our vision
it all starts with conversations
extraordinary things happen when we pool our perspectives
need a conversation? join a Zoom group, or just call us.
Rebecca Petris welcomes you to DEF.
because stories bring hope and empowerment, they combat the sense of isolation, and they offer a counter-narrative to a purely medical interpretation of our experiences.
pooling the reality of our experiences with dry eye disease, precious hard-won knowledge and wisdom from what we have lived - it’s magical, and it continuously informs the road to solutions that are as diverse as we are.
read dry eye stories
hear from dry eye happy hour participants
browse results of dry eye disease and me survey
and stories
which help us imagine a future limited only by our imagination!
what if there were an 800 number that you could call because of dry eye? What if we patients had a say in criteria for dry eye drug approvals? What if our pain symptoms were the focus of scientific research? What if we could quit calling it “dry eye” and give it a meaningful name?
what’s your “what if”?
hope
because it gets better
Yes, it does. It actually does. Some people are cured. Certainly not all of us. But even for the rest of us, it gets better. It’s complicated. It’s messy. It’s not easy. It’s hard work. But… it really does get better.
& help
help comes in many forms
A conversation. An idea. An interaction in a Facebook group. A smile, a laugh. A product that’s new to you. An obscure treatment. A local specialist. A cup of coffee with another patient.
call on us
we want to help
Contact us (voice, text, email), connect with a group, read posts on a forum. You do not need to be alone in this. There’s way too many of us for anyone to need to be alone. Let us help connect you.