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By EDD K. USMAN / Twitter: @edd1819 / Instagram: @bluestar0910 / Facebook: SDN — SciTech and Digital News
TACURONG CITY, Sultan Kudarat (SDN) — “If eyes were made for seeing, then beauty is its own excuse for Being!”
That’s the American writer/poet Ralph Waldo Emerson in his classic piece, “The Rhodora”, which describes a rhododendron flower’s “power and its ability to outshine and improve all the elements around it“, and even rivals the beauty of the rose.
Apparently, the key for seeing is one’s eyes; a person without vision can’t see and appreciate the beauty and wonders that God has created on Earth. And they are myriads, countless. They are on land, at sea, in the sky.
I remember some blind masseuse in Malate’s Harrison Plaza Shopping Mall (now only a thing of the past), one of the earliest malls in Metro Manila. Every time I had my massage there, I engaged them in conversation, asking them how they were coping without their vision.
Those who were born blind lamented, with apparent sadness in their voice, that they don’t even know their parents and siblings’ faces, they do not know the shapes and forms of a car, a ship, an airplane, a flower, a bird, etc. They can’t imagine how a smile looks like!
But for sure their lack of vision has made them keener, more attentive, more observant, using only their four senses: of hearing, of smell, of taste, and of touch. No sense of sight at all.
When they were on the streets navigating dangerously their way armed with nothing but their sticks and their wits, there were those who were kind to lead them safely. But believe it or not, some people had the gall to make a joke of them; sometimes in jeepneys they were being short-changed.
There were masseuses at Harrison Plaza who were not born blind but became sightless because of untreated eye disorders, like cataract, glaucoma, retinopathy, etc.; some became visionless because of fever caused by measles. Or caused by accidents.
They appreciated the fact that before they lost their sight, they were able to see the faces of their parents, siblings, friends, the shapes and forms of the things that God in all His Glory created for humans to appreciate and enjoy!
And when you say disorders of the eyes, you have the doctor of the eyes, the ophthalmologist who specializes in eye and vision care. They have the knowledge and training and discipline to diagnose and eye disorders.
If you have difficulty in vision, blurred, and maybe at risk of losing your vision altogether — say because of cataract — you need an ophthalmologist to help you regain your vision. Maybe not the 20-20 you had before. But surely, after a cataract surgery, more chances than not, things would be better for one’s vision.
Speaking of ophthalmologist, the Lu Clinic and Hospital (with Urology Center and Eye Center) has a young ophthalmologist, a medical professional, Dr. Jesse James M. Lu, who is fast gaining patients for his soft demeanor, ability to allay patients’ worries, extensive training, and professionalism. Not to say reasonable diagnostic and treatment fee. He is a cataract and glaucoma specialist.
I know. I’ve seen how he deals with one of his eye patients — Mrs. Hadja Rueda Ebos Usman — who came all the way from Manila upon the recommendation of her niece who is also a medical professional, Dr. Svettlana Rayhana Ebos Salendab, who works at the Sultan Kudarat Provincial Hospital (SKPH) and at Buluan District Hospital (BDH).
Aside from being a resident medical professional at his father’s hospital, Dr. JJ, as he is known, he is also affiliated with Davao EyeMD Laser & Surgery Center in Obrero, Davao City, and Manila Doctors Hospital along United Nations Avenue, Manila, Metro Manila.
Lu Clinic and Hospital a tribute to parents and eldest sister
He studied at University of Santo Tomas (UST), Manila, B.S. in Medical Technology (2006-2008), and UST’s Faculty of Medicine and Surgery for his Doctor of Medicine degree.
Dr. JJ is a passer of the Physician Licensure Examination and Philippine Board of Ophthalmology (Diplomate Examination). He had his Glaucoma Fellowship Training at University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital (UP-PGH), Residency Training Program at Manila Doctors Hospital (Department of Ophthalmology), Post Graduate Internship at Department of Health (DOH) at its Philippine Centers for Specialized Health Care.
The couple Dr. James G. Lu (General Surgery) and Dr. Janette M. Lu (Anesthesiology) established the Lu Clinic and Hospital which was formally inaugurated on December 28, 1987. They started with a single building, 156 sqm, financed by Dr. James Lu’s parents — Tiama M. Lu, a Chinese, and Pinamili G. Lu, a Maguindanaon Muslim woman.
The Department of Health (DOH) in 1988 granted the LCH a license to operate a 15-bed primary hospital. Philippine Medical Care Commission (Medicare) accreditation for the hospital came in October 1988. LCH opens 24 hours daily, catering to patients from Tacurong City and nearby municipalities.
Then, the LCH soon gained a DOH license to operate a 15-bed secondary hospital and got Medicare in 2001. Recall that the DOH re-named the classification of all hospitals from then secondary to Level-II.
Dr. James Lu said the hospital is a tribute to his parents Tiama and Pinamili Lu, from whom he inherited the property with an area of 1,176 sqm.
He said it is also a tribute to his eldest sister, Grace G. Lu, who donated to the LCH her 50 percent share on the property.
Obviously, the LCH is doing well and should be as it is being operated by a family known for being good neighbors, fair, kind, and compassionate.
Speaking of young ophthalmologists, obviously they have steady hands and quick in learning and adopting new medical developments and technologies.
And there are many of them, like Dr. Jesse James Lu.
Over in Metro Manila, at the Asian Eye Institute, Rockwell, Makati, another young ophthalmologist is Dr. Patricia “Patty” G. Quilindrino, specialist in retina and vitreous disease.
A loud applause for these young ophthalmologists, they are the now-and the-future of eye and vision care. (✓)