Maggie and Dr. Justin Zampella. (Contributed)

By Shams Rahman

Eagle Intern

 

Mississippi Eye Care, a clinic located in Taylor, added Low Vision treatment to its roster earlier in June, attempting to help those who suffer from vision loss issues.

Low vision, a visual impairment that cannot be corrected with standard eyeglasses, contact lenses, or surgery, can happen for a variety of reasons, including macular degeneration – a progressive eye disease that damages the macula, the central part of the retina; glaucoma; diabetic retinopathy, among others.

Dr. Justin Zampella has been working at the clinic since 2017.

His connection to low vision treatment is deeply personal. His wife, Maggie, has a genetic condition called retinitis pigmentosa, which causes progressive vision loss. Her experience has inspired her to become an advocate for others living with low vision.

Zampella said that treating low vision patients is completely different from treating other patients with retinal issues. He said his wife’s journey has helped create a new path for his clinic to offer other low vision patients the help they need.

“In our kind of personal journey, we had to pave our own path,” he said. “We thought, maybe we should be making this model for our patients who might need these same services. And so that was the inspiration.”

He said that patients of low vision have a hard time finding the help they need, with very few doctors trained to deal with those issues. He said he is making sure the patients can get all the help in one place, instead of going through the misery of running around looking for different places for treatment options.

“The low vision exam is very different from a regular exam,” he said. “We’re going to fully focus on the patient’s goals. ‘What did you use to see that you can’t see now?’ We take those goals and then we tailor how we’re going to try and treat them based on what they need to see.”

With driving to doctors often being an issue for vision patients, Zampella said that his plan is to make the whole procedure portable, so that he can go to patients to help them.

And while he treats patients at the clinic, his wife, Maggie, is trying to raise awareness about low vision, trying to get rid of the stereotypes that exist about the visually impaired and advocating for those who suffer from low vision.

“A lot of people’s biggest misconception is that when you hear someone is blind, you think they see completely dark because that’s how it’s been portrayed throughout time,” said Maggie, a former Oxford Middle School special education teacher. “And that’s not necessarily the case.

“So, part of the advocating mission of mine is to help get rid of the stereotypical view of blindness being an all-or-nothing kind of thing.”

The center is located at 504 Easel St. in Taylor, and stays open from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30

p.m. from Tuesday through Thursday, closing at 4 p.m. on Monday and 3:30 p.m. on Friday. Patients can also schedule appointments for the weekend; however, walk-ins are not available on those days.

For more information or to schedule an appointment, call 662-234-9394.