Spectacle Scouting [via The Scout Guide]

Originally appeared on The Scout Guide Alexandria

How many times have you sent a panicked e-mail to your friends asking for a referral for a fill-in-the-blank doctor because you just learned yours is retiring or no longer accepting your health insurance?  I have, and often, which is how I fortunately stumbled upon Dr. Dora Adamopoulos at EYE2EYE OPTOMETRY CORNER located on Mt. Vernon Avenue in Del Ray.  They offer Saturday hours and the oh, so rare, free two-hour street parking, so I had decided I liked the practice before I even stepped foot inside.  At my first annual eye exam, I immediately fell in love with Dr. Dora’s warm personality and professionalism.  

I had been a patient of Dr. Dora’s for several years when my late husband casually mentioned to me he kept seeing a “floater.”  We had recently had a somewhat rushed move into a house we had decided to rent when a contract on a house we were trying to buy, joyfully due to our expanding family, fell through, so we also acknowledged we were both simply exhausted and seeing crosseyed.  But a few days later, that floater was still there, so I suggested he schedule an appointment with Dr. Dora since it had been a couple of years since he had last had his eyes checked.  At that routine eye exam, Dr. Dora discovered what she suspected was a detached retina.  Not feeling comfortable with what she was seeing, she immediately sent him to a retina specialist in Alexandria that same day.  Within a couple of weeks we would learn that “detached retina” was actually a metastasized tumor in his eye from a Stage IV non-smokers lung cancer diagnosis.  

Now I understand it may seem strange I feel a strong connection to Dr. Dora, but I do.  I am grateful for her, because she was doing her job and doing it well.  So well that thanks to her dogged pursuit to reveal the true identity of this abnormality, we were able to get in with various specialists and oncologists and start fighting back right away allowing us two years and three months of great life together as a family beating the one to two year prognosis we were given.  

Over the years, I continued to see Dr. Dora for my annual exams, and she always maintained both a professional and genuine interest in how our treatment du jour was going.  Last summer, it absolutely broke my heart to break her heart with the news of my late husband’s death earlier that year.  

This year when I walked in, Dr. Dora gave me a hug and asked how the kids and I were doing.  After we got caught up on all things kids and discussed my odd new behaviors as an early 40-something such as holding my iPhone or menu at a restaurant at a near full arm-length’s distance (sigh…), I shared with her the exciting news of my engagement.  As tears welled up in her eyes, Dr. Dora jumped up and gave me the biggest, tightest hug extending the warmest of best wishes to me.

Luckily, she did not prescribe bifocals for me (yet!), so I decided while the getting was still good, I was ready to select a new pair of fun frames.  I probably had not bought a new pair of glasses in six or seven years, so feeling super outdated wearing them, I had worn contact lenses almost every single day for the past couple of years.  

​Eye2Eye Optometry Corner boasts a great selection of traditional and more on trend, designer frames and sunglasses. Together, Optician Granville Price and I selected the perfect new pair for me.  

​If it is time for your annual eye exam or you need to update your eyewear, please visit EYE2EYE OPTOMETRY, and remember to tell them Scout sent you!  

​Happy Scouting!