectivetreatments.
As a result, the care you receive could be inadequate. And so in addition to not feeling better after seeing who-knows-how-many doctors, you’re now finding it hard to trust your doctor, even a really good doctor, and maybe even the entire medical profession.
And that’s a fundamental problem. Because we need to trust our doctors, good doctors, who diagnose and treat us, so we don’t have to wait for miracles like little Anna Beam.
Should patients be given a voice? Or should patients just accept what they are told by their health care providers, pharmaceutical companies, medical device manufacturers, insurers, and others?
Giving Patients a Voice: Letter to TFOS DEWS II
Not that long ago, patients were expected to listen to their doctors and accept what they were being told at face value. It was believed that if patients knew too much about their own bodies, and the health care they received, they might become anxious or agitated in ways that wouldn’t be beneficial to them.
These days, patients act more like customers who know what they want. With out-of-pocket health care costs rising into the tens of thousands of dollars for some every year, it’s no wonder.
So why wouldn’t every health care provider, every pharmaceutical company, every medical device manufacturer, and every insurer, choose to listen to their patients, a.k.a. customers?
What Matters to People Seeking Health Care
This year the National Academy of Medicine gave its Gustav O. Lienhard Award to David Cella, PhD, of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine “for his pioneering work to measure and apply patient-reported outcomes in health care.”
This is why NAM presented the award to Dr. Cella.
“Dr. Cella’s trailblazing work in investigating what matters to people seeking health care has paved the way for a better, more patient-centered approach,” said NAM President Victor J. Dzau.
During his career, Dr. Cella has made transformational contributions toward understanding what aspects of life matter most to people struggling with health conditions and measuring those aspects so that the information can be used to guide care. In 1985, he conducted in-depth interviews with cancer patients in order to develop questionnaires that could shed light on how cancer therapeutics were affecting patients’ lives, at a time when it was uncommon in oncology to ask patients how they were feeling. His efforts helped usher in an era in which it is common practice to include patient stakeholders both in the development of quality-of-life questionnaires and in the more general conduct of research and clinical care.
Whether or not the “common practice to include patient stakeholders” has been adopted by all health care providers, including those who treat Dry Eye patients, remains to be seen.
In the Spirit of Patient Participation
In the spirit of patient participation, we contacted the Tear Film and Ocular Surface Society (TFOS) earlier this year. We had learned that TFOS, the organization behind the Dry Eye Workshop (DEWS) and The International Workshop on Meibomian Gland Dysfunction, would be convening DEWS II to:
update the definition, classification and diagnosis of dry eye disease, critically assess the etiology, mechanism, distribution and global impact of this disorder, and address its management and therapy.
Given that nearly a decade had passed since the first DEWS papers — which we regard highly and often cite on this website — were published, we supported the effort wholeheartedly.
After contacting TFOS via e-mail, and offering to participate to ensure that the “patient perspective” would be included in committee meetings and publications, thereby giving patients a voice, TFOS declined our offer. The executive director told us the committee members had already been selected and that there were already many patients among them.
We admit that we had missed the deadline to submit candidates for participation. That’s absolutely true.
But when we reviewed the list of committee members, we found only two patients per se. The “many” others? Well, we can assume, based on estimates of the incidents of Dry Eye, that some of the committee members have some form of the disease. Though we just couldn’t figure out which ones they are.
Giving Patients a Voice
So, we decided to write a letter offering the Dry Eye patient perspective to all of the DEWS II committee members. We e-mailed the letter in July to over 100 committee members. Plus we cc’d dozens of other stakeholders and the media.
So share our letter. Download and forward it as many times as you like. Circulate it and discuss it. Post it on Facebook and talk about it on Twitter. Tell your doctors about it and even your government representatives. Send it to your local newspapers and favorite magazines. Share it with you family and friends.
In our first Research Roundup we present five studies. The first four, published this year, may give some Dry Eye patients hope. The fifth, from last year, reveals new insights about demodex mites.
Lacrimal Glands, Quality of Life, Contact Lenses, and Demodex Mites
The topics of these studies – lacrimal glands, quality of life, contact lenses, and demodex mites – themselves show how complex Dry Eye really is. There are many different conditions under the Dry Eye umbrella, a lot of potential causes, and numerous possible symptoms.
The first two studies discuss lacrimal glands in mice with Sjogren’s aqueous deficiency. One examines stem/cell progenitor cells as a potential treatment for chronically inflamed human lacrimal glands. The other looks at changes in aging lacrimal glands, and concludes that TSP1 (thrombospondin 1), is necessary for maintaining their health.
The third study is not about Dry Eye, but about vision and social status. It suggests that impaired vision can have a profound impact on quality of life. Dry Eye can affect vision. So clearly, the quality of life for these patients can be affected too. (The same could be said for those with Dry Eye whose vision per se may not be affected, but ocular discomfort has impacted their quality of life). For some, the impact can be devastating.
The fourth study looks at contact lenses and how bacteria can alter eye tissue. It should be of no surprise by now that contact lenses can cause inflammation and ocular discomfort. This study may lead to new therapies for inflammation due to eye infections.
The fifth study may interest you if you think you have demodex mites, and wonder where they came from. The answer is they were around way before humans inhabited the earth, and probably came from someone close to you. No wonder they can be hard to get rid of .
Lacrimal Glands, Quality of Life, Contact Lenses, and Demodex Mites
Lacrimal gland repair using progenitor cells
Gromova A, Voronov DA, Yoshida M, Thotakura S, Meech R, Dartt DA, Makarenkova HP. Stem Cells Translational Medicine
2016 Aug 15. pii: sctm.2016-0191. [Epub ahead of print]
This study demonstrates, for the first time, that epithelial cell progenitors (EPCPs) can mediate functional recovery of the lacrimal gland in a Sjögren’s syndrome mouse model. These data establish proof of concept that endogenous stem/progenitor cell transplantation may be used to treat human lacrimal gland chronic inflammation.
We conclude that thrombospondin 1 (TSP1) is necessary for maintaining normal lacrimal gland (LG) homeostasis. Absence of TSP1 alters cytokine levels and stem cell transcription factors, LG cellular architecture, decreases cell proliferation, and alters amount of stem cell markers.
Impaired vision in adults is common, and even near-normal vision, potentially unrecognized without assessment, has a tangible influence on quality of life.
New mechanism causing eye inflammation Medical News Today
2016 June 21
According to Medical News Today, “researchers discovered that a common bacterial contaminant of contact lenses and cases can cause the formation of large bubble-like membrane structures on human ocular cells, which can contribute to contact lens wear complications and inflammation.
Contact lens use is a major risk factor for contracting microbial keratitis, yet the reasons for this increased risk are not well understood.
‘Use of contacts lenses is so prevalent, yet until now, we’ve had limited understanding of how bacteria, associated with contacts lenses and cases, damage cells on the surface of the eye. Our study paves the way for new therapies that alleviate inflammation associated with these often serious eye infections,’ said Robert Shanks, PhD, Associate Professor, Charles T. Campbell Laboratory of Ophthalmic Microbiology, Department of Ophthalmology, UPMC Eye Center, University of Pittsburgh.
The researchers observed bacteria including Proteus mirabilis and Serratia marcescens that cause eye and other infections, induce major morphological changes in the surface of epithelial and other cell types. ‘These changes look like large membrane bubbles on the human cell surface, noted here as blebs,’ said Shanks. Cells that experience the blebs do not survive.
Microscopic mites of the genus Demodex live within the hair follicles of mammals and are ubiquitous symbionts of humans… Phylogenetic analyses recovered multiple deep lineages including a globally distributed lineage common among hosts of European ancestry and three lineages that primarily include hosts of Asian, African, and Latin American ancestry… We found that D. folliculorum populations are stable on an individual over the course of years and that some Asian and African American hosts maintain specific mite lineages over the course of years or generations outside their geographic region of birth or ancestry. D. folliculorum haplotypes were much more likely to be shared within families and between spouses than between unrelated individuals, indicating that transmission requires close contact. Dating analyses indicated that D. folliculorum origins may predate modern humans.
Have you seen the TV ads with Jennifer Aniston describing her dry, itchy eyes and telling you to see an eye doctor about your Dry Eye symptoms?
It’s an interesting twist on the typical “ask your doctor about this new drug” ad. Because this ad never even mentions the drug.
Instead the campaign aims to raise awareness of Dry Eye by telling us to love our eyes, see our doctors, and talk to them about our symptoms.
Is Xiidra the revolutionary new miracle drug for Dry Eye?
We couldn’t agree more.
It’s incredibly important, if you’re suffering with Dry Eye symptoms, to see your doctor, because it’s literally impossible to diagnose your own specific Dry Eye condition. For one, you can’t see everything that’s going on unless you’re looking through a slit lamp. And you can’t always tell what’s going on just by what you feel. So for an accurate and comprehensive diagnosis, you need to see a really good eye doctor.
Visit the website that Jennifer Aniston talks about and you’ll learn that the campaign is sponsored by Shire, maker of Xiidra™ (lifitegrast ophthalmic solution 5%). Shire announced on August 29, 2016 that the drug cleared FDA approval and would be available by prescription in the US.
Revolutionary new miracle drug for Dry Eye?
And what exactly is Xiidra? Is it the revolutionary new miracle drug for Dry Eye that so many of us hope for?
Xiidra is a non-steroidal, anti-inflammatory “prescription eye drop used to treat the signs and symptoms of dry eye disease.”
According to Shire, “the most common side effects of Xiidra include eye irritation, discomfort or blurred vision when the drops are applied to the eyes, and an unusual taste sensation (dysgeusia).” Side effects were reported at least 5 – 25% of the time.
Although Xiidra is not the same product as Restasis, we noticed some similarities, namely:
They’re not sure how or why it works: “the exact mechanism of action of lifitegrast in dry eye disease is not known.”
You may have to use it for a while before you see any benefit.
Enrollment criteria included, minimal signs (i.e., Corneal Fluorescein Staining (CFS) and non anesthetized Schirmer Tear Test (STT)) and symptoms (i.e., Eye Dryness Score (EDS) and Ocular Discomfort Score (ODS)) severity scores at baseline.
Note that “minimal signs” was an enrollment criteria, so there’s no indication from the study how the drops will work on someone with moderate or severe symptoms. And only non-anesthetized Schirmer tests were used. This test is usually used to screen for aqueous deficiency associated with Sjogren’s Syndrome (no tear production despite irritation) versus Schirmer with anesthetic, which tests for non-Sjogren’s aqueous deficiency. It’s not clear to us why they went with no anesthetic.
There are no results from a long-term or multi-year study. And since the drug was just released, there’s no post-marketing information — results from a large and diverse patient population.
The Xiidra product information sheet includes charts that show how well patients responded to the drug in the clinical trial. It takes a bit of detective work to tease out the information in the charts. (We would have preferred more details in the numbers, e.g.: how many benefited and how much, rather than one single number adding them all up). In any case, here’s what we found:
Eye dryness scores usually improved a little more with Xiidra than with the placebo.
Corneal staining scores usually improved a little more with Xiidra than with the placebo.
Only a little better than the placebo. Oh well. At least for some maybe there will be some improvement in symptoms.
Bottom line – Xiidra may help some people with mild symptoms somewhat, with a decent chance of having some side effect. But it’s probably not the revolutionary new miracle drug for Dry Eye that patients hope for. That’s because most of us are still facing a multi-factorial, chronic disease, that requires diligent and persistent care under the supervision of a qualified and experienced eye doctor.
So take Jennifer Aniston’s advice if you have Dry Eye symptoms. Love your eyes and see your eye doctor.
Hope — such a tiny word that carries so much weight, especially for those of us who suffer from chronic Dry Eye.
Susan Howell with her puppy, Bindi.
Hope is what we turn to as we face each new day. While it doesn’t always come easily, hope can give us the strength to endure this miserable disease, and never stop searching for new or more effective treatments… and maybe even someday a cure. But navigating a world with red, swollen, and painful eyes, struggling with the simplest tasks, robbed of the quality of life we once knew, can destroy any hope of ever feeling better.
My name is Susan Howell and I know about hope. My story is probably like that of so many others struggling with Dry Eye. Before I got it, I led a very active and social life. It was filled with promise. I was independent and could do whatever I wanted. Then, suddenly, everything came to a screeching halt as I succumbed — both physically and mentally — to the disease.
As my Dry Eye symptoms worsened, the revolving door of endless eye doctors left me angry, frustrated, and filled with disappointment. Hopelessness and despair became my new soul mates. Their emotional toll was steep. Anxiety, panic attacks, and massive depression rocked me to my core, leaving me unable to eat, sleep, or concentrate on anything. Emotionally depleted, with eyes in constant pain, and realizing I could not fight this alone, I took the advice of a friend who convinced me to surrender and seek medical help.
Susan Howell’s Hope Restored
Over the next six months, a wonderful primary care physician helped tame the crippling beast that raged inside me. While there was nothing he could do for my eyes, his treatment and compassion set me back on track emotionally. And with that, I was able to persevere and refocus on finding an eye doctor.
Susan Howell’s Story of Hope
After intense searching online, help came in an unexpected e-mail reply from Dr. Steven Maskin, an ophthalmologist in Tampa, Florida who specializes in the treatment of chronic Dry Eye disease. Dr. Maskin understood both my physical and mental pain, and aimed to bring comfort to my eyes. Over the course of five months under his care, my eye symptoms improved enough that my quality of life — something I thought was lost forever — was restored.
I realize hope can be hard to hang on to, and finding doctors who understand what a Dry Eye patient is going through is a task in itself. But recently I was able to travel alone to Virginia and New York to visit family and friends. Hope was with me then, securely tucked in my back pocket. And it’s still with me now.
As a community of Dry Eye sufferers, we must all remember that without hope — this little four letter word — we run the risk or losing ourselves and allowing the disease to rule our lives.
Many of you read our last blog post, Sue VandePanne’s Story of Hope, and some of you sent in questions. Sue answers some of these questions below.
Question from Walter:
Why do you say over and over again that we need to keep looking for a doctor if we have Dry Eye?
Sue’s Answer:
It’s important to look for a doctor who can diagnose all of your conditions and treat them. Although everyone with Dry Eye has some form of the disease, all of our specific conditions aren’t the same. If your specific set of conditions aren’t diagnosed, then you probably won’t be treating the conditions you have. And there are many conditions that only a doctor can diagnose and treat.
Sue VandePanne
Conjunctivochalasis (loosening and wrinkling of the clear tissue that covers the white part of the eye and the inner part of the eye lid) is one of these. You can’t see it in a mirror. And there’s no over-the-counter treatment.
Question from Elizabeth:
What condition does a wet contact lens treat? Does it hurt when you take them out or put them in?
Sue’s Answer:
It doesn’t hurt when I take the contacts out or put them in. I developed dry spots on one of my cornea so my doctor put in a bandage contact lens. That contact protected my eye from the environment and stayed in for two weeks. While it was in, I used antibiotic drops to prevent an infection. Because my eye felt much better with the bandage lens, my doctor suggested that I should try daily disposable contacts – the wettest available – to see if those would work for me long term. My optometrist suggested Dailies Total 1 because they have so much moisture in them. He said people that could never wear contacts can wear these. So nine months ago I started using them and they have been a life saver. There are days, especially when I’m outside, that my eyes still bother me. But I’m so much better overall.
It’s been twenty one months since I developed this horrible Dry Eye disease. Back then my symptoms were unbearable. My eyes were scratchy and gritty. I could hardly keep them open they hurt so much. It felt like I had foreign objects in my eyes. There were days I didn’t want to get up in the morning and I couldn’t wait to go to bed at night. Actually that was true on most days!
It all started two weeks after cataract surgery. I’d experienced severe eye pain for no apparent reason in past years. But it always went away after a few days. Not anymore. After seeing six eye doctors, I was scared this was going to be my new normal. It was hard just to keep searching for the right doctor. How do you keep searching for the right doctor when your eyes feel so bad? I even felt as if I was going to lose my sanity.
A Doctor Who Finally Helps
Although we live in Michigan, my husband and I are snow birds, spending our winters in Florida. So in January 2015, I was very lucky to find Dr. Steven Maskin in Tampa, just over an hour away from our winter home. He was the first doctor who understood my symptoms, diagnosed a variety of conditions, and knew what to do about them. The first thing he did was check for infections – which I had. He probed my meibomian glands, and with that I finally had some relief. He also cauterized my upper and lower tear ducts because my tear film was aqueous deficient. But I needed even more treatment. Because there were wrinkles and heavy red veining on the surface of my eyes I had surgery – amniotic membrane transplants – in both eyes.
Sue VandePanne
We ended up spending a hot summer in Florida as I underwent treatment. And for nine months I made weekly trips to Tampa. Although it was a long nine months, I was grateful to finally be in the care of a doctor who could help.
My meibomian glands were the biggest challenge. Although after probing they produced oil, the oil wasn’t making its way to the tear film. So I continued to experience discomfort and a variety of troublesome symptoms. But Dr. Maskin was not going to give up on me. He was determined to get me to a place where I would be comfortable. He gave me eye injections for inflammation and he used larger probes and dilated my meibomian glands to improve the flow of oil.
A Wet Contact Lens
In the fall of 2015 I wanted to return home to Michigan to see my family which I hadn’t seen in months. Dr. Maskin tried a bandage contact lens in my left eye, the worse of the two. When it helped tremendously, Dr. Maskin suggested that, while home in Michigan, I should find a doctor who could fit me for contacts – the wettest ones that are comfortable. The contacts would work as a bandage to protect my eyes.
A wet contact lens helped
At first I didn’t believe that contacts could improve my eye comfort. I had tried contacts when I was younger and my eyes just couldn’t handle them. So I didn’t think they would work now. But I decided to follow Dr. Maskin’s advice. It turns out the contacts are a life saver for me. I found a wonderful optometrist in Michigan who found a pair of contacts, Dailies Total 1, that would work for me. Because I have astigmatism, I still have to wear glasses to correct my vision. But now I put the contacts in first thing in the morning, and take them out when I go to bed each night. Thankfully my eyes feel normal and comfortable most days.
Although I don’t think much about my eyes anymore, certain environmental conditions can change that – sand or dust blowing in the air; riding a motorcycle or a motorboat. Going to the beach is still a bit concerning. But most of the time my eyes are pretty comfortable.
Keep Searching for the Right Doctor
I wanted to share my story because I know many of you are experiencing horrible symptoms and wondering if life will ever be normal again. All I can say is keep searching for the right doctor. They are out there. You just have to find them. I did. And now I function normally (mostly) and once again enjoy life. Yes, it took time and perseverance. And at times I never thought I would get better. But I did. I got much better.
Unfortunately, there’s no quick fix for Dry Eye. It takes time and energy to find the right doctor. And you have to make a commitment to stay the course and get better.
I truly believed my case was hopeless. I felt frustrated, desperate, and wasn’t sure for a few months if I even wanted to wake up in the morning. But…here I am writing this, feeling blessed. There are many treatment options out there for everyone with Dry Eye. Explore them all and hope for the best. Keep searching for the right doctor and you will find help. Nothing lasts forever!
Government and volunteer organizations can help with travel and transportation to your doctor.
Lately we’ve been getting a lot of questions about getting to and from medical appointments, because driving with Dry Eye can be really hard. Sometimes driving is completely impossible, but you still need to see your eye doctor. And sometimes your doctor is so far away that driving just isn’t an option.
The most obvious solution is asking for help from your family, friends, or neighbors.
As with the 24 hour vet near me, these policies typically itemize covered treatments, deductibles and lifetime or per illness maximums. The cost of a pet health insurance policy will vary based on the amount of coverage, the type of coverage, the species and age of the pet, and even what breed of animal.
But even when they want to help, life can get in the way and they just aren’t available to drive you there and back. And what happens if your doctor is hundreds of miles away or on the other coast? You still need to get there. But how?
Travel and Transportation Services
Travel and transportation issues are faced by many Dry Eye sufferers. Here are a few resources for patients in the U.S., where there are both government programs and volunteer organizations, that can help with travel and transportation.
Let us know about travel and transportation services in your area. We’ll share the information on our website. Write to blogger@notadryeye.org
1. Local Transportation
Door to door transportation services like New York City’s Access-A-Ride are available all over the U.S.
A program administered by the Federal Transportation Administration is available wherever public transportation services receive federal funding. You’ll need to contact your local public transportation service to learn if it’s available in your area. You may also need to undergo screening to qualify for the program. Note:
• You don’t have to be disabled to qualify.
• You can use this service for transportation anywhere within the service area, and not just for medical appointments.
• Once you qualify, you can use the service in any other location in the U.S., wherever it’s available.
• Door to door service is provided.
• The cost to passengers is usually minimal.
• Passengers can travel alone or bring others along for the same fare.
2. Medicaid
All states, territories, and the District of Columbia provide non-emergency medical transportation to Medicaid beneficiaries. Check your benefits or contact your Medicaid administrator for more information.
3. National Patient Travel Center
This non-profit organization provides referrals and information about charitable, long-distance, medically-related transportation.
Charities help patients with air travel.
For example, depending on your needs and qualifications, you may be referred to Mercy Medical Angels, a non-profit that provides ground and air transportation services and assistance.
4. Air Charity Network
Volunteer pilots, receiving no compensation for their services, provide transportation at no cost to passengers. Commercial and corporate aviation services are available. This non-profit is funded by donations from individuals, corporations, and other organizations that cover the costs of air travel.
