St. Mary's Parish Nurse Ministry Program
Ruth E. Williams, RN, MEPD, MSN

Dear Viewers, All for the greater honor and glory of God. Peace to all in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. "As Jesus moved on from there, two blind men came after him crying out, 'Son of David, have pity on us!'" (Matt.27). August is the month of National Cataract Awareness Month. Let us focus on healthy eyes and vision. The clouding of the normally clear lens of the eyes is called Cataract.

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This produces foggy vision making it hard to read, drive a car or recognize someone. Some of the risk factors are: diabetes, family history of cataracts, smoking, previous eye injury, exposure to sunlight and prolonged use of corticosteroids (www.mayoclinic.com). Some symptoms are: clouded, blurred, dim vision, difficulty with night vision, halos around lights, sensitive to light and glare, double vision in one eye, need for brighter light to read, fading or yellowing of colors, and frequent changes of prescription glasses (www.mayoclinic.com). Prevention includes see your health care provider if 60 years and older, don't smoke, consume a balanced diet, wear sunglasses when outside and follow directions of your health care provider. Psalm 121:1 states, "I raise my eyes to the mountains from where will my help come?" August 15 is the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. A BASIC PARISH NURSE PREPARATION COURSE IS SCHEDULED THROUGH VITERBO UNIVERSITY SEPTEMBER 10,11,17,18, AND OCTOBER 1,2 IN SPARTA WISCONSIN. CALL 1-608-647-3280 OR 1-608-796-3670. A Summer Festival is being held August 22, 2004 at St. Mary's Church in Richland Center, Wi. Please protect your eyes.