Good Neighbor Podcast Estero
Bringing Together Local Businesses and Neighbors of SWFL
Good Neighbor Podcast Estero
EP# 116 - Visionary Tales from Everglades Eye Care with Dr. Emilio Martinez
When a young girl's blurred vision turned out to be a clue to a rare systemic disease, the power of a simple eye exam was brought into sharp focus. This revelation is just one of the many compelling narratives Dr. Emilio Martinez, of Everglades Eye Care Center, brings to our conversation. We explore beyond the surface of routine check-ups to uncover the transformative impact that comprehensive eye care can have on our overall health. Dr. Martinez, with his dynamic background, goes in depth about the innovative MySight product and its ability to reshape the future of children’s vision.
Dive into a rhythmic interlude with Dr. Martinez as he shares how salsa and bachata dancing are not just hobbies but vital cultural connections that keep him grounded amidst the intensity of his medical practice. His story takes us from the delicate work of treating infants to the meticulous removal of foreign bodies from eyes, all the while maintaining a human touch that resonates with his patients. The grand opening of his practice isn't just an event—it's a celebration of community, health, and the melodies that move us through life's challenges. Join us for an episode that's as heartfelt as it is eye-opening, where passion meets profession in a captivating blend.
Everglades Eye Care
Dr Emilio Martinez-Lezama
14700 Tamiami Trail North Unit #8
Naples, FL 34110
(239) 374-2075
evergladeseyecare@gmail.com
WEBSITE
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, cabo, jim Schaller.
Speaker 2:Welcome Good Neighbors to episode number 116 of the Good Neighbor Podcast Estero. Today we have Good Neighbor Dr Emilio Martinez, owner of the Everglades Eye Care Center. How are we doing?
Speaker 3:Doing great. Jim, Thank you for having me on the show today.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. I'm excited to learn a little bit more about you and what you guys do over at Everglades Eye Care, so let's just jump in and why don't you start sharing?
Speaker 3:Well, jim. First I would like to thank you for having me on the show. Like I said, everglades Eye Care is a locally owned optometry practice. We're located on US 41, south of Bonita Beach Road in North Naples, right next to the Mercedes Benz dealership of Bonita. We have a full optical offering a wide range of eyewear, including designer brands, as well as children eyewear and safety ANSI standard wear.
Speaker 3:Jim, our mission is to deliver the highest quality vision care and optical products to our patients through compassionate, honest and excellent service. We strive to exceed the eye care needs of our patients by providing individualized solutions using state-of-the-art technologies. So we provide comprehensive eye examinations using the latest technology and tests for diseases such as cataracts, glaucoma, macular degeneration and dry eyes. We also do diabetic eye exam and specialized testing for patients on certain medications which may be detrimental to the inner lining of the eye, such as Plaquenil. We have specialized imaging to tailor your treatment for dry eyes as well. We have this imaging system that we can see a 200-degree view of the inside of the eye without the use of the dilation drops. Now, at Everglades Eye Care, we always recommend the dilation along with the photos the first year we see you to ensure the most thorough examination and to follow the standard of care Diabetics. We require to be dilated every year and highly recommend the photos as well.
Speaker 3:We also fit soft, rigid and some specialty contact lenses for ocular surface diseases. An example of a specialty contact lens would be a scleral lens that vaults the front surface of the eye and creates a space that is fluid filled, therefore recreating a new optical surface and enhancing the patient's vision and sometimes their comfort. If fitted for severe ocular surface conditions, we also fit a special contact lens to slow down the progression of nearsightedness in children, starting at the age of eight years of age. It is a unique product and is the only FDA approved solution for slowing down the progression of nearsightedness. Jim, you might be thinking well, what's the big deal? So what if my kid ends up with a higher nearsighted prescription? Well, the answer is that studies show that the higher the nearsighted prescription, the higher the risk for glaucoma, retinal tears and detachments as an adult. And so, with this unique product called MySight, we can help prevent the increase in nearsightedness in children.
Speaker 2:It's a unique time in their development that we can actually change the future. Yeah, I love it, love it. You guys do quite a bit over there, so can I ask how you got involved?
Speaker 3:in the eye care industry. Well, jim, it's a funny story. So I was just right out of undergrad and I was working doing microbiology research at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, most widely known as Virginia Tech, and I was working for a lab called Tech Lab Inc that made specialized testing for gut pathogens. Well, one day I made a mistake in lab and my boss took me aside. He's like you need to get your eyes checked because you couldn't see the whiteboard instructions that were written. So I went to see this optometrist named Dr Jeff Shelton in Virginia.
Speaker 3:So Dr Shelton prescribed me glasses, contact lenses, and told me hey you should pursue a career as a doctor of optometry because of your background in the sciences. And he said that there was such a wide range of opportunities as an optometrist. I could be employed by a private practice owner. I could work for a VA hospital. I could work in a large surgical ophthalmology practice. I could lease a retail space or I could own my own private practice and that always has been my goal in mind. Since I finished my ocular disease residency in 2008, that I did with a large ophthalmology practice in Fort Myers.
Speaker 2:Nice, nice. So everybody's had a challenge or maybe obstacle along the way that you know. They can look back at now and say, hey, you know what? I'm in a better place because of that Is something that happened along your journey that helped you Well, I think it's a joint challenge.
Speaker 3:When I think about hardships, I think mostly of my mother's struggles when she raised my brother and I. My father left to go back to Nicaragua. When we came to this country, he had a scholarship to study at Virginia Tech and then my mom and dad split and he went back to Nicaragua. So my mom stayed here and fought for us to have a better life.
Speaker 3:She was a nurse anesthetist in Nicaragua, and when she came to this country she had to take her boards in a foreign language was then a foreign language. Now she knows English pretty decent and it took her a few times to pass the boards, but she never gave up. She was relentless in her pursuit to make make sure that she she became a nurse once again. But as far as a challenge that I have overcome myself, I feel that maybe the fact that this practice was just an idea two years ago, maybe the lack of an entrepreneurial role model, is a challenge in and of itself and despite despite, excuse me practicing for 17 years. I'm just now embarking on this entrepreneurial journey, but by joining like-minded optometry entrepreneurial group called Vision Source, it has helped me bridge that gap and also it provides camaraderie and direction to my path.
Speaker 2:Perfect yes, persistence, and then keep following your passion. That's what's important. So, are there any myths or maybe misconceptions that we could clear up for our listeners today?
Speaker 3:Yeah, one of the most common myths that we hear is glasses are going to make my eyes weak, and so there's so many different factors that affect our ever changing vision, most importantly, overall physical health, cataracts, ocular surface issues, topical medications, oral medications and, most importantly, our age, and so that's why it's important to have a yearly comprehensive eye examination. For example, one of the most dangerous eye conditions is glaucoma, and the reason for it is is that it takes your vision silently. There is no symptoms at the beginning of glaucoma and it's a condition of the optic nerve that is usually, but not always, associated with higher than normal intraocular pressures, but it usually is not, doesn't have any symptoms until it's very, very advanced, and so it's very, very difficult to treat at that point. But here at Everglades Eye Care we have the latest technology and we have something similar to a CT scan or an ultrasound of the eye that does not use radiation but rather uses visible light that can pick up early damage from glaucoma. And there's different treatments, you know, with eye drops or lasers. I don't do the lasers, but I can send out to have the laser done and then I can follow up the patient for the treatment and we can follow up with that scan and visual fields to pick up progression.
Speaker 3:Another myth is that cell phones or tablets have no effect on our eyes. So in young children it's actually been proven by evidence-based medicine that electronic device use is making kids highly nearsighted. Can you believe this, jim, that it's actually making their eyeballs longer? So my advice to parents is to limit the electronic device time as much as possible. Also, screen time is changing the anatomy and physiology of our oil glands in our eyes, and sometimes not only is it causing but exacerbating dry eyes. And so here at Everglades Eye Care we use infrared technology to look at the oil glands of patients with dry eyes and kind of tailor their treatment plan.
Speaker 2:Interesting, very interesting. So you're not from here originally. What brought you to Southwest Florida and made you decide to set up shop here?
Speaker 3:Well, I did my ocular disease residency so I got my doctorate at Southern College of Optometry and so I grew up and I was born in Nicaragua. And then I moved to Blacksburg, virginia, when I was 10. And then I grew up in. I was born in nicaragua, and then I moved to blacksburg, virginia, when I was 10. And then I grew up there and I went to that's where virginia tech's at, and so I went to undergraduate at virginia tech and then I got my doctorate at southern college of optometry in memphis, tennessee, and then I did a residency program and my school, southern uh, had a matching program with a large ophthalmology practice in Fort Myers.
Speaker 3:So once I finished that residency in 2008, I got hired by that large ophthalmology practice and I worked for one of their satellite offices in Immokalee, the town of Immokalee, and that's where I picked up a lot of my disease treatment management, because I was the only guy out there for miles, wow. So you know infants, I saw kids and I still see kids now. You know, of course, but of all ages, and you know trauma, foreign body removals. You know post-operative care for cataract surgery and other ocular surgeries, and that's where I cut my teeth on how to treat the eyeballs Wow.
Speaker 2:From the ground up. So I know you don't have a free time just starting out and running your own practice. But what do you like to do outside of work?
Speaker 3:Well. So I have two daughters which I split time with their mother. So when I do have them I try to spend as much time I have with them, because they grow up so fast and I understand how valuable this time is. Right now they're eight and 10 years old, and on the weeks that I don't have them, I take salsa and bachata group classes at Elegant Salsa with Nary Garcia at Gil's Zumba Studio in Fort Myers, and also I also take dance lessons at Dance Flow with owner Noelia Guerrero. They're two awesome teachers.
Speaker 3:So Nary is an international dance phenomenon that lives here in our backyard, actually in Cape Coral, and Nary mostly teaches salsa, bachata and Latin hustle. So I like to take lessons, then go to salsa congresses in Sarasota, tampa, orlando and Miami to test and hone my skills. I'm originally, like I said, from Latin America, specifically from Nicaragua, and the connection I feel to the music goes beyond musicality. But that rather has a hit, has a rich history behind it, and Nary and Noelia and all the dance community in Southwest Florida is amazing and provides us a space for that connection to music and self-expression.
Speaker 2:I love it. I love it. That's one thing. I think I need to take some dance lessons. Yeah, you should Dance flow or Nary Garcia's.
Speaker 3:I'm blanking out.
Speaker 2:Right, no, that's awesome. I'm going to check them out.
Speaker 3:Elegant Salsa. There we go, there we go there, we go, perfect.
Speaker 2:So is there one last thing? Maybe our listeners or you wish our listeners knew about what you do, that maybe they don't know currently.
Speaker 3:Yeah, the eyes are the window. You know, there's a saying that the eyes are the window to the soul and actually the eyes are the windows to our health. While most eye exams I do are routine, over the span of my career I've actually diagnosed diabetes, brain tumors, impending strokes and genetic metabolic disorders just by a comprehensive eye exam strokes and genetic metabolic disorders just by a comprehensive eye exam. The most impactful encounter I had was this little girl I saw in Tucson, arizona. She was in for a routine exam but through the microscope I noticed that she had these few deposits on the front part of her eyes. These deposits did not affect her vision nor her comfort. So she was.
Speaker 3:You know, according to her parents there was no issues, but they signified one of two things. One was either the use of a medication called amiodarone, which she was not taking since I reviewed her medical history, or a condition called Fabry's disease, in which the body lacks an enzyme which leads to a dangerous accumulation of these fatty deposits in the blood which can later, as they grow, lead to kidney damage, heart disease, heart attacks and eventually death. But early diagnosis is tricky by itself and necessary to prevent complications. Early enzyme replacement therapy helps decrease the likelihood of systemic complication and actually extends this person's lifespan. But the only way to diagnose it that early was through a comprehensive eye exam, and so I know a great difference in this little girl's life.
Speaker 2:That's incredible and that's why you get into doing this, right? Yeah, absolutely so. How many lessons go about contacting you if they're interested about learning more?
Speaker 3:Well, one. Of course you know our phone number 239-374-2075. But if you want to learn, you know to make appointments. But, most importantly, we have our website, which is wwwevergladesicom. You can always stop by our office too, at 14700 Tamiami Trail North, unit 8, naples, florida, 34110. We're actually having our grand opening ceremony on April 19th from 4 to 6 pm, so you're welcome to come by, jim and all our listeners, and we'll have refreshments, snacks, we'll give tours of our space and our technology, and we're also going to raffle a few complimentary eye examinations, some contact lenses and some designer eyewear. We'd love to have you drop by and check our facility.
Speaker 2:I think I'll be there definitely.
Speaker 3:I got to see it right. Yes, you got to see it.
Speaker 2:Well, doctor, it's been a pleasure getting to know you. Thank you for being such a good neighbor and doing what you do here in the community, and we will see you at your grand opening. Okay well.
Speaker 3:thank you, jim, it's been a pleasure, and thank you for having me on the show today.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast Astero. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnpestero. com. That's gnpestero. com, or call 239-296-2621.