Christina: [00:00:00] Welcome to the Taking the Lead podcast where we empower people to be unstoppable. I'm Christina Hopner with my co-host Leslie Hoskins and Timothy Kno. So we've been off all summer. We've had a couple episodes, but we never got to fill in any one in on like what we talked about beforehand, like my surprise, Memorial Day trip.
I am an aunt now for the first time. Oh my goodness. So all the exciting things. My niece is adorable, like cutest thing I've ever seen. She was such a, she was born like four pounds, 13 ounces. So, so little but so healthy and. Just so moving, but, so that's fun. But I know we wanted to talk about Memorial Day since
Leslie: it's been, I feel like you left the crowd, you know, gasping.
What was gonna happen? Where were you going? Right,
Christina: everyone. Well, everyone at work thought I was getting engaged, Leslie, and I was like, no, it's not happening because yeah. Anyways,
Leslie: [00:01:00] it's Johnny. Yeah, because, yeah. Yeah.
Christina: Um, but we went, um, up north, so we went to, I had, I had not been to like Mackinaw Island and stuff since I was little.
Mm-hmm. So we went, stayed right outside of Mackinaw City, um, went to Mackinaw Island. We went up to the Taima Falls. I always say it wrong, but I think I said it right this time. That sounds right. Um, we went to Sioux St. Marie and the lacs, so lots of hiking, lots of fun outdoor activities, which I like. So
Leslie: it was a lot of fun.
So you were surprised still? It was a
Christina: great trip. Yeah. Yeah, it was surprised. It was honestly Memorial Day weekend though. It was really warm up there. Yeah. It said it was gonna be cooler, so I packed the like warm clothes, but I was like, Nope. Too hot. But the island was great. It was a beautiful weekend.
Nice. Um, yeah, so for anyone who doesn't know what Mackinac Island it is, it's like an island. It's true. You forget that in Northern
Leslie: Michigan. Michigan, that people don't know what it is. Yeah.
Christina: It's like a very touristy place though. Now. There was people from. [00:02:00] All over, like internationally that way.
Leslie: But people were from D different, there's no vehicles or cars on the islands?
No. So you
Christina: have to take a ferry to the island and then you just walk or you bike or there's carriage rides. Yeah. Uh, there's Timothy.
Leslie: Have you ever been to Mackin Island? Uh,
Timothy: no I haven't. I've never heard
Leslie: of it before. Oh yeah, you'll have to. You forget that in Michigan. Next time I'm back up there, I'll have to try it.
Yeah.
Christina: Yeah. There's a beautiful, like big hotel. It's called the Grand Hotel. Mm-hmm. That was a lot of fun. You can sit on the porch. There's like a little bar on like the sixth floor that we went up to that you could like, overlook everything. It was super
Leslie: cool. Nice, nice. Yeah. Well look at that little tourist uh, attraction for everybody to check out.
Yeah. And she says she doesn't go anywhere, right? That's true. Timothy, you guys. Good point. Alright. Been some time off. Gave me some time. You know, Timothy, do you wanna tell us all the things you've been doing this summer? Cause you have been all over the place.
Timothy: Well, Uh, we did go to the Barking Brew
Leslie: earlier this year.
Timothy: Yeah, you [00:03:00] did. Oh my God. Surprise. Leslie and Christina and Matt got to meet their parents. Yes, yes. And I got to meet Johnny. He
Leslie: does exist. Everybody. He
Christina: does exist. And
Timothy: we had a long talk. I said, uh, I could be up there in 14 hours if need be.
Christina: Oh, yes. Okay.
Timothy: Yeah.
Dr Matt: I
Timothy: told them So, uh, Uh, they had a good time at the Barking Brew way back
Leslie: when, Timothy, you just keep calling it Barking Brew.
I think you forgot that it was my birthday. Oh, yeah. Yes. It was your birthday. Leslie. Surprise. Leslie did not know we were gonna be there. Forgot the name of the event. And
Timothy: then, uh, Leslie come up. I had my head turned away from her and turned around. We all started seeing a happy birthday, and then Leslie started crying.
So it was a, I got to see everybody. Again, uh, Melissa Wise and, and Rochelle and Donnie and all the whole, the whole crowd. It was great to be up there. We've done some camping this year. We've got some more camping yet to do, and we've got a cruise in September. We're going to Alaska again. Yay. With Glacier.[00:04:00]
So, uh, we have not stopped our
Leslie: travels yet. That's fantastic. Yes. Well, good. So everybody's having a good summer. I'm just, Hanging in there. Nothing exciting on my end. Just living day to day. Kids are running around outside all the time and lots of work to be done, but I'm happy we're all back together here and getting started again on season five, which is nuts.
Yes. All right. Well, today's guest is here and he's going to share some of his medical expertise and discuss a little bit more about legal Blindness with us.
Christina: Yes. Dr. Matt Tracy is a board certified ophthalmologist and has co-authored peer-reviewed publications. Presented on various topics and has participated in clinical research trials.
He received his doctor of osteopathic medicine at Michigan State University.
Timothy: Dr. Tracy, welcome to the podcast. Can you tell us a little bit more about yourself and why'd you pick the ophthalmology? Or ophthalmologist as a career.
Dr Matt: Of course. Yeah. Thank you. First of all, thank you so much for having me on the podcast here.
I'm so excited to be here. Um, [00:05:00] my, uh, my path to medical school and ophthalmology was a little bit different than the, uh, than the average person because I never wanted to go to medical school. Actually. Uh, my, uh, my father was a ophthalmologist and, uh, I saw kind of what he was doing and I decided I was gonna go in a different direction.
So, uh, this is actually a second career for me. I worked as a river systems fisheries biologist. Oh, wow. Um, which is kind of like a marine biologist, except instead of in the ocean, you work in the rivers. Yeah. Interesting. And, uh, after a few years of doing that, I realized I wanted to do something where I could maybe help people a little bit more and more directly and, and feel like I was making a contribution and I decided to, uh, go back to school.
Believe it or not, the, um, requirements for working with fish and with people are a little bit different. Yeah. So I ended up, uh, getting a master's degree, um, before I went back to medical school, and then I. When I went to medical school, I decided that I, I wasn't gonna go into ophthalmology cuz I wasn't gonna do exactly what my dad did.
Mm-hmm. Yeah. And, um, turns out I am my father's son. I just, I [00:06:00] like it. Yeah. The, the eye is, uh, it's a, a beautiful thing to study in, in both health and disease. It's, it's, uh, it's a it beautiful thing. And, and in addition to that, it appealed to my sense ophthalmology appealed to my sense of. Science, which I really enjoy.
And so ophthalmology is at the cutting edge of, uh, basically every type of medical innovation. And so, um, all of those things together, you know, it was a perfect fit for me and I'm really happy doing what I'm doing.
Leslie: That's interesting. So what was that like a moment when you were like, okay, it, this is actually what I wanna do, and how was your dad's reaction?
Dr Matt: Well, I. Somehow he, he just wanted me to be happy, you know, whatever it was, it didn't really matter. Um, what the, uh, he, he was pretty happy when I was working with Phish, you know? Yeah. Um, but I think he was, he was pretty excited when I actually decided to follow directly in his footsteps because he was a, an adult and pediatric vitreoretinal surgeon, which is exactly what I do.
And so, uh, I actually work in his, um, In his practice now, and I've taken over the care of a [00:07:00] lot of his long-term patients, which is really, it is truly an honor. So, yeah. Um, it's been a very, very nice
Leslie: thing. That is so cool. And we've heard your name from several clients throughout the years, Dr. Tracy, probably from both you and your father, um, and nothing but rave review.
So thank you for the work that you guys were doing. Yes. That's very, very nice of you to say.
Christina: Yeah, and I think a lot of people, you know, wonder, I didn't know this to be honest before I started at later dog. Like what? Is legal blindness and how does someone get that diagnosis?
Dr Matt: Yeah, that's a great question.
You know, I think that there's a, a large misconception about what blindness is. Um, you know, I think most people think of it as being completely no light perception, can't see anything at all, and that's just not true. The vast majority of people actually do have some, some level of vision. And, um, the Social Security Administration kind of defines visual acuity based on Snellen visual acuity, which is what we use in the clinic.
So that's, that's when somebody says, you know, uh, I'm 2020. That means, yeah, you see at 20 feet what the average person sees at 20 feet. And so the Social [00:08:00] Security Administration defines legal blindness as being 2200 or worse in the better seeing eye. So that means at 20 feet you see what the average person sees at 200 feet.
And then once you get past that, You, you, you go off the chart and you start talking about, uh, counting fingers or hand motion, both of which are ambulatory vision. And then you start talking about things like light perception versus no light perception. So legal blindness encompasses all of that from 2200 and below, but there's a second definition also, um, because you can be legally blind and have 2020 vision.
Uh, and that's because. You can have a constricted visual field, certain types of, of, um, diseases such as advanced glaucoma, for example, or retinitis pigmentosa. They rob you from your vision from the outside in. And so a lot of people will equate it to looking down a straw. I, I had one, um, which I had one patient in particular who told me that, um, he was 15 and he had retinitis pigmentosa and he told me he had never seen his mom's entire face.
We were able to fit him with some assistive technology. Yeah. That allowed him to actually see [00:09:00] his mom's face for the first time
Christina: ever. Oh my gosh. I can't imagine what that feels like, like to
Dr Matt: it. It was pretty powerful, not even being the young man. Yeah. You know, just watching the experience. It was pretty powerful.
So.
Christina: So I didn't know that, I did not know that someone could be 2020 and legally blind. I think I, I think that can also be confusing if someone's told that. So how do you walk through that process with someone of kind of diagnosing them as legally blind and then helping them to understand, you know, what that exactly
Dr Matt: means?
You know, that's a, that's a tough question because there are so many different ways that people arrive at the, at. You know, visual impairment. Yeah. Um, individuals who have their, their central vision affected oftentimes know that there's a problem. You know, um, glaucoma famously though it, where it takes your vision from the outside in, as I mentioned, um, people won't notice that they've lost vision until almost 50% of their visual field is gone.
And so it's really important to be involved with. Prevention because once you're at the point where you're talking about legal blindness, [00:10:00] oftentimes, um, it's hard to prevent things. It's hard to get things back. Mm-hmm. Once you've lost it. Mm-hmm. Um, so, you know, I guess to answer your question though, you know, how do you navigate that?
The, the first thing is that people have lost their central vision. Are already aware. Yeah. Um, but they oftentimes are functioning pretty well, and so trying to get people to understand that they have had this vision loss and that there are other. Avenues for them to have fulfilling lives and do things and um, and uh, that maybe aren't necessarily just involving their central vision is an important part of that process about navigating that diagnosis of legal blindness.
Leslie: Yeah. Is it because, so when it's happening, you know, the outside closing in, people just adapt so easily and so well that it's harder to identify that that's happening.
Dr Matt: I think that's true. And you know, when you think about it, you don't really use your peripheral vision as much in your day-to-day life, right?
And so if it's slowly going away, you may not notice that. Timothy, is
Leslie: that something you experienced? So Timothy also has retinitis pigmentosa. [00:11:00] My
Timothy: retinitis pigmentosa is a little bit different, a little bit. Uh, mine's more, let's say about 40% of the vision and field. There's a lot of dead spots. I have some peripheral, but when you start moving towards the center, it disappears until it's right in front of my.
Face, and then I can see my hand again. So it's just, there's all kinds of varied difference of retinitis osis in a way. It affects people. Um, it, it's the fa the faces are starting to deteriorate. I can't see my wife's face anymore, my grandchildren or my children. So it's, it's starting to affect me really heavily now.
So it's, uh, it's a devastating, uh, diagnosis, but it's not the end of the world. We just adapt.
Leslie: Absolutely. And I think to Christina's point, it's so interesting sometimes even when we're talking to clients and we're saying, you know, we have these services available, or there's things that you can do. So many times they don't feel like they are deserving of the services.
They're like, well, I'm not totally blind. I can still see, I still have some, you know, usable vision and trying to get past that and. Let people know and understand [00:12:00] exactly what blindness means. I've also had clients talk to me about how, you know, and we always say vision is tricky, right? What you see today might be different than tomorrow or even later in the day, depending on the lighting, depending on your strain and all sorts of things.
But, um, clients have been questioned sometimes in a situation because maybe they're carrying a long cane, but they're actively looking at something like reading a, um, a card in the store or something. Timothy, have you experienced that?
Timothy: I can't tell you how many times somebody says, you don't look blind, or, I can't tell you're blind cause you're looking right at me.
They don't understand it. Just cuz I'm legally blind doesn't mean I don't have any vision and they expect me not to have any. And sometimes I feel that's, uh, people are questioning me all the time, like doubting that I am, you know, blind. Just cuz I can't see good, uh, that, that means I can't see. I'm blind.
And just cuz I can look at you doesn't mean that I cannot see. And I run into that all the time.
Dr Matt: You know, I think you're not alone on that, Timothy, it's, it's a [00:13:00] very common thing. And like I mentioned before, we use Snellen visual acuity, which is that 2020 number, 2200 number. And it's really an artificial way of evaluating your vision because basically you look with one eye at a time, at black letters and a white background and.
That is not how the world is. So there's a much better way to test your vision, which is called a functional visual assessment, but it takes a lot longer. And so we don't actually get to do that very often in the ophthalmologist office. Um, and you know, to your point Timothy, about, you know, um, oftentimes low levels of vision can be very, um, very, very functional.
Very, very helpful. It, it also is different when you're, um, let's say a child and you're, you're born with a low level of vision. Oftentimes your functionality is significantly different than if you lost vision at an older age. And so I think all of those things kind of play in. That's so
Leslie: That's really interesting. So, When you are diagnosing people or having these conversations and you kind of say those words, blindness, or you're now legally blind, or, um, how do you deliver that news?
Dr Matt: Well, I think that, um, I. I think that there's actually a progression that's there, you know, um, for example, if you have a patient with, let's say, macular degeneration.
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Um, there can be an event where they lose vision, significant levels of vision, um, quickly. So they go from 2040 to maybe 2200 because they've had a hemorrhage that happens in the center of their vision. Yeah. And so, You know, you're at that time, you're in a, you're in the fight mode, right?
Where you wanna say, let's make sure [00:15:00] that we're giving you all of your medications and I'll see you every month. We're gonna try to get rid of this blood and help you as much as you can. Cuz oftentimes you can regain significant levels of vision. Um, but once, once you're past that stage, then you really need to start thinking about, you know, um, different, different scenarios that may be, may be involved.
So, um, I guess what I'm getting at is that initially if something has changed, we're trying to fix it. Yeah. But after a period of time, if we're unable to get back to where we were, then we start really having that conversation about what does, uh, legal blindness mean? And, um, I think. An area that perhaps ophthalmologists could be doing a better job would be talking to patients about what their options are about living their life moving forward.
You know, what are you having trouble with? Can you see the food on your plate to eat? Are you able to walk around independently? How are you doing, you know, in, um, low contrast environments. Yeah. You know, those are all things that, um, Ophthalmologists in general could probably do a better job talking to their [00:16:00] patients
Christina: about Yeah.
And I know, um, you know, we hear it from our clients a lot. They hide blind, so they don't want to tell anyone and maybe they don't wanna get care because they're, you know, afraid of what they're gonna get told. I guess what suggestions, or what can you say to help someone who might be going through that right now who maybe is a little too afraid to go to their ophthalmologist or to find, um, you know, professional
Dr Matt: care?
I think that's a great question, and it's one that we run into frequently, you know? Mm-hmm. I, I had, um, a patient last week who has been legally blind for years and didn't know it. Mm-hmm. Yeah. And so it's really important to have an open dialogue and say, you know, where, what is my diagnosis? What is my visual potential?
Where am I gonna be in a few years? And if you're stable with low levels of vision, you know, what does that mean? Yeah. And, All of us went to school because we want to help people. Yeah. Right. Yeah. That's, that's our whole goal. So you tell us what the issue is and we'll hopefully find a way to help you out.
That's, that's what we're trying to do. Yeah. Yes.
Leslie: And so many times I don't think [00:17:00] people understand that with that legal blindness diagnosis like you're saying, there are. Resources available. So, you know, connecting with a low vision therapist and talking about those like high contrast things or different tools that you can use to just make what you do have more usable.
Absolutely. And then there's the flip side, like leader dog, right? Our services, you know, we are lucky that we can serve people who aren't quite legally blind, but a lot of organizations or a lot of agencies need that little box checked of legal blindness. So, That is an extremely difficult thing to hear in a difficult conversation.
There are resources available, so understanding that while you don't wanna hear it and you don't wanna get it, it is going to be beneficial to have that. So the sooner, you know, the better. Absolutely.
Dr Matt: You know, one of the things that I've noticed though, is that it takes, it takes patients' time to get to the point where they're ready and willing and able to accept the services.
So I think it's a two-part. Thing, you know? Yeah. One where you want to have, have the conversation about legal blindness and whether or not you qualify for it. And then the second part is, you know, how can we [00:18:00] change things to make things better? And being open to both sides of that and working with an ophthalmologist or uh, or optometrist, you know, who can help you achieve those things, I think is really important.
Leslie: Yeah. Timothy, what was that like for you during that process? I know we've talked a little bit about it, but the first time you heard the words blindness maybe. When I was 12
Timothy: years old, everybody knows I got diagnosed with retinitis pigs. It really affected me through the high school and schooling. It affected my education and stuff, but it really started getting on me when the older I got, cuz I started losing everything, driving the ability to do stuff.
So it was devastating, but it's just like a, I tell everybody, it's like a slow death. And, um, sometimes I, I don't want to disappear overnight, but it, it's been very tur, very turmoil going through this. It's not an easy thing to go through, but since I've been to Leader Dog and I got the tools that I need, Uh, I'm able to cope with it because I know I can do anything.
I, I've been traveling all over the country, sometimes by myself. I couldn't do [00:19:00] that six years ago, so it's given me an optimist, optimist, optimistic life. Now, just going,
Dr Matt: that's a hard word to say
Leslie: right now, so. I love it. Opt optimistic, optical versus, you know what, that's a great intro into optometrist versus ophthalmologist.
I think this is a question we get all the time, and I still sometimes get confused by it. What is the biggest difference? How do people know who they should
Dr Matt: see? Yeah, great question. You know, I think that, um, the reason that there is such a, uh, hard time figuring out what the difference is, is because it's two groups of people who are really there to try to help you with your eyes, right?
Yeah. Um, The, the main difference though is the, uh, is the schooling. So, uh, doctors of optometry go to, um, optometry school and, uh, ophthalmologists go to medical school. And our physicians, in addition to that, ophthalmologists end up doing an internship in residency, and then they can sub-specialize further doing a fellowship.
And because of all that extra training in most states, ophthalmologists are [00:20:00] the only ones who are able to do, uh, surgery. Okay. Um, which would include incisional and laser surgery and things like that. However we all work together. Yeah. And that's the point, particularly for individuals with very low levels of vision.
You know, there are, um, things that an optometrist can do that the ophthalmologist doesn't do routinely. And so, um, it's better to see an opt an optometrist for, uh, certain types of things like, uh, low vision referrals are a huge one where yeah, the optometrist is, is, uh, more adept at what the low vision devices are than the ophthalmologist.
And the, you know, and conversely, you know, if you need surgery for something, you're more likely to go see an ophthalmologist because that's what we do. Does that make
Leslie: sense? Yeah, yeah. It seems like most times we're hearing from clients, you know, they're kind of originally diagnosed with an optometrist and then kind of sent to see an ophthalmologist.
So like are there some of those bigger cures, whether it be a surgery something or medication or something like that?
Dr Matt: Yeah, absolutely. I think that's, that's usually how it works. And then when people start losing [00:21:00] significant levels of vision, oftentimes we are working together to try to get everybody that you know as much as they can get back.
Yeah.
Christina: And I know, um, you know, with, you know, technology changing and all of that, has that changed the way that you diagnose and treat someone? Is there now things out there that might help someone a little better and that sort
Dr Matt: of stuff? So this, I love this topic, um, because there's so many exciting and new things happening in the field of ophthalmology.
Yeah. Um, you know, first of all, if we, if we think just very generally about, um, low vision devices, right? There, the main, the backbone of that for forever has been sort of illumination and magnification. But now there are new devices that are coming out that are incredible. Um, some of them actually, uh, are like a VR headset that you can wear.
Oh wow. That will shift the uh, like let's say you have macular degeneration. Yeah. You lost the vision in the center. Um, they'll shift the image that you're looking for off to the side to an area where you can actually see it. Oh my gosh. Yeah. It's really amazing stuff. That's crazy. Um, and in addition to that, you know, I told you [00:22:00] earlier about that young man I was working with, um, who he wore Google glasses.
Um, and Google Glass has actually come out with a new program where they're trying to help patients with visual disability through these assistive devices. So that I think is really exciting and it's. It's now, you know, it's happening now, which is great. Yeah. That is so cool. But there are other things too that are these, these are the things that get me really excited.
Mm-hmm. Because you have, um, gene therapy. Ophthalmology was the first field in all of medicine to implement a gene therapy approach for something called Libras congenital. Amy Miosis, an RPE E 65 mutation, um, which has some roots here. The origins have some roots here in Michigan, which is kind of interesting too.
Oh wow. Um, so that is very exciting. And um, that is basically you're using a gene therapy to actually transfect the cells so that they have that. So that they can produce those proteins, another that, that are lacking under the normal situation. But another situation that you can do is you can kind of transfect the cells to turn into little chemical factories, right?
So currently, for [00:23:00] example, like diabetic retinopathy or, or macular degeneration, we have patients who come in every, no. Four weeks, six weeks, and they get injections inside their eyes of a medication. Well, what if you could use gene therapy to make the medication using your own cells? Oh gosh. And then you wouldn't have to get the injections anymore.
So there are clinical trials that are currently ongoing for that, which is really exciting. That is
Christina: wild and amazing to see. And I'm sure for you, Awesome to see that you're having more, um, solutions for your patients and changing their lives in that way.
Dr Matt: The thing that's even more exciting to me is the regenerative medicine approaches.
So, uh, yeah, things like stem cell therapy where you're actually able to utilize the body's own neural circuitry to restore vision. Um, that's a little bit further off, but it's very, very exciting. And then finally, we can, there are implantable microchips for diseases like retinitis pigmentosa that the FDA has already approved, um, which are very exciting.
Um, the, the, the microchip works where you, you wear a pair of glasses mm-hmm. And there's a camera right in the [00:24:00] middle and it sends a wireless signal to a retinal chip that. Allows patients to see kind of through the camera. Oh my
Leslie: gosh. Yeah. This is, technology is wild. Yeah, right? Like it's insane.
Dr Matt: It is.
It's amazing. But what know that where science fiction a few years ago are the truth? No. Really, really wonderful happening. Exciting time.
Leslie: That is really exciting. We worked with clients for, I don't know if Argus is still a thing. Yeah. Argus, yeah. That's the, that's the, throughout the trip. Is that okay? Yes.
The Argus two implant. Mm-hmm. We've worked with a couple clients who had that and it was so interesting, you know, on our end too, trying to figure out and navigate what could they see and how could they interpret that, and then how could that be used in the practical world. Yeah. Um, so we do at Leader Dog, try to stay a little bit on top, not as deep into the medical stuff, but we try to stay advanced or in front of the technology because, Our clients are gonna be coming to us with this.
It doesn't mean that it's always like a fix it, right? That vision's gonna be completely restored. So we need to be prepared to work with clients with this technology. How can we make it, you know, [00:25:00] useful in the real world and in their travel skills? So that's really exciting to hear all the things and I can imagine that that's really exciting in your career.
I know I get excited about like a new cane or a new GPS device or something like that course. Cause you're just yeah. Super pumped about how it's gonna impact people's lives. But I would imagine that's very exciting. It is.
Dr Matt: It's a wonderful, wonderfully exciting. Yes.
Timothy: So, Dr. Tracy, when you're gonna tell a patient we're gonna give you, put a needle in your eye, how does that work?
As a thought of that? Just makes me
Christina: cringe,
Dr Matt: you know? Uh, that's a conversation I have a lot actually. And, um, you are not alone on, on feeling the cringe there. Mm-hmm. But fortunately we have it down to a science, um, no pun intended there. And, uh, usually it's a painless process and people don't even know that I've done it.
Leslie: That's interesting. My grandpa has, uh, or yeah, has macular degeneration and he got shots for many years and he used to, you know, squirm and be so kiddish about it and then, you know, it just becomes part of normal life and going in and doing it. And he used to always joke with the doctor, like, oh, you got the wrong eye, you know, or, oh [00:26:00] God, that's totally my grandpa.
He has said
Dr Matt: that joke is a little too much.
Leslie: Yeah. Now he just jokes with me. I gave him his first keye and I called him the other day. He's like, I lost that stick again. I'm like, grandpa, it's a cane. And also you should have it with you all the time. That's a whole, he's a whole nother subject. That's very funny though.
Another podcast. Yeah. He's a whole, he's a whole subject. Um, but another thing that we're doing recently or starting to do is the medical advisory committee, which we've recently asked you to be a part of. So we're hoping to kind of have these conversations in a bigger impact. What can we do on our end to, um, you know, talk to doctors out there and let 'em know that our services exist?
And on the flip end, what can we get from doctors on our end to be helping our clients in their rear world travel impact?
Dr Matt: You know, I'm so excited to be participating in the, uh, medical advisory committee. I think it's gonna be a really, um, wonderful relationship between leader dogs and the ophthalmologists.
Um, hopefully across the country, but certainly in this area. [00:27:00] Um, And I kind of hinted at this earlier, is that ophthalmologists really could do a lot better job of providing, um, their legally blind patients with, uh, information about services. And so I think that this is gonna be a nice first step to sort of, um, integrate that into our practice and make people aware of it.
An important first step towards that too, I think is gonna be Leader Dog's presentation at the Michigan Society of Eye Physicians and Surgeons. Meeting this summer, um, where they're gonna have, you guys will have the opportunity to really remind everybody, Hey, that's part of your job too, so
Leslie: let's do it.
Thank you for helping us get that connection. And funny enough, that ties back into Mackinaw Island because it's gonna be, the conference gonna be Mackin. Look at this full circle, circle, circle moment here. I knew it. I knew it. I just, yeah, yeah. There we go. But we're really excited to be there and to help with those conversations because I think, you know, we hear from our clients so many times, like, I didn't even know I was legally blind, but it turns out I've been legally blind for nine years.
Well, you know, that's a big piece on so many different fronts and ends. But you guys, obviously when you're in school, are focusing [00:28:00] so much on the. Science and how to help people with their anatomy and the vision and, and we learn more about the travel. So connecting these two worlds, I think is going to be really exciting.
Yes. And having the expertise from you and other, uh, medical professionals in the field. I'm super pumped about the committee. I really think we're gonna have an impact. Yeah, me too. I'm
Christina: excited. Mm-hmm. Yeah. I think we should end with, you know, do you have any tips or suggestions on how someone should just kind of continue caring and protecting their eyes?
Dr Matt: That's a great question. Um, I see a, a lot of. Patients with very low levels of vision and, um, I get that question a lot. Mm-hmm. And they say, you know, why do I have to keep coming back to you? You're not doing much for me. Um, you know, I'm, things have been stable for a long time and my answer is always, well, number one, I need to make sure that the health of the eye is maintained.
Okay. Yeah. Um, and so there are things that can happen that you can't feel or see. And so just having somebody check in on you every now and then is an important part. Mm-hmm. Um, another important part. Is, um, maintaining that light perception vision at a [00:29:00] minimum. And I think that, uh, if you're able to do that, you have, uh, more opportunity for regenerative medicine potential in the future.
Mm-hmm. So that neural circuitry between your eye and your brain constitutes 1.5 million axons. And the neural circuitry is very complicated. And so if you're able to keep that going yeah, then you've got more options moving forward. So I think that those reasons. Um, are important to kind of protect the eye.
Yeah. And then more at a more basic level, you know, wearing protective glasses is also an important thing because freak accidents happen and those glasses Yeah. Can function kinda like goggles to keep your eyes safe. But I, I do think it's really important, even if you have low levels of vision to make sure you're still checking in.
Making sure that everything's okay. Gives us an opportunity to talk about what's available for you out there and how you're doing and all those types of things.
Christina: Yeah. Well those are great tips and a great way to end this podcast cuz we're already outta time. I know.
Leslie: I wouldn't have thought of some of that.
Well, thank you so much for listening to the Taking the Lead podcast. I'm Leslie Hoskins with host Timothy Kno and Christina Hepner. We hope [00:30:00] you enjoyed learning from Dr. Tracy and discussing blindness a little bit deeper. Please join us next week as we continue to dive into the world of blindness. Yes.
And if you'd like to learn
Christina: more about applying to Leader Dog for free services, you can head to leader dog.org or call us at (888) 777-5332. And don't forget, you can reach us at taking the lead@leaderdog.org with any questions or ideas. And if you'd like to today's podcast, make sure to hit subscribe and check us out wherever Podcast Street.