Here’s a clip of Governor Parkinson reading the proclamation, local optometrists who volunteered their time, and patients who received the service.

Click here to view the embedded video.

We were able to help over 65 residents receive much-needed eyecare on Eye on Diabetes Day.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Jill N. is a member of the VSP Global Public Relations team.

In this second segment of my educational journey learning about the potential changes in my vision as a pregnant woman, Dr. Parenti shares the symptoms that, if you experience, should be addressed immediately:

Diabetes:

Women who are diabetic before their pregnancy and those who develop gestational diabetes need to watch their vision closely. Blurred vision in these cases may indicate elevated blood sugar levels and need to be addressed. However, most women who develop gestational diabetes don’t develop diabetic retinopathy.

High Blood Pressure:

In some cases, a woman may have blurry vision or spots in front of her eyes while pregnant which can be due to an increase in blood pressure during pregnancy, also known as preeclampsia and eclampsia.

Glaucoma:

Women being treated for glaucoma should tell their eye doctor right away if they are pregnant or intent to become pregnant. While many glaucoma medications are safe to take during pregnancy, certain glaucoma medications could be harmful to the developing baby.

Finally, Dr. Parenti humored me by answering a few more specific questions. Since I can’t be the only one thinking of these, I thought I’d share these as well:

So if I don’t benefit from improved vision when pregnant like some may, can I go ahead with having laser vision correction while pregnant?

Laser vision correction is not the best idea for pregnant or nursing women. You’ll want to wait until after the pregnancy and breast feeding. When you are pregnant, the cornea changes immensely. You need both a stable cornea and prescription prior to laser vision surgery to avoid complications. Even without the risk of complications, there is a risk of wasted money as your prescription could easily revert back due to the changes. It is recommended you wait at least one year after having laser vision correction before getting pregnant due to the same reasons.

Can I wear my contact lenses when I go into labor (because I assume I can plan for this, can you tell this is my first pregnancy?)?

Ideally, you should take out your contacts if already wearing them or wear your glasses if you are not. Should an emergency procedure become necessary, time would not be allowed to remove your contacts and you could risk severe dry eye or tearing of your contacts, among other things. If you absolutely must wear them, ask your doctor to fit you for an extended wear contact lens that can stay in for one or more weeks.

Any final words of advice?

A comprehensive eye exam should be included in your prenatal routine, even if you don’t require a prescription. Let your eye doctor know that you are pregnant so you can both discuss the best options for you.

Next blog – when should you bring your baby in for their first eye exam?

Check out this video to learn more about the campaign and hear from VSP doctors who are participating in both the charitable outreach as well as the continuing education courses being provided.

Click here to view the embedded video.

And don’t forget to check out the VSP EyeFiles,  featuring  Bill Nye the Science Guy! In the second video of the series debunking eye health myths,  Bill and Dr. Roger Phelps dive deeper into the facts surrounding comprehensive eye exams and if eye doctors can detect signs of serious diseases like diabetes.

Team Type 2 officially finished Race Across America (RAAM) in 7 days, 15 hours, and 8 minutes. They began their 3,005-mile journey in Oceanside, California June 12 and crossed the finish line in Annapolis, Maryland June 20, in hopes to inspire others living with diabetes, to achieve their dreams. 

All the riders in Team Type 2 participating in RAAM have type 2 diabetes. Team Type 2 rider Rob Coburn said “It’s one thing to control your blood sugar during a day at the office and a daily workout. But it’s really different when it’s 27 degrees at 9,000 feet above sea level three days into a race. It’s hard to explain…I thought the riding would be harder, but the logistics were so much a part of the success.” Team Type 2 is living proof to all patients with diabetes that their disease can be controlled through healthy eating, regular exercise and appropriate medication.

VSP Vision Care is proud to be the exclusive eyecare and eyewear provider for Team Type 1 and Team Type 2.

About Team Type 1 and VSP Vision Care
Team Type 1 is a group of athletes living with diabetes. The team includes professional race teams, a triathlon team and a development team. Team Type 1 strives to instill hope and inspiration for people around the world affected by diabetes. VSP® Vision Care is proud to be their exclusive eyecare and eyewear provider.

The win did not come without some bumps along the way. Rider Jeff Banninck was struck by a car, but was not severely injured and was back on his bike in no time. Another challenge came when rider Adam Driscoll lost a cleat when he tried to pull it out going 23 mph. He not only kept riding, but he increased his speed to around 30 mph – all this with only one cleat intact. The team came to the race to win and nothing else; they accomplished their goal and proved to the world that people with diabetes can do anything with a little hard work and determination.

Here are some words from a few of the riders in Team Type 1 about why they chose this team and what it means to them.

 
About Team Type 1 and VSP Vision Care
Team Type 1 is a group of athletes living with diabetes. The team includes professional race teams, a triathlon team and a development team. Team Type 1 strives to instill hope and inspiration for people around the world affected by diabetes. VSP® Vision Care is proud to be their exclusive eyecare and eyewear provider.

Rob Coburn, Team Type 2

Guest Blog: Team Type 2 rider Rob Coburn provides an update during Race Across America. 

Over a quarter of the race down, and I’m somewhere in Colorado. The Milky Way is an incredible sight at night, and the Monument Valley just after sun up is truly breathtaking.

 It’s 4 p.m. mountain time and I’m off to “bed”. We’re on the road for the next 3-plus hours in an RV to meet the squad that’s riding now. Sleep is hard to come by in shifts of approximately three hours in the RV. I’ll be back on the bike around 1:00 am, and there will be more climbing tonight.

We’ve logged 321 miles from Flagstaff, Arizona to Durango, Colorado in the past 24 hours at an average speed of 17.5 miles per hour. This puts a total of 857 miles behind Team Type 2, and we have 2,147 miles still to complete. Fortunately, the climbs and elevation of the Rocky Mountains will be complete soon, which will bring us to the rolling hills of Kansas and Missouri.

The team is really making good use of our Nike sunglasses which have replaceable lenses. I looked up as I was swapping out the dark lenses to the clear lenses for night riding and saw that two of my teammates were doing the same thing.

If you’re anywhere near our route, come out and cheer us on. We’d love to see you!

About Team Type 1 and VSP Vision Care
Team Type 1 is a group of athletes living with diabetes. The team includes professional race teams, a triathlon team and a development team. Team Type 1 strives to instill hope and inspiration for people around the world affected by diabetes. VSP® Vision Care is proud to be their exclusive eyecare and eyewear provider.

Good luck this week, Jerry!

About Team Type 1 and VSP Vision Care
Team Type 1 is a group of athletes living with diabetes. The team includes professional race teams, a triathlon team and a development team. Team Type 1 strives to instill hope and inspiration for people around the world affected by diabetes. VSP® Vision Care is proud to be their exclusive eyecare and eyewear provider.

Rob Coburn, Team Type 2

Guest blog from Rob Coburn. Rob is a rider with Team Type 2 and writes about his journey and team goal for the upcoming race, Race Across America.

I’m Rob Coburn, a rider on Team Type 2, and a member of this year’s team set to take on Race Across America (RAAM).  On Thursday, June 10th,  8 of us and a fantastic support crew met up in Oceanside, California to get ready to take off on a week-long, 24 hours-a-day adventure.  We will be racing against other teams from around the world on a 3,000 mile route that ends in Annapolis, Maryland.  The race starts on Saturday, June 12 at 2 p.m. PST. Our goal this year is to finish in less than 7 days.

Our team wears Nike cycling sunglasses throughout the race and I leave them in my helmet every time I get off the bike to make sure that they’re there for the next ride.  

A bit of background on me:  I’m 46 and on a mission to manage my diabetes and raise awareness of what people with Type 2 diabetes can achieve.  Everyone on our team has type 2 diabetes and we all are acutely aware of the importance of regular eye exams and eye protection. I’m fairly new to cycling at this level and have been training for about a year.  I found out I was on the race team in February and have been training just for RAAM since then.

I’ll be providing updates before and during the race to let everyone know how we are doing.  I’ll try to include some action shots, but it may be difficult depending on where we are.

If you want, shoot questions back to the blog site and I’ll work with the administrator to try and capture a few to answer during the race. So stay tuned for a wild ride!

About Team Type 2 and VSP Vision Care
Team Type 2 is a group of athletes living with diabetes. Team Type 2 strives to instill hope and inspiration for people around the world affected by diabetes. VSP® Vision Care is proud to be their exclusive eyecare and eyewear provider.