Stargardt Disease

Stargardt disease is a degeneration of the macula causing a decrease in central vision. It is the most common form of inherited juvenile macular degeneration. Normal visual acuity is 20/20, and a person who has Stargardts will have a visual acuity anywhere between 20/200 and 20/400. Here are a few fundus autofluorescence and fluorescein angiogram images that I took a while back of a child with this disease.

Retinal Detachment

Here are a few images of a retinal detachment with differential focusing...

Yowza! That's a doozy! :(

Cotton Wool Spots

Here is a photo of a patient’s eye showing cotton wool spots, which are the white, puffy, cloudlike tissue visualized here:

These spots occur when there is a lack of blood supply to that area of the retina, specifically the nerve fiber layer. Since there isn’t sufficient blood flow through these vessels, the nerve fiber layers are injured and begin to swell and look like puffy pieces of cotton, hence the name “cotton-wool spots.” They are most commonly found surrounding the optic nerve and along the temporal arcades. They typically don't cause any impairment in vision, but are usually a sign of an underlying condition, such as hypertension or diabetes. They also appear in patients who have HIV.

I don't normally look or smell like this...

Yep, that is what I told my neighbor when he saw me gasping for air after my run today. Why did I feel the need to share this with him?? No clue, but I laughed at myself as soon as he shot me a weird look and kept walking.

The last few weeks I've wandered away from my many new year's resolutions, as most people do, I suspect. But I am determined to not be "most people." The 10k that I regretfully signed up for is a month away, so I decided that I better get back on that horse!! So this morning I woke up early and kept myself as busy as possible so that I didn't have to go running. Finally after a bean burrito, I decided that was enough energy (and probably gas) to propel me through a four mile run. I keep forgetting to time myself on these runs, but I am estimating that it took me around 50 minutes to run/flail/gasp for air four miles. The farthest I have ever run in my life was 4.4 miles and that was after I had broken up with an ex and didn't know how to deal with all the heartache, so I just ran (out of the blue, without training) until that hurt subsided. Today was a planned 4 miles and I feel like an old person. A very smelly old person! Anyways, I am glad to be back on my plan to better myself!

I am very lucky that I have such a beautiful park right around the corner from me. Here is one of the many beautiful views that I get to see when I run through the park:

It's not very snowy today, but you get the picture.

As for the ophthalmic photography blog goes, I have decided that I am going to eventually have a separate website for that. I just recently bought a web design program that I am determined to relearn (it's been 10 years since I have used it) and build my own site. I'm sure that will take a while, but until then I will keep the marble-cheesecake and ophthalmic photo blog together. Just an update, if anyone was wondering.

Feeling awesome after my run, but smelling like armpits....time to shower! Have a wondrous day!

Orbital Tumor

Today was one of those days where I was ecstatic to be at work. The other photographer wasn't in (that's not why I was so excited...) and I got every cool diagnostic test that came in my direction- and there were quite a few today! It was a great learning day! I love having days like that where I go home knowing that I learned something new.

This photo was not taken today, but I still thought it was very interesting.  But here is a photo of a patient who had an orbital tumor, specifically a benign tumor of the ethmoid sinus:

This montage of two images shows choroidal folds that are caused by the tumor pushing on the globe. This type of tumor is more common in females, usually over the age of 40. This was not the case for this patient, making it even more rare. The tumor also caused proptosis which is a displacement of the eye, which was clearly visible just looking at the patient. The patient ended up having the tumor removed via her nose, which I'm sure was not pleasant at all. I wish I could have been there to watch that surgery. Maybe next time, they'll invite me.

First Entry as an Ophthalmic Photography Blog!

I finally got the okay to start my very own ophthalmic photography blog!!! I've been wanting to do this for years, I am so excited to be working for a place that really seems to care and that responds quickly to the worker bee's needs! I am basically going to use this as a learning tool for myself (and hopefully others!) so that I can have a better understanding of what I am taking pictures of and why.

As an Ophthalmic Photographer my job consists of photographing medical phenomena of the eye to document diseases, treatments, surgeries, and congenital defects that aid Ophthalmologists in the diagnosis and treatment of eye disorders.  Working in a clinic that has such a wide variety of specialties, I get to see some amazing things- from diabetic retinopathy to melanomas, to retinal or choroidal detachments, to glaucoma, and even surgeries. People from all over the country come to see our doctors and I feel very privileged to be a part of this clinic.

On a weekly basis we (the team of photographers) perform OCTs (Optical Coherence Tomography), visual fields, fundus photography, fluorescein angiograms, anterior and posterior segment ultrasounds, ERGs (electoretinogram), VEPs (visual evoked potentials) and VERs (visual evoked response). Whew! That's a mouthful!

Since this is my first official entry, I am going to start off with just a simple color fundus photo of my own eye.  As far as I know, this is a pretty healthy lookin' ball! For those of you non-ophthalmic photographers, this is a photo of the back part of your eye. The entire image is showing my retina. The white-ish ball to the right side is my optic nerve, which transmits all of the visual information that it receives from the retina through the optic chiasm and finally, to the brain. The darker pigmented area in the center of the photo is my macula, which is the center of my vision. The very center of that is called the fovea, which is responsible for viewing fine details, such as reading.

So that's just the basics, folks! More to come!!

My First 10 K

Good GOD. A friend of mine that knows of my running endeavors invited me to run a 10k with her on St. Patrick's day. This year. I hope she's willing to hold back my hair or catch vomit at some point. Currently, I am barely surviving my 3.5 mile runs and now I have a new goal of running an entire 6.2 miles. I'm assuming they won't wait for me if it takes me 6 hours to actually finish the race....therefore, I feel the need to work my way up to running the 10k in it's entirety. Boom! I can do this! Right?.....right? I feel the need to insert this photo, because I feel it suits me...and perhaps my running style:

2012...my new beginning

Well hello, old friend! It's been a long time since I've posted anything on this blog. So long, that I am going to use it in an entirely new way now. (I love the name, I just can't create a new blog whose name would inspire me as much.) Things have changed quite a bit in the last few years for me. I've gotten a new career as an Ophthalmic Photographer, which I started in Detroit at Henry Ford Hospital. On a whim, I applied for a job in Denver after visiting Colorado for a wedding. I loved it there so much, I was willing to give up everything to move there. I only applied for one job, thinking it was a shot in the dark. The hospital was asking for a CRA (Certifiied Retinal Angiographer) and someone with more experience than myself. I was a four months away from taking my CRA exam and a year and a half away from the amount of experience they were looking for. A week later, I got a call from an overly cheery woman named Denise, inviting me out for an interview...I flew out to Denver a week later and was offered the job at the end of my interview. The whole thing felt like a blur to me, I honestly thought I didn't have a chance in the world, but I would give that interview all I had. I cried tears of joy, sitting on the park bench in front of my new job, telling my parents I'd be leaving Michigan. I was sick of Michigan. I felt there was nothing left there for me. I was the only one of my friends who wasn't married, and most of them had children or had a child on the way. I felt I was being left behind and needed an adventure of my own. What did I have to lose? My boyfriend of a year and a half that had been supportive of my dreams, suddenly couldn't believe that I'd move half way across the country without him. (He is in a masters program that he wouldn't complete until August 2012, a year from the day I got the job offer.) I felt like maybe I hadn't gotten married because there was something wrong with me, maybe I didn't have something good enough to offer another person. Or maybe it was because I had just now found the right person, but he wasn't ready for marriage. I'm hoping for the later.

So September 10, 2011, Craig (my boyfriend and master of tetris) and I packed everything I owned (!) into my Jetta. We drove from Detroit to Denver (with a detour for some sight seeing and a panic attack) in 24 hours. Craig and I had our last breakfast together (with a minor panic attack in there as a side to my breakfast) and I took him to the airport so he could head back to Detroit. I don't think I've ever cried so hard in my life. It will be 8 more months until Craig joins me in Denver.

My new job was stressful, and I wasn't very excited with the new equipment I was working with. I missed our old cameras back in Detroit. Even though they were older, I knew how to use them and get decent photographs out of them. I felt too stressed and too shy to make new friends, and it took months before I actually did. For some reason, I knew I had it in me. But I know that there is more! So my goals for 2012 (and life in general, really) is to radically improve my life by eating healthier, actually stick to an exercise routine, to try things that would otherwise terrify me (what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger, right?!) and to improve my brain health.

So maybe I should explain these things, if they sound strange. First, I am already a vegetarian and eat pretty healthy foods already. BUT- I used to drink coffee every morning and sometimes in the afternoon. Who doesn't love the way it can dramatically wake up your senses (and bowels) when you barely feel like you can function in the morning?! But it's not healthy. I'd rather wake up a different way. I gave up coffee 3 weeks ago now. I still get a headache here and there, but I sleep much better- which I wasn't expecting. How did my morning coffee keep me up at night?!

Second, I am trying to run every day. Scratch that- I AM running every other day. I felt like I was being passed up by grandmas walking next to me for my first few runs, but I gradually got better. I ventured out when it was dark to run in the park that is a few blocks away from my home. I should add that I live in a gay neighborhood in Denver...and to my surprise actually got whistled at by a lady while I was running last week. Maybe I shouldn't wear my rainbow colored winter hat on this side of town, eh?! Anyways, today I ran 3 miles in 24 minutes! Whoot! It was a rough one, I felt like I could barely breath. But when I am finished running I am so proud that I've already come this far in one month!

Third...to do things that would otherwise terrify me....by that, I mean skiing. I live in Colorado, for God's sake, how could I NOT go skiing?! Because I hate giving up control and having something slide underneath me....like rollerskating, rollerblading and ice skating. (Which I tried over Christmas and wasn't overly awkward and flailing like I thought I would be.) I will go skiing someday, but I think the first time I go I should be heavily medicated and wearing adult diapers!

Lastly, I want to improve my brain health. I just finished a book that was recommended to me by a friend called "The Brain That Changes Itself."  The book is pretty much impossible to explain...so here is a link to an excerpt from this incredible book: http://www.normandoidge.com/normandoidge/EXCERPT.html
Assuming you clicked on that and actually read it... I saw a commercial for a website called Lumosity.com that has brain exercises disguised as games to help improve your mental capabilities. Sign me up! And sign myself up, I sure did! Sadly, I started off on the low end of the spectrum...I almost thought I may have been mildly disabled, but I've greatly improved since that first day.

This new year had been a challenge, indeed. But I know that if I do this I am improving my life in a variety of ways. I have even been invited to write a blog post for the Ophthalmic Photographer's Society once it is set up. My new job has gotten much better in this last month. Surprisingly, I've been able to crawl out of my shy, hermit shell and actually ask the doctors for help and advice- which has definitely improved my understanding of my job and also helped me to create more of a connection with my co workers. (Can I call a doctor my co-worker?) Also, the equipment I was not so fond of is slowly growing on me. But I would still give up a few toes for a new fundus camera.

Another goal for this year (are you sick of this yet?! (Wait, is anyone actually going to read this...ever?)) is to start an ophthalmic photography blog. I have already put the idea out there to my boss and am hoping to get started soon. Actually, this marble-cheesecake blog will be my new goal/ophthalmic photography blog. If I do get the approval to use photos that I take at work I will be posting a variety of ophthalmic imagery including OCTs (Optical Coherance Tomography), Fundus photos, Fluorescein Angiograms, and B-Scan ultrasounds of the eye. Wish me luck, I hope I can get approval on this bad boy! :)