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Welcome to Clearly KC, a podcast produced by the National Keratoconus Foundation, featuring information about life with this eye disease. Each month, Dr. Melissa Barnett OD, a leading authority shares valuable insights, speaks with medical professionals who treat this condition and listens to patients and families affected by keratoconus. Our goal is to share information to help you manage your keratoconus, seek out the best treatment options and live a full and productive life. Clearly KC i ...
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Clearly KC host Dr. Melissa Barnett OD visits with Mark Morarie, inventor of The LensBase, a useful device that helps patients insert scleral lenses. Mark remembers receiving the keratoconus diagnosis after his near perfect vision declined. His vision improved with scleral lenses, but he struggled with applying his lenses. Over several years, he ti…
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Clearly KC host Dr. Melissa Barnett OD spends some time with Ash Arellanes, digital content creator and enthusiastic KC advocate. Ash shares her journey of vision loss until she finally was diagnosed with keratoconus. She remembers how she experienced relief to finally have an answer along with confusion and loneliness of having a condition she kne…
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Episode 24 - Insights from a Patient/Scientist
23:21
23:21
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Clearly KC host Dr. Melissa Barnett OD welcomes colleague Dr. Jason Marsack PhD from the University of Houston, where his lab is engaged in correcting higher order aberrations. Dr. Marsack shared his story of a keratoconus diagnosis while a college student and his vow to apply his engineering skills to improving the vision of others. He and Dr. Bar…
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Clearly KC host Dr. Melissa Barnett OD chats with Carl Domke of McKinney, Texas. Carl is the winner of the 2023 World KC Day Photo Contest with a photo collage that celebrates improved vision with contact lenses. The 80-year old photographer shared what it was like to be diagnosed with KC in 1959 and how, as a high school sophomore, he was given co…
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Episode 22 - Tips & Tricks from Wellness Advocate
20:25
20:25
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Clearly KC host Dr. Melissa Barnett OD meets up with Myeisha Essex of Los Angeles to discuss tips, tricks and hacks to simplify life with keratoconus. Myeisha shares her KC journey from diagnosis during graduate school to her career as an entertainment journalist. Her eye doctor convinced Myeisha to refocus on her vision health, and she left long d…
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Clearly KC host Dr. Melissa Barnett OD visits with Poppy McCabe, a recent graduate of Falmouth University in England. Poppy was runner-up in the 2023 World KC Day Photo Contest. Her submission shows her at her final art exhibit at school. Investigating symptoms associated with her Ehlers Danlos syndrome, Poppy learned keratoconus was the source of …
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Clearly KC host Dr. Melissa Barnett OD asks Dr. Ann Ostrovsky MD about managing the care of individuals with Down syndrome who are diagnosed with keratoconus. Dr. Ostrovsky who is chief of ophthalmology at ECU Health in Greenville, North Carolina stresses the importance of avoiding eye rubbing and scheduling regular eye exams to monitor for vision …
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Episode 19 - Inspirational South Africa Teacher
18:10
18:10
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Clearly KC host Dr. Melissa Barnett OD welcomes Dylan Muyambo of Cape Town, South Africa. For the 2023 World KC Day Photo Contest, Dylan submitted a joyful picture with his students on a field trip. Dylan shares with Dr. Barnett how he struggled with his vision from a young age, was diagnosed with severe keratoconus at age 9, and underwent corneal …
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Clearly KC host Dr. Melissa Barnett OD invites Dr. Araba Otoo OD to talk about pubtometry – a word Dr. Otoo uses to describe the intersection of optometry and public health. Ghana-born Otoo is a recent graduate of The Ohio State University College of Optometry; she started Cherish Eyesight & Vision, a nonprofit whose mission is to increase vision h…
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Clearly KC host Dr. Melissa Barnett OD sits down with keratoconus guru Dr. Christine Sindt OD, from University of Iowa for a discussion of higher order aberrations (HOA), a common concern of individuals with keratoconus. Dr. Sindt notes doctors have sympathized with their patients who complain of halos or double vision but until recently could do l…
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Clearly KC host Dr. Melissa Barnett OD is joined by ophthalmologist Dr. Steven Greenstein MD and optometrist Dr. John Gelles OD, partners at the Cornea and Laser Eye Institute in New Jersey. Dr. Gelles shares results of wave front guided scleral lenses, an emerging technology that creates a 3-D model of the cornea to craft individualized contacts. …
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Episode 15 - A Need for Pediatric Screening
23:21
23:21
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Clearly KC host Dr. Melissa Barnett OD catches up with KC expert Dr. Andy Morgenstern OD who shares that his career in keratoconus was inspired when he first had access to pentacam tomography, a technology that visualizes the back (posterior) of the cornea. He also spoke of a soon-to-be published paper that used tomography to screen Chicagoland stu…
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Clearly KC host Dr. Melissa Barnett OD celebrates World KC Day with returning patient and health advocate Rachel Dungan. They discuss keratoconus as an invisible disability that others may not perceive or appreciate. Rachel declares that KC makes her move through the world and pick up cues from others differently. The two also assess the importance…
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Clearly KC host Dr. Melissa Barnett OD chats with Sacramento-based cornea surgeon Dr. Sam Lee MD. Dr. Lee has performed corneal crosslinking since the procedure earned FDA approval in 2016. He described the procedure in detail and noted the results are quite good, with only 1-5% of patients needing retreatment and emphasized the importance of cross…
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Clearly KC host Dr. Melissa Barnett OD visits with Dr. Suzanne Sherman OD, Associate Professor in the Department of Ophthalmology at Tampa’s University of South Florida. Dr. Sherman and Dr. Barnett discuss the impact of estrogen and progesterone on vision. Increased hormone level resulting from pregnancy can lead to many changes in the body, includ…
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Episode 11 – Patient Advocate Rachel Dungan
22:41
22:41
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Clearly KC host Dr. Melissa Barnett OD visits with Rachel Dungan, a Director with Academy Health, a Washington DC policy institute. In 2016, Rachel’s short video, “How Do I Look?” was awarded first prize at the NKCF Film Festival. Since then, she has addressed lawmakers, clinicians, and health researchers about her keratoconus journey. Rachel share…
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Clearly KC host Dr. Melissa Barnett OD and Dr. Daddi Fadel, DOptom celebrate Dry Eye Awareness month by answering listener questions. Dr. Fadel is a clinician scientist at the University of Waterloo in Canada and co-author of “Clinical Guide for Scleral Lens Success” with Dr. Barnett. Dr. Fadel observes that a majority of individuals with keratocon…
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Clearly KC host Dr. Melissa Barnett OD visits with Louis Karaolis LLB, PhD, professor, Head of Law, and Director of Academic Affairs at Cyprus Business School. An expert on EU law, he has been visiting lecturer at UK law schools, and law school admissions examiner at Corpus Christi College, Oxford. Now splitting his time between London and Cyprus, …
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Episode 8 -Professional Race Car Driver Joey Gase
17:44
17:44
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Clearly KC host Dr. Melissa Barnett OD was joined by Joey Gase, NASCAR Xfinity owner-driver and ambassador for National Keratoconus Foundation. Joey shared his story of wearing eyeglasses and contacts from an early age and becoming frustrated with frequent vision changes in his 20s. His eye doctor, unable to improve his vision beyond 20/40, diagnos…
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Episode 7 - Corneal Transplantation and Eye Banking
20:17
20:17
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Clearly KC host Dr. Melissa Barnett OD and Dr. Jennifer Li MD, professor of ophthalmology from Univ. of California-Davis, and chair of the Eye Bank Association of America, discuss how corneal transplantation is undergoing changes with advances in surgical techniques. Dr. Li relayed how cornea tissue is prepared and sent to surgeons within days of a…
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Episode 6 - The ’So-Called’ KC Personality
21:59
21:59
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Clearly KC host Dr. Melissa Barnett OD and Dr. Muriel Schornack OD from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester debate if there is such a thing as a keratoconus personality. Individuals with KC tend to score differently on personality tests, but Dr. Schornack points out that the disease impact often comes in youth or young adulthood where coping mechanisms ar…
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Clearly KC host Dr. Melissa Barnett OD visits Dr. Marguerite McDonald MD, a legendary clinician scientist. Dr. McDonald offered her take on impact of age on disease. She finds that younger patients tend to have more aggressive disease and it is important to treat quickly in order to save vision. A second group exists with a slow, mild version and m…
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Clearly KC host Dr. Melissa Barnett OD visits Dr. Hae Young Aaron Song MD, a board-certified allergist from Orange County, CA. Dr. Song discusses two types of environmental allergies: seasonal, referring to pollen, grasses and weeds linked to the local landscape, and perennial, year-round allergens like animal dander and dust mites. He talked about…
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Clearly KC podcast host Dr. Melissa Barnett OD talks with Jeff, diagnosed with KC in 2007. He recounts vision changes after college that drove him to an eye doctor where he learned his diagnosis. He tells of trying different options and then giving up when there seemed to be no hope of vision improvement. Jeff describes getting scleral lenses in 20…
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Clearly KC host Dr. Melissa Barnett OD chats with Dr. Barry Eiden OD of Chicago. Dr. Eiden discusses prevalence of keratoconus, and the fact that rather than a rare, orphan disease, we are learning that KC is relatively common. He talks about genetics and genetic testing. Drs. Barnett and Eiden consider the need for technology that would permit pri…
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The host of Clearly KC, Dr. Melissa Barnett OD, and Mary Prudden, Director of National Keratoconus Foundation invite the audience to join them for a podcast focused on keratoconus, a disease of the cornea. Dr. Barnett noted the prevalence of this condition is much higher than originally believed; because more people are diagnosed with keratoconus (…
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