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McKenzie had no other options. The 33-year-old Alaskan brought her son, 4-year-old Jaxxus, to Remote Area Medical’s first clinic in Fairbanks to get his eyes checked by an optometrist. She noticed that his left eye had begun to deviate toward his nose.
“He’s never had glasses before, and he’s never seen [an eye doctor],” McKenzie said. “It’s pretty huge. We don’t have insurance, and we’re actually living with our in-laws right now because our house burned down last year. It’s tough.”
When McKenzie’s mom told her about the RAM clinic coming to town, she didn’t know if they’d even have a chance to be seen. The pair woke up at 5:00 a.m., reaching the clinic shortly before the doors opened at 6:00 a.m.
While waiting, Jaxxus played in the floor before climbing in McKenzie’s lap for a nap during the process. During the exams, he was curious, watching each move the optometrist made.
Following a brief examination at the slit lamp, Dr. Patrick Campaign, OD, an optometrist and the Community Host Group Lead for the Alaska Clinics, informed McKenzie that Jaxxus had a condition called Esotropia. According to the American Association of Pediatric Ophthamology and Strabismus, Esotropia is a form of strabismus — an eye movement issue — where one or both of the eyes turn inward toward the nose.
“When you read something up close, like at your nose level, your brain wants to bring your eyes in,” Dr. Campaign explained. In Jaxxus’ case, his eyes were trying to focus that way, even when he was looking at further distances. Catching Esotropia early is key, Campaign said. Glasses could reverse the condition.
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“His eyes cross,” McKenzie said. “[Dr. Campaign] said if we had left it — which I wasn’t really sure how we were going to get him glasses — that eventually, he wouldn’t be able to see out of that eye. I didn’t know that. It’s a huge relief.”
McKenzie said her family has no insurance. Her husband works, while she stays home with the family’s four children. She works part time when she can, adding the family has been blessed to have no emergencies come up. Her husband knows some first aid, and they get by with herbal remedies.
“But, we’ve never gotten to see a doctor,” she added. “It’s just something in the back of my mind. I try not to worry about it.”
With no insurance, McKenzie said she could only try to deal with the dental pain she had. She was able to see the dentist while at the clinic, but that was the least of her concerns, she said. Jaxxus’ family received the glasses in the mail a few weeks later.
“I’m just so thankful for him. That’s more than I can ask for. I could probably get by, but I’m glad to have him looked at,” she said as she patted his head while he played at her feet. ”I’m just so thankful, because I didn’t know what would transpire with this. I could see it was coming, but I didn’t know how bad his eyes were.”
204 individuals, including Jaxxus and McKenzie, received free healthcare in Fairbanks. $113,834 worth of free care was provided. 168 volunteers, like optometrist Dr. Campaign, volunteered at the free clinic. These volunteers volunteered their time to help patients like Jaxxus and his family.
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If you would like to volunteer with RAM at one of our clinics, please visit www.ramusa.org/volunteer. We hope to see you at one of our free clinics. There are so many volunteer opportunities at a RAM Clinic.
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Our patients find out about RAM Clinics in many different ways. Sometimes through searching “free eye exam near me,” “free dentist near me,” or “free clinic near me.” Other times people like McKenzie find out about RAM through word of mouth, the news, or social media. No matter how people find our clinics, we work to make our schedule accessible to anyone who needs RAM’s free clinics.
