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The mission of Prevent Blindness Texas is to prevent blindness and preserve sight. We are leaders and change agents in the eye health space here to empower you!
Hey, it's your eye health experts, Prevent Blindness Texas, and welcome to Eyespiring, a conversation about all things vision and life. Hi, and welcome to our episode of Eyespiring. I'm Heather Patrick, the CEO of Prevent Blindness Texas and your host. PBT is a public health agency focused on vision and eye health.
Heather Patrick:We serve the entire state, and our goal is to make sure everybody knows and understands why vision is important and how it connects to your overall health. I am super excited about today's guest. I have known Layla for how long now? A couple years. And what I will say is her passion, her dedication, but her ability to use her voice to take action I think is pretty phenomenal.
Heather Patrick:So we're going to talk a little bit about that, all things eye health, and why it's important to have these conversations. So I'll give you a little bit about Doctor. Lohmann, but then I'm going to give it to her to really give the ins and outs. But she's a mom of two, a wife, a practicing dentist, and the co founder and clinical director of Apex Dental Partners, one of the fastest growing, and I love this part, people centered dental support organizations. At 12, she was diagnosed with Graves' disease.
Heather Patrick:More than twenty years later, during her first pregnancy, she learned she had thyroid eye disease. Over the past ten years, she has expanded her advocacy and professional leadership, and she has really used her voice to make a difference in this space, in women's health, obviously in the dental world, but she believes education is empowerment and so does PBT. And so let's dive in Dr. Layla Lohmann tell us a little bit more about you.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:Well you already said everything. I'm done, podcast over. That's it. Thank you so much for that glowing introduction. For those of you listening, this Eyespiring podcast is something near and dear to my heart living with a chronic health issue that has no cure and I really appreciate what organizations like Prevent Blindness does for people that may not have that strong voice or confidence to have their stories being told because vulnerability is sometimes seen as a weakness.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:When in reality sharing and connecting makes you more powerful because the ripple effect about conversations and creating that safe space to have those conversations is just inspiring and eye spiring. So a little bit about me, I'm a mom of two. I am a wife, a practicing clinician, as well as clinical director for Apaxil Partners but many of those hats are not who I am and one of the things that I found most important in women advocacy and honestly just patient advocacy in general is you lose sense of who you are when your conditions start becoming active or flare ups or maybe you fear judgment for being thoughtful about how you want to live your boundaries.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:And I have found the more that you can be authentic and true to yourself, you have this liberating feeling that you don't have that burden to be who people expect you to be, but you actually hold yourself to that accountability. So what I love about what you're doing and my position at Prevent Blindness was I didn't realize how important my voice was because I was self conscious about my condition and even as I'm looking in this podcast right now, I noticed my eyes are two different shapes and I'm judging myself and all these things and the thing is is you live with these conditions and you have to manage them different ways.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:So, I'm just excited to be able to share my story and continue to be the voice that maybe some others can't be. And hopefully it connects with you and then you feel safe enough to share your story.
Heather Patrick:I love that. And for me, one of the biggest pieces about, I think, this business is connection. And really, I think just across human beings. But the longer I do this, the more important it is to drive connection, especially for our patients and clients that are questioning should I use my voice? Can I use my voice?
Heather Patrick:Will it matter? And the answer is yes. Yes, it does.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:But the thing is about mattering is depending on what your expectation is. If your expectation is they're going to make a difference, well, what does a difference look like for you? If it's connecting with another person so they don't feel alone, I think sharing your story is going to be super impactful.
Heather Patrick:Yeah.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:I think the collective voice of what PBT does and organization does is make an effective change from legislative standpoint as well as impacting places where I can't be. So I think that's what's important about what you're doing and what we do together is absolutely connection's important, but the collective voice and being able to support that collective voice has been one of the reasons why I've been an advocate of PBT Texas and prevent blindness in general is everyone deserves the right to see. And in the oral space, everyone deserves the right to have a healthy mouth. But sometimes the access to it is challenging. And honestly, I can't fix that in five minutes.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:I can I can do a lot in five minutes with the conversation and sharing and that's why sharing your voices and your story is so important?
Heather Patrick:Yeah, agreed. All right, so let's jump in. You were first diagnosed with Graves' disease at 12 years old. What do you remember about that?
Dr. Layla Lohmann:Oh my gosh, that one's a tough one. You start with a toughie. I'm 41 right now and I will say looking back and reflecting on who I was at 12, an Iranian American, I'm a twin, parents you know were trying to just do what they can and not knowing what the condition was. Honestly, I was just on a roller coaster and didn't know that I was on it. So, at 12, I didn't really have the words or the insights to be a voice that felt safe enough.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:I just did what people told me. I did what my doctors told me. I did what my mom told me. So, if I were to give advice to a future 12 year old living with a health condition would be take a minute to talk about what you're afraid of. People called me lazy to not want to go play outside because I didn't know how to articulate that the sun hurt my eyes all the time because I I didn't know that was my condition.
Heather Patrick:Right.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:So, my thought is is be able to talk about those things and 12 year old me probably wish someone would have listened to why I didn't want to go outside instead of feeling judged that I was lazy all the time.
Heather Patrick:Yeah. So do you think in this day and age that's changed for children? Do you think that we've done a better job maybe overall to help them? Or do you think that's one of the areas we still need to work on?
Dr. Layla Lohmann:I think we've improved. I think the way parenting and trying to reset the cycle of letting emotions be open, But then you go to that where you're like, well, now everything's emotional. So there's just that balance that I think that we still could work on and not having that victim mindset. And one of the things, my son lives with chronic health issues and he's 10. So I really relate to him, although he thinks I'm 100 years old.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:So it's funny.
Heather Patrick:My son is too. My son thinks I'm 100 years old too.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:I'm like, Lucas, I promise you in two years, I was you living with a condition. So, we need to understand. I need you to build this stamina and resilience and it's not easy. I'm asking you to build this at 10 but you have support. So I think the challenge is is you have to be living with a condition and being vulnerable enough to talk to your kids about it. Versus managing it, minimizing it, and making it just being like, that's fine. It's fine. I'm fine. It's okay.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:It's okay to say I'm not okay and still be productive.
Heather Patrick:Yeah, that's a great point.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:I think we're doing better.
Heather Patrick:Yeah. How did your understanding of your condition change when you later were diagnosed with thyroid eye disease during your first pregnancy?
Dr. Layla Lohmann:Honestly, I was frustrated at first because I thought I fixed it with a thyroidectomy. I think the shock that I now have another one, think I had some grief that I had to go through. So, Prevent Blindness had this art therapy program that I got into and it was really nice because it was accessible to anybody. I didn't have to pay for anything other than my time And so I think understanding my condition now has been eye opening to advocate for myself to even this day, one of the challenges I have with my spouse is we've been together for twenty one years. He still will say something like, you know, hey.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:Like, let's go outside more with the kids. And I'm like, okay. So so I think understanding it helps me be able to articulate a way that saying, like, understood, I'm not doing well today, so let's do fifteen minutes. And it doesn't feel like I'm not doing enough at times because I've built the skills to be able to advocate for myself instead of feeling a destructive thought pathway.
Heather Patrick:So how did you get there? How did you bridge that gap to be able to have that sense of communication, right? To be able to talk about it in that way of saying, you know, no, I can only do this and be okay with that. How did you get there?
Dr. Layla Lohmann:That is such a loaded question, but I will try to be concise.
Heather Patrick:We've got all day.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:Honestly it's been a journey of self discovery of awareness that sometimes the miscommunication was I was a barrier to conversations because I was fearing judgment, fear of speaking out, fear of making really hard decisions, and fear is something that I've learned that there's an acronym I heard that's like face everything and rise or fear everything and run. And I think one of the best tools that I did was invest time in learning when I am part of the problem and being humbled by, you know, I'm a recovering people pleaser and you had to like go through this process of like, why am I pleasing people?
Dr. Layla Lohmann:And there's a lot of healing that has to happen in your past but a lot of neuroscience is saying like your beliefs are distorting your reality and if you're not aware that you're distorting this reality, miscommunication happens. So, I went through this journey after COVID of my medication being unavailable due to the COVID vaccine which is what led me to the pathway of patient advocacy. Luckily, in my shoes, I was a healthcare provider, so I already was in the healthcare space of helping people in an aspect, but this was more of a personal thing.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:And I think art therapy really helped align me to take out all the the heavy weight of what I was holding in because of that fear and then I put it out on paper. I drew stick figures, man. I felt like when I was doing this first, was like, don't judge me and then, I started really being open of like, you know, screw it. Like, I don't have to like judge anybody and and honestly, I think I was judging myself. Like, I wasn't giving myself the same grace I gave my best friends.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:So, I went through this journey of inward and outward mindset, a sixteen hour course. I invested time in learning where my roadblocks were and disc communication. I I learned my communication style and how I always expected everyone to understand me. Well, Heather, I'm okay being misunderstood. So, I think I started accepting that Layla is human and god gave me grace and why am I not giving myself grace every day?
Dr. Layla Lohmann:So, I built this arsenal in my head and I'm committed to being my own best friend every day and that's what's been great. It's still tough. I still get pushed back left and right and going back to old version of her feels comfortable but I remember the weight of that elephant on my chest when I wasn't this version to advocate, conversate, and not be adversarial. So, when people now ask me questions, I'd say, don't get offended or defensive. This is all internal and then, I just get curious.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:Help me understand, are you trying to be mean to me right now?
Heather Patrick:I do like the so it's interesting because throughout, especially the last two years, I've gone through health coaching program and then worked with an executive coach. Whole idea of getting curious, it really does change the whole conversation. I'm really learning to listen and we all think we're good listeners, but we're not.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:Listening to respond.
Heather Patrick:Yeah.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:And so you naturally are like, I'm going to answer this. But when you actually get out of your own head as a recovering overthinker, to your point, I've gone to therapy for ten years. Over ten years, I've done executive coaching. I've been open to receiving constructive feedback and when I get destructive feedback, I check it in my head. I mean, like, they're coming from a place of constructive.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:They just don't know how to communicate well. So, now, I can get curious of saying, with it's my business or my patients or someone tells me I did something wrong, I I I innately Layla's reactions coming and I'm like, no, reflect and respond and like, this takes me less time in my head because I'm committed to being this person.
Heather Patrick:Yeah.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:To your point, I feel like sometimes we don't give ourselves that time to say, I don't need to be the expert at everything. I'm going to take a minute and think about it and if that person has a problem with it, they better tell me that I don't need to create a problem. I need to get curious and see is there even a problem here?
Heather Patrick:Yeah. Yeah.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:And I think it's the same way with patient advocacy when there's misunderstandings with patient doctor relationships. If you don't care if they have great bedside manner but they're great at their skill set, that's an expectation you better have a conversation about. If you want that fluffy, sweet best friend, then you have to have that expectation that that's the results that you're gonna get too.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:So I think the dynamic works also with stop feeling like they're telling you but get curious and then if they get offended that you're not taking their prescribed care, ask them why are they frustrated with you. You don't understand why this is there and honestly the top three things why people have a barrier to care is usually cost, comfort or fear of discomfort, and then their condition.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:They're mad that they have it.
Heather Patrick:Yep, yep. All right, so what do you think are some common misconceptions about thyroid eye disease or Graves' disease?
Dr. Layla Lohmann:It's funny you asked that. I was just having a conversation with my kid in the car and I said, Imagine having sand or an eyelash in your eye. And then I said, How does that feel? And they're like, it hurts. And I said, well, imagine living with that every day and you still have to go on and be okay with it.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:And my son goes, that's sad. And I said, yeah. I said, he goes, I thought your eyes just tear up. And I thought this and I thought that. And I think that sometimes is hard to being like, you want them to understand you, but you also need to figure out how to manage it yourself.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:I don't know if that answered your question, but it
Heather Patrick:What questions over the years, so when you've shared you have Graves' disease or that you have thyroid eye disease, what do what do they respond with? Or what have they asked you about That you're like, wow, that's what you really like. You know, people, they don't know.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:They usually ask you like, oh, just use eye drops. Really? Or yeah, they'll be like, oh, I use this all the time. And so I think the misconception of thyroid eye disease is they don't see that I internalize what I look like every day because I feel disfigured and it's not their job to do that. It's honestly, that's unfair to put that burden on family and friends to like just know what it feels like.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:Well, they don't. They don't live with this. They probably live with some other condition that you can connect with.
Heather Patrick:Yeah.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:So, I think the misconception is is why are your eyes so big? Like, I mean, I get told all the time, like, you have not right now, but when I'm in a when I'm in a severe flare, like, it scares people. And my daughter was like, your eye is so red. And I'm like, I know, girl. Today is a great day.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:I get it. I don't know that, oh, that, thyroid, like a thyroid hyperthyroidism is connected completely with thyroid eye disease when it could be two separate conditions. People tell you to, in any condition, to stop feeling stressed. You so much for that. I don't know about the misconceptions.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:I think living with it so long, I manage and minimize it too.
Heather Patrick:Yeah, yeah, yeah. So what do you or someone might have told you earlier in this journey?
Dr. Layla Lohmann:Good question. I think that you're not alone and because it feels lonely when you live it especially when you're in a space where you don't see it.
Heather Patrick:Yeah.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:But it's one of those things I was just talking to a patient the other day and she's 36 years old has cancer it's super breast cancer and it's super aggressive and she's like you don't even ask to get mammograms till you're 40 and so I wish someone would have told me that learning about a condition does not mean that your life is going to be destroyed, but that you can figure out a way to live with it and still be super successful but you're just going to have to manage things different. I was talking to a mentee about his ADHD and so I think the more that we can say I'm telling you you have this condition. Here's what we can do to help you manage the condition.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:You also have to do some of the work. My doctor told me to put eye drops in like seven times a day. I'm not going to do that. I, there's no way that every time I talk somebody, to I'm going put it in there. So I have to be okay with having pain in my eyes because I'm not doing what the doctor is prescribing because it doesn't work with my quality of life.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:So I think maybe managing my expectations at a younger age might have been a better approach of what I'm saying. I'm trying to think of like, what would I like, my expectations. No one's gonna understand it other than someone who lived with it. So why do you expect people to? But have a conversation and say, like, I just don't feel okay right now.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:I can't go outside with the kids and be okay accepting that disappointment happens.
Heather Patrick:That's a good phrase, disappointment happens. But that's true in most things when you're dealing with something with a chronic disease. I I think that goes back to the people pleasing too. I mean, the reality is, and this is what I love about talking to you. You've gotten to that place in life And it goes back to what you said earlier.
Heather Patrick:You are authentic. Know what my life is. I want to give you this. Will you receive it? I mean, that really is, and I love that about you.
Heather Patrick:And I think that's an important part, but I do think it is part of the journey. And I think for so many people, they want to go on that journey. They don't know how to go on the journey. And that's why I hope conversations like this and organizations like mine help people get connected to have support to go on those journeys.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:That's right. When you ask me, how did you get here? I chose to take action to change my circumstances into choices. Every day I choose to and I know a lot of people say it like gratitude. But I'm like I am grateful that today it's not a very bad day.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:And then so then I can go and do what I need to do and then have that boundary. But I choose to take action each day. And if people in my life don't accept that, they weren't going to accept me anyways. And so I'm okay releasing that from my boundaries.
Heather Patrick:Yeah.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:It's scary and it's actually really uncomfortable. I was telling one of my colleagues, when I have that uncomfortable feeling now, I'm like, oh, that's great, Layla, because you're improving that uncomfortable feeling helps you keep building that resilience. When before, when I felt uncomfortable, I shied away from everything because I was judging myself. I was judging others. I didn't even mean to do it, you know?
Dr. Layla Lohmann:Right? It goes in your head. You're just like, I'm just gonna sit back and be quiet. And now, like, I'm I'm not gonna do that anymore and and if this is all that we are is we're acquaintances or in my professional career, you're no longer a patient of mine. I accept that and I think that you have to build the skills and take the time to invest in some type of community, leadership training, disc, coaching.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:People get frustrated that it costs money to get health coaches. Okay, well, it's a job. I need to support my family just like you do, but things that you do is free. But if you need that extra step, you need to prioritize that care, which means you have to budget for it.
Heather Patrick:Yeah. Yeah. Or take the time to work with organization like ours, right, that can help connect you to the resources because we know not everybody can afford it even if it is a priority for them. But that's why organizations like ours exist too. Sometimes you have to do the research to find us.
Heather Patrick:Or hopefully we've done such a great job of talking about who we are and what we do that enough people know who we are.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:Well, also have to attend these things. Like they also have to invest the time to be out of their own head and actually be listening to receive the information. So if one person sees this podcast and just says, you know what, I just want someone to hear me, like go into the community and just get a friend for a minute and then then be the person you need to be. I I don't compete with other people anymore. That's the recovery part of people pleasing is I compete with myself to be the best version of my day and I do not operate from shame or blame anymore.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:If I feel myself being pulled under like, you know, shovel putting, you know, yourself and you're just feeling down. Yeah. If I start recognizing I'm feeling that in any situation, I take a minute and reflect and I I don't respond to anybody and I have to ask myself why and it's typically a past trauma, a past judgement, and then, I'm already having this distorted reality because I'm in my own head. So, I have to stop and take a minute and reflect. And it's very challenging, especially with your personal relationships to do that.
Heather Patrick:Yeah.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:Because you're worried they're judging you. And they probably are
Heather Patrick:Get you to that place where, oh, well, if they are.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:I mean, like, that's the thing is, like, I accept like, I would say eighteen months ago, I I accept being misunderstood. And now I just get curious about what about what I said was confusing. And then you talk to your husband, and he's like, everything. I'm like, well, I'm not in a place to have a conversation right now, so let's just watch a movie.
Heather Patrick:All right, so let's kind of move into that bridging that connection between your professional life and managing chronic disease. As a dentist, how did your own eye disease change the way you think about whole body health?
Dr. Layla Lohmann:Oh my gosh, it's been a game changer for both my patients and cathartic to myself. I've been able to even have a more powerful conversation because everything in the plaque in the mouth can transfer to other places. So, the oral plaque transfers up and down. It's actually being associated with macular degeneration, Alzheimer's, and then pancreatic cancers and the normal cardiovascular diabetes and pregnancy. So what I've really honed in on is the whole body system is that if people don't know how to manage every aspect, they don't have to be an expert, but they have to know what they need to be doing at home to be able to have the quality of life that they want to have.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:And sometimes that quality choice is not great because you have a super uncomfortable chronic condition, like someone living with chronic pain all the time. You still have to live your life. Starts getting very depressing and so that's why you have to have investments whether that's time or finances or resources working with you is like it can get very dark living with chronic health diseases with no cure and there's so many out there that I connect.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:My patients have this whole part of me that's like I understand you're living with this or this or this but I don't want this to be a contributing factor so here's how we're going to manage this because this is my expertise and then we can work with your other clinicians to figure out how to manage the other things but I think they feel seen when it's not just fixing a tooth but helping me holistically and I get told no, I can't do it. I can't afford it all the time and I say, that's not a problem.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:I'm here to fix it when it's a big problem. I'm just trying to be proactive to avoid that But you have to take some ownership of this. And I think bridging the gap between dynamic duo of the patient being powerful enough to have those conversations with clinicians feeling confident and competent that we can do it together even if we disagree. I think that's a lost art and that's what I'm trying to help bridge the gap between all the healthcare spaces is that we're all connected. Literally, my whole body is connected.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:Yep. My arm hurting. It gives me a headache which then leads me to not want to do anything, which leads me to being depressed at home because I don't want to do anything a day. So, like, it's really just being open that I'm not going to be a victim. How do I stop being a victim?
Dr. Layla Lohmann:And then, get curious. Ask questions instead of getting on your own head. That's what helps me. It's like, I could call Heather and be like, hey, I'm having a really bad problem. Can you direct me to, actually, that's what I did.
Heather Patrick:I know.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:I did. I was like, they took my medication away. Like, how do I tell my voice? And you're like, here's some resources. You didn't fix the problem for me.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:You gave me an avenue to give to where I needed to go. And then it let me be the voice to do it and so when we talk together we find the connection of community, non profits, people doing it. If you can't be the voice send me a message and I promise you I'll help you on the right resource.
Heather Patrick:Yeah yep. So let's talk a little bit about that. You know, it was you came to, no, you reached out, right, had a question, because you were going through this challenge and we connected you to the national office as well, which led you to the Aspect program. Yes. So talk a little bit about that and then we'll come back on how we came full circle.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:I love the Aspect program. So in 2020, when the whole vaccine came and the medication I was on had infusions had to be stopped because of the production of the vaccine, I got really frustrated because I finally felt what relief felt like after battling insurance and all the things and so circumstances just didn't have my medication. So was a gap in care and I was just like, what is happening? And so, I reached out to you. You gave me the avenue and then, I got involved with the Aspect Program and it really helped hone in the skills on how to be a patient advocate and how to the tool to help you be like elevator pitches.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:Half the time my elevator pitch would be losing people because I'm like trying to tell them my condition plus this and having them this. It's like you were trying to give them twenty nine years of pain in like four seconds. What aspected was, who are you talking to? What is your audience? It really gave you a framework to be a better patient advocate, and the program paid you to do it.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:I got paid to be a better advocate, which is amazing. So they really try hard to help with advocacy because then helps with legislation because it comes from a place of authenticity but you're helping build people to be the professional advocates that we need to affect the bigger change because the impact is the story. It's the people living with it. It's the constituents living with it so that our people can then make change on a policy place. So I love Aspect.
Heather Patrick:Good. I mean, it drives home it's hard to change something when you have no personal connection to it. I think building that, building patient advocates, one, it gives you the platform to have a voice. But it also helps bridge that. It helps bridge the gap in knowledge, the gap in understanding.
Heather Patrick:When you are bombarded like our legislators are with all that information, it is hard to know, okay, should we make this change or not? And so I think it is the opportunity, if nothing else, to give that personal understanding of this is what life looks like. And you have the ability to change it if you can. And this is why it matters. I was in the cancer world for eleven years and I've been in the chronic disease world and then I've been in the vision space for almost a decade.
Heather Patrick:It's still crazy to me how just like with oral health, it's still so disconnected. When in reality, to your point, it is all so interconnected. And that is my hope that within the next three, five years, the general public really understands how critical eye health is. It's not just about seeing, although clearly we want people to see, but it is truly when they say it's a window to your soul. It's definitely a window to your health soul for sure.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:For sure and the great thing about that program was it helped me understand legislation and policy. I came from a space of being frustrated with insurance and why people just can't help me. I pay for this. Why are you not helping me? You're just you're a roadblock to my care and what aspected was like, it helped you understand like, this is what it is.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:You can't change that. That is such a monster and that you can't change it but the collective voice, the collective small wins ultimately gets a big win. And I do think part of the challenge is providers. Like when you talk about whole health it's a little burdensome on a provider to being like hey, it's all interconnected and then a patient asks you a question and then you don't know the answer and then lose credibility. But in reality, you don't.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:In reality, you can say, and I just talked to a patient today, she has a lot of chronic health issues. She had pain in her back and she was having jaw pain and she had to get off her anti inflammatories and she just was thinking it was complete TMJ. She'd never had it before. Been my patient for five years And I really had to take a step back because it was a very challenging, complex case. And I had to go back and say, it sounds to me like it's the med that you got off and it's reference pain.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:So let's wait until And she's in excruciating pain, mind you, right? So I can't dismiss she's not in pain. But there was no TMJ issue. And so I said let's do this. When you have your procedure on Friday let's circle back in one week after you're on the right medication because you didn't have that problem before.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:And then, let's see if TMJ is part of your problem but I became a provider from a holistic, proactive approach and most people are like, oh, that's the ophthalmologist job. Oh, no, that's your cardiologist job job and then, the providers perpetuate the same problem. They're like, no, no, no, that's your dentist. Like, how about we have a conversation so the patient feels heard and I know from a fact when I call cardiologist, they're just like, why are you calling me? I'm like, oh, I'm sorry.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:Have you seen the new studies from 2000 that there's the biofilm in the mouth that's probably why his blood pressure is not being accurately represented and so, I think part of the challenge that you can't really fight is the providers need to start stepping up and getting out of their inbox, like getting out of their own heads and say like this is a holistic approach. I may not have the answer to it. Give me your primary care doctor, your cardiologist, and we're going to circle back and connect and see how we can help you. And I don't think people prioritize that.
Heather Patrick:Yeah. Yeah, Part of what we talk about on a regular basis is how we help again bridge that divide basically, especially between primary care and the eyes. And I do think it is part of it too again. Providers have so much, especially primary care providers, right? Have to know so much.
Heather Patrick:I think where a group like us really could be helpful is they know we're here, right? Know we can be a resource to them and a resource to their clients and help bridge that gap. But we've also talked about how do we help providers learn more about just general eye health in particular so that they do feel more comfortable saying, Hey, I think you've got an eye issue. Let's talk about that.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:You guys do a great job of connecting and bridging that gap through symposiums and education initiatives, it's that doctors have so many continuing educations out there that they're just like, I don't have the time. And so I think that you guys are like, how do we? And you guys do a great job with like the Women's Health Symposium is the part that I'm a part of. And it's really trying to connect those dots from an educational standpoint from teaching the students. I think teaching the students that these are resources instead of trying to get the gray haired old guys to do it, It's more of like how do we start affecting change where there's the biggest impact and it may not give me an ROI tomorrow.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:It's going to give me an ROI in ten years when those providers not say like hey join the community with Prevent Blindness. You're living with macular degeneration. They can connect you with people so you don't feel alone. That is a less than fifteen second connection that can be super impactful for the doctors to not feel burdened, to help that condition, specifically emotionally. They help them prescribe their care, guide them on their prescribed care, but then emotionally they can connect with people who live with it and who work with you.
Heather Patrick:Yeah, I think that's a great point. So you go through the aspect program, learn all these great things, and then you connect back to us. And now you're one of our top volunteers. We love working with you. And you've been amazing to learn from too throughout the last several years.
Heather Patrick:But I love your story of you came to us with an issue and we helped you. And not in the way probably you thought it was gonna land.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:No, I wanted you to fix it. I wanted you to just be like, here's your medicine.
Heather Patrick:But it gave you, My hope is, and I think this is true, it gave you so much more than I think you thought you anticipated. That's what I love. I love about this organization, but I love it about the space too. People don't know we're here, but once they do, they stay connected because we bring value to the table. But the people that are part of this organization across the board are just phenomenal.
Heather Patrick:They're just amazing.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:You guys really do because I don't know if I've told you this before, but after we did the art therapy for thyroid eye disease based on that program, it speared off the thyroid eye disease community and the community builders and I became one of 12 and multiple people to help build that specifically in that space and so the connection actually your impact is even bigger because now we have over three hundred individuals living with thyroid eye disease, and they get connected with people who live with it. And so it is huge. I am so honored and blessed to be. Again, I was frustrated by the email. I was like, why aren't you giving me my answers?
Dr. Layla Lohmann:I mean, full disclosure, I was like, I don't this just seems hard. This seems like a lot of work. But in and to your point, it it had to have happened that way because, like, you can't do what you need to do. It's not your condition. It's not what you're living with, and you can't fight some of these battles, but you can be a resource.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:And then now I'm in this connected group where we do live with the same condition, and so we can connect and complain and move on and build this community. So it's like you built this beautiful baby, and then, you know, your stepchild starts coming and building this. And it's actually bonus children is what I should have said. Bonus child.
Heather Patrick:Yeah.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:It's all about the words you And so it went even before that. So now I am a thyroid eye disease, community builder and really just born to be an advocacy in the space. And luckily, they have that avenue as like, I'm a health care provider in other areas so I can help our community be more powerful to their patients because I mean, this is what you should say to your provider. Like, yeah. They have a problem with it, then, tell them you're not the right provider for me.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:Do you have any friends I can go see?
Heather Patrick:I do. I love that it keeps growing and I think that's the really amazing thing, right? Is that it just has these arms and legs that, you know, it just goes back to the connection and it builds, it amplifies. It amplifies the voices and it provides that support. I think that is I mean, I think that's the ultimate way to be successful.
Heather Patrick:The vision space is broad and there are a lot of things in it. And I think not one organization is going to solve it all, but if we work together, we certainly can get further in where we want to go. Absolutely.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:I mean, that is,
Heather Patrick:yeah, that's the amazing part.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:I think inspiring people to share their voice and and be who they need to be and be so happy that they're successful instead of envious or jealous and really just ask the questions like, what are you doing differently, and how can I do that in my space? It really just helps expand. And like you said, I love the word amplify. That's actually what I'm like, if it's going to amplify and clarify what this year looks like, it's going to be easier for me to manifest what I want. But I love that because it is.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:It's the ripple effect of sharing your story, connecting, and I wouldn't have done that if I didn't take the action to email you about being frustrated about something. So it's all about that connection. You're right.
Heather Patrick:Yeah. And I think to your point too, just reach out. You never know what's going to happen. Even if it's in frustration, you never know who's going to be that person that gets you to the place you need to be or want to be. And so I think just reach out.
Heather Patrick:You never know.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:Yeah. And that's the thing that people misunderstand. They want it to happen, but never take the action. You have to be the one to take that step forward to reach out. It's really about you taking that step and getting outside yourself because I could have just lived with it and been mad at the whole world that they took my medicine away and just lived with it.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:And you have to take action and that's the only person who can do it. No one can do it but you, but we have the support and the resources and people like you and programs like yours and Aspect that want you to be successful. You have to invest the time and energy.
Heather Patrick:Yeah. Okay. So what are the two takeaways, if audience remembers nothing else about our conversation, that you want them to have?
Dr. Layla Lohmann:That is so hard. You know I like talking. Okay. Me think for a second. Okay.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:If I were to say two takeaways, one, learn and join programs to help you amplify your voice or find people who can connect you to that if you really want to make effect change in your personal life. Number two is become aware of when you are a roadblock to the care that you need or a barrier or a roadblock in your life that you're part of the problem. The Taylor Swift song, Me, I'm the Problem, It's Me, That level of awareness is so beautiful because sometimes I am the problem. But if I am aware I'm the problem, then my choice is an action or an inaction, and then I have control back. I have the power back, and I don't give it to other people.
Heather Patrick:Yeah, yeah that's good very good. All right well it's been awesome as our conversations usually are of course we don't always share them with thousands of people but today we are. It's always good to talk to you, Layla. I love your insight. I love your passion and I love hearing about your journey.
Heather Patrick:Thank you. Because I think it's not only for if you have thyroid eye disease, but really it's about life. It really is learning how to walk through life differently. And I think that resonates in all different ways with all different people. So thank you for sharing your story.
Heather Patrick:I truly appreciate it.
Dr. Layla Lohmann:Thank you for having me Heather and I hope everybody is eye spired by this podcast.
Heather Patrick:I like it. I like it. And on that note, thank you everyone for listening today. As always, you can join the PBT family. You can volunteer.
Heather Patrick:You can donate. You can get involved like Layla did. We are always excited to hear from you and we always close with tell us what your vision is. Have a great day!