Six-year-old Ally couldn't forget the COA who talked her out of fear
The newest crop of Emory Eye Center fellows and residents would do well to learn from the experience of Ally Nobles, a six-year-old glaucoma patient who traveled all the way from Byron, Georgia for her annual check-up this week.
A feisty preemie - born at just 25 weeks - Ally has spent a lot of her young life shuttling between doctor's appointments. She's doing fine these days - a ball of fidgety, curious energy that isn't easily sidelined by ongoing medical issues. She'll even tell you what makes the difference when she comes to Emory. It's bravery.
Bravery and Patrick Beyer.
She remembered Patrick from last year,
says her mother, Christiania Woods.
She got very excited and couldn't stop talking about him when she knew she was coming here. She kept saying 'Patrick makes me brave. Patrick makes me brave.'
And, sure enough, when she caught sight of her friend, Patrick, Ally strutted into her exam room like a princess visiting her kingdom. Her mother smiled.
She is very particular about her hair, her room, and the way she dresses,
Christiania said. "And, well, when she comes to Emory, she has to see Patrick.
Patrick Beyer is a certified ophthalmic assistant (COA) who has chaperoned hundreds of children and adults through their pre-visit diagnostic tests over his 6-year career at the Emory Eye Center. He knows that the bright lights, big machines, and masked-up strangers that greet young patients can trigger anxiety. So he treats their curiosity before he even considers their vision testing.
I explain everything we're doing,
he told us, as he sat Ally in front of an optical coherence tomography (OCT) machine that dwarfed her tiny frame.
The lights. The sounds. No one likes to be surprised - especially children. All patients want to know what that machine is, what they are going to see, and what they are going to feel. I just keep the conversation going while we're going through the exam.
His voice - dulcet and reassuring - became something of a distraction for Ally, as she leaned into the OCT. When she said she couldn't, Patrick gently reminded her that she could. Their prattle went back and forth as calmly as a nursery song until the exam was done.
Nearby, Christiania watched as the ophthalmologist, Dr. Amy Hutchinson began the formal examination.
The first time I took her to the ophthalmologist, I couldn't get her to calm down. She kept saying 'I'm scared. I'm scared' until Patrick started talking to her. The thing he did? He listened. Then when the doctor came in, it was great. I knew she was in good hands.
-Kathleen E. Moore