CLOSE UP Video Interviews

"So typically, when patients arrive in the preoperative area, we meet and make sure that the plan is correct. And then the nurses will put a small IV in your hand through which we can administer a very, very gentle sedative. We also give you many eye drops to prevent infection and to dilate the pupil as widely as possible before we take you to the operating room.

Once in the operating room, we make sure that you're positioned comfortably on the table. There is a large microscope that goes between your face and my eyes. It's quite large and it's in between us (I take it for granted now) and so my view of your eye is quite magnified. And with the foot pedals, I'm able to focus in and out and zoom the microscope- and that's the right foot. And with the left foot, I'm able to control the irrigation, the aspiration and the fluidics of that machine that breaks up the cataract. Both feet and both hands. And my hands are hovering right above the patient's face. And then your neck has to be extended enough that you're looking through the microscope and able to see everything. The surgeon is sitting at the patient's ear. So right eye? I'm sitting by your right ear. Left eye, we switch the room around, move the pedals and sit on the other side.

We cleanse the area around the eye with antiseptics again to prevent infection. And then we put a sterile sheet over your face and open just the area for the eye that we're going to work on. We put a metal speculum, a little holder, in between the eyelids so that if you would happen to fall asleep during your surgery I'll still be able to do the work and continue on. And then we make two very small incisions into the eye. We gently open the front of the capsule of the cataract in a perfectly round fashion. And then we use a phacoemulsification hand probe which pulverizes and aspirates the debris from breaking up the cataract. So we remove the hard, nut-like aspects of the cataract. Then we use a different hand-piece to tease out the sticky bits leaving the capsule of your own tissue open, clear and intact. Then we fold the lens implant and put it into the capsule and let it unfold in place. Then it's just a matter of removing some of the gel that we had used to smooth the entry and exit of instruments in and out of the eye.

We inject a little bit of antibiotic into the eye, make sure the wound is secure, and take away the drape. And then we put a few more drops in, put a protective shield on the surface of the eye and take you to the recovery room. And within about 20 minutes you're able to get up and go.

The eye is a moving target. there is nothing at all that paralyzes or stills the human eye. So we need to just talk you through it and make sure that you are kind of playing our game to hold still and to look straight up at the light. When you're looking through the microscope, the view is so magnified that the tiniest of movements looks large which is very helpful in what we need to be doing. But also it's a problem if the patient is moving because even one millimeter is too much. There's not a lot of wiggle room within the anterior chamber of the eye. There's between two and five millimeters of depth we have to work within.

Microsurgery!"

Walking through cataract surgery video interview with an ophthamologist

Amy E. Weber, MD

Dr. Tom Fitzpatrick of Flourtown, a retired biochemist with the US Department of Agriculture, rode in this year’s Wissahickon Day Parade, which took place this past Sunday. For 10 years he rode a horse and for another 25 years. drove a horse carriage in the parade.The event commemorates when several hundred horse-people and their horses converged on the Wissahickon path in 1927 to successfully protest plans to open the route up to vehicular traffic. Fitzpatrick’s roots go deep. His mother was born at the nearby stable atop Forbidden Drive (now Northwestern Stables) owned by his grandfather in the 1890s. He owns horses and he heads the Philadelphia Saddle Club whose riders are regular parade participants. Although he rode in a friend’s wagon at this year’s parade, should one of his stalls open up, he might purchase a good driving horse. At 94 he says, “I got 10, 15 more good years.” Watch video of Wissahickon Day Horse Parade celebrating Forbidden Drive becoming closed to vehicle traffic and interview with old-timer Dr Tom Fitzpatrick

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Nancy Peter has ridden in the Wissahickon Day Parade on Forbidden Drive, a tradition dating back to 1927 when riders successfully protested a plan to allow cars on the path, but this was the first time she rode a horse of her own. Cheyenne is a spirited, 12 year old, 15 hand, quarter horse - paint mare who had been trained for Western reining competition. "She's the love of my life," Peter professes before quickly adding, "one of them." Peter has just published a memoir of her horseback riding "escapades" called "Twenty Horses". Cheyenne released a whinny when Peter obliged her to pose as they appear on the cover of the book. Watch video of horse memoir author ride her new mare and talk about the book of her horseback riding escapades.

Jamar White got his first car two years ago at age 33. He had failed his driving test when he was 16 and it wasn't until he met his future wife, Marsha, who encouraged him to try again that he passed the test on his first try and bought his first car. He lovingly polishes the black Ford SUV during his lunch breaks.  Just a few months ago he and Marsha married and they drove right down to Baltimore to connect with what turned out to be a  memorable honeymoon cruise to the Bahamas. Watch video here.

In October of 1999, Bill proposed to his now wife while sitting on a bench under their favorite tree at the Morris Arboretum in Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, a huge European beech on the upper slope. The tree was badly damaged about a year later and only the decaying snag remains. But the tree is surrounded by its offspring, a circle of tall, closely spaced trees which had taken root where the original beech's long, pendulous branches had touched the ground. On a recent fall day, the family, now consisting of a 7 and 9 year old were revisiting the special place.

Watch video interview here.

Vinita Dora, a masters student in public health in Saint Louis and Karthik Gowrishankar who works in IT in Los Angeles were getting ready for their engagement party the next day at the Hill Stead Museum in Farmington, Connecticut, Vinita’s home town. They met online, then met in person, fell in love, and “wanted to take it forward” says Karthik. They then introduced themselves to their prospective in-laws which involved Karthik’s parents travelling to the States from Chennai. The bride’s family is originally from Bombay. A grand wedding will follow next year in India. Watch video interview here.

 IS THIS YOUR JOB OR ARE YOU ASSOCIATED WITH THE PARTY? Oh, no, I’m friends of the party. I’m just doing courtesy duty. SO WHAT’S THEIR STORY? They met at Trinity Baptist Church which is in the Fairmount section of the city and unexpectedly to most people, I guess, they eventually started dating, which a lot of people didn’t see coming. They announced their engagement, I think, last fall and decided to go with a short engagement, and today’s the big day…I knew both of them before they were dating but once they started dating it just kind of seemed like, yeah, this seems right. A great couple, really great people.” Rob Rineer, friend of bride and groom, before the wedding.

I WAS HERE EARLIER AND IT LOOKS LIKE YOU TIED THE KNOT. Michael Reyes: “Yes, we did .. happily so” WELL, CONGRATULATIONS! Lisa Gale: “Thank you.” YOU PICKED A BEAUTIFUL DAY. MR: “It was stunning, everything we could have imagined happened today. It was perfect.” LG: “It’s hard to plan for sunshine but we got it. I’m so glad”. WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS NOW? MR.”Enjoy each other” WHERE YOU’RE HONEYMOONING IS A SECRET, RIGHT? MR: The immediate honeymoon is Montego Bay, Jamaica then later on we’ll be going to Costa Rica, in the summertime, for an extended honeymoon.” EXCELLENT. Newlyweds Lisa Gale and Michael Reyes, Valley Green.

Watch video interviews here.