Dr. Marano makes a lifelong impression on a patient: hear the story
Ophthalmology 360 presents an inspiring story of an unforgettable patient encounter that bonded this ophthalmologist and his patient.
Matthew Marano, MD:
I think I was a first- or second-year resident in ophthalmology at George Washington University.
Wigbert Kreidl:
I know him from many years ago, and I said, “If you tell him what I am telling you now, I’m sure he’s going to call.” Everybody said in my house, “No, this is over 40 years ago. He’s not going to call. You won’t hear anything.”
Matthew Marano, MD:
It was a Thursday night and I happened to be on call, and the emergency calls and says that someone has had a knife go through both lids, through the punctum, and they want to make sure the eye is okay.
Wigbert Kreidl:
I was a chef in a restaurant in Washington, DC, and I made a very dumb mistake one evening. I put a knife in my right eye.
Matthew Marano, MD:
I hop on over and I look at him. Fortunately, his eye was good, but he had a laceration through the duct work here and the lid and the duct work here.
Wigbert Kreidl:
By midnight, he had finished checking the eye and he said, “It’s the closest cut you could have had not touching the eye. A hair would’ve been too much.”
Matthew Marano, MD:
I called the plastic surgeon, I called the ocular plastic surgeon, I called the chief resident. I said, “What do I do?” Everybody was busy for like 2 days. They said, “Don’t worry about it. It’ll be fine. We’ll see you in 2 days.” You and the owner of the restaurant said to me, “That’s impossible. We have to have him this weekend because it’s a busy weekend and he’s the only chef we have this weekend.”
Wigbert Kreidl:
Then he said, “Well, it’s always the best to do the surgery as soon as possible when everything is fresh. What about tomorrow morning at 6 o’clock?” This was midnight. I said, “What about now?” He said, “I was hoping you were going to say that.”
Matthew Marano, MD:
I grabbed a suture, I grab this. I have no one else help me. I make sure the lid was opposed, the punctum were fine, and it looked good to me. I probably did it maybe 3 times to make sure the lid margins were fine. If you’re closing lids, you get one shot at this. You can’t really go back.
Wigbert Kreidl:
It was perfect.
Matthew Marano, MD:
His lids are pristine, and he’s seen a lot of ophthalmologists or eye people when I left Washington, DC, and I came to New Jersey.
Wigbert Kreidl:
Everything was fine. Last year, I got diagnosed with glaucoma and macular degeneration. They didn’t tell me. I said, “What’s my situation?” They said, “Very advanced.” I said, “Well, what does it mean? I don’t know anything about it.”
Matthew Marano, MD:
We were not in touch.
Wigbert Kreidl:
“Usually we try to stop it or slow it down with medication.” I said, “Yeah, but do you know a little bit more?” They didn’t tell me anything. I got worried, and I called Dr. Marano and asked him if he can take a look at it and tell me what my situation is.
Matthew Marano, MD:
About 2, 3 months ago, I got a phone call, or I got a piece of a little Post-It saying, from my receptionist in New Jersey, “There’s a Wigbert Kreidl who wants to ask you questions. Do you remember him from George Washington University?” I said, “Of course I remember him.” We called him back and he said, “Do you remember me?” I said, “Of course I do. How could I forget you?” He’s a unique personality as well, a very special human. He had glaucoma, had poor vision or developing really cataracts as well. But the left eye had serious nerve damage. I said, “Well, I’d like to get your old records from let’s say 2 or 3 years ago to see if there’s been any change in your visual field or your nerve fiber test or your pressure evaluations.” He said, “Well, I’ve only seen this person 6 weeks.” I said, “Well, who did you see before this person, the doctor in Florida?” He said, “You’re my doctor.” Just flat out.
Wigbert Kreidl:
I haven’t been to an eye doctor ever since.
Matthew Marano, MD:
I said, “Okay, we have a problem here. You need to come as soon as possible.”
It’s important you just to relax your shoulders. Try not to squeeze. I’m not sure I got enough drop in your left eye, but I’ll take a look. This eye has a little Durysta ball sitting at 6 o’clock. Your pupil is reactive. The chamber is deep. The chamber is quiet. This is sort of a typical Durysta ball look with maybe a little bit of pigment, but it’s perfect. There’s no cornea swelling or edema or anything like that. This eye had the SLT laser, so I might put a Durysta in this eye today. Look straight at my ear, please.
I thought this was probably one of the most interesting situations as a doctor, not just an ophthalmologist, but as a physician.
Wigbert Kreidl:
Everybody said in my house, “No, this is over 40 years ago. He’s not going to call. You won’t hear anything.”
Matthew Marano, MD:
Why do we go into medicine? Because we affect people’s lives in so many ways. There are certain individuals in certain situations that stay with you forever. I remembered him even the vision of doing the surgery and what I was doing that night 42 years later when I spoke with him.
I think right now, we’ll just keep you as you are. I’ll see you again. Since you’re a Floridian, we’ll see you in the fall so you can see the leaves here in New Jersey. I will gather drops for you.
