a devastating situation and his life and how he turned around for himself and what he's doing in the community let's hear directly from dr james dr dan jan's welcome to the show  i also have worked as a professor at the city university in new york i'm a sunni i'm our assistant adjunct professor appointed at the city university of new york in know biology but also i worked as an adjunct professor with the long island university in brooklyn new york and also pace university in new york in departments of biology where i taught anatomy physiology in general biology also i practice as a podiatrist in new york and new jersey i've had multiple practices i've had practices in brooklyn new york and back also at one time when i when i first received my medical degree i worked as a podiatrist for the state department of corrections in new york and new jersey in the prison system where health clinics in the prison system and various prisons throughout both states in april two thousand and eleven i became very ill i had to go into the hospital into the burgess of rome and they bade me and i was placed on a respirator at that time they put me in an induced coma and they kept me in this induced coma for about thirty days well at that time when i went in the hospital i could see when they brought me out of the coma i couldn't see and i lost so i had lost my si yes and you were not able to see yes ok and i stayed in the hospital was very ill and he died i stayed in the hospital for three months after leaving the hospital i visited various doctors to see if they could restore my eyesight and no one was able to do so so from  april two thousand and eleven until you know approximately say about november two thousand and fourteen i had to recuperate first of all it was just like i had to learn things all over again things that i've done all my life i had to learn how to do such as across the street so jazz use a computer such as cook ruffle from the new jersey national federation for the blind new jersey chapter and he informed me of i was a thing called the new jersey commission for the blind ok and i joined the commission for the blind in two thousand and eleven and they gave me the opportunity to go to a school called the joseph cohen school for the blind in new brunswick ok i went to josel cola school for four months and during those four months they taught me how to cook they taught me how to basically how to cross the street how to walk with a cane they taught me how to use a computer we have a used computer they have a program called jaws that talks to me ok on a computer they told me how to use adjunct equipment like a machine call curve as well which is a machine a program computer program that you can place a document on the printer and it reads it out loud ok so that enabled me to read documents also i learned how to read in braille ok and it taught me various other things so i experience educated in multiple areas i was also a paramedic in new york which i forgot to mention i was a pragmatic i went to school for e m t school paramedic school also prior to becoming a doctor so i said i've been to multiple schools but i never could imagine it i have to go to a school as a blind person to learn how to read again when i became fifty two years old so i at that time i just basically had to learn how to function again and once i learned how the function i said oh i can't i can't sta house i have to do something because i'm not that type of person i can't really work i don't really want to work a lot but i want to do something so ok i i began a small very very small practice and actually the commission for the by they helped me and made you know your skills also that only did they show me how to use a computer program and the computer and so forth they also provided me with the computers ok and in the end it's the printers and it and it and the scanner and of all the programs and so forth which was very helpful so may i ask a question here since you are very well educated person practicing physician but i trust and professor you know and very knowledgeable into biology as you mentioned many subjects that you were teaching so you had a lot of knowledge already and what i want to ask for my you are people who may have the blindness maybe from birth that they may not have those types of life skill life experiences where they gained a lot of skills or had professional experiences do these last programs at the ages of convince cool that they are teaching do they just go why something to communicate with others or is there more to their programs on our program is basically to they they educate many children who are born blind i see and their program is basically to try to help blind people function throughout life ok so even even small children they were they will have well actually the commission for the blind they provide additional help if a child goes to a school like a public school and they're blind ok they will have a special tour or so i see help them in school and then they help them through throughout school and they help them go to college they will provide all the jogger equipment they need for school for computers computers and whatever adjunct equipment they need to to go to school and then when you after you finish school when you're looking for a job they will have they will provide equipment for you to work ok so if you need additional quick meant to help you work they will provide or how to cross the street and everything else that you had to go to learn how was it emotionally dealing with that  well some at times it can be somewhat depression psychologically but i try not to let it i look at it optimistically i say to myself well i've lived for fifty years with my eyesight so i was able to see just about everything so i know how most things look and i feel bless because some like you said some children are born blind and they have never seen what how things look so i don't really feel sorry for myself i just understand that this is a phase of life is something that happened and i always keep in the back of my mind that there are new there's new technology coming out every day and there's a doctor in california right now who's doing he's working computer chips and he's placing them in people's eyes in front of their retinas and also behind the optic nerve ok and he's given them a special pair of glasses many people like myself have optic nerve damage that's why they're not able to to see so even if the chip was placed in front of the retina they still probably would be able to see however the same dr he's doing research in england this year and what they're doing anyone is their place in the chip behind the optic nerve instead in front of it to bypass optic nerve and then hopefully the glasses signal ok bypass an optic nerve gone straight to the brain and people would optic nerve damage maybe able to see also so i always have hope that there's new you know technology in the future out of the house and do something so well i went to start tell me i started practice i'm a doctor now i work as a doctor i have a small practice in red bank new jersey and i am and the for this work i just work a few hours a week but i just to satisfy it keeps me busy gives me something to do and i feel like it's a help at home and would you like to share with us the practice that you have  well i basically consult i don't i don't really do any that much hands on my podiatry but i can sew and i can so i recommend people for the medical marijuana program i twenty fourteen thirty years do they learn things and kind of get yourselves to a place where you wanted too be comfortable with your new norm and figured out what is really a great story to tell you know all we need more of these kinds of examples to let people know that no matter what comes you know you kind of look at  like to ask you is while at the blind school i'm sure that you encounter a lot of other people in similar situations maybe due to injury due to illnesses or because like i said i've been to so so many different schools throughout my life you know how many years i've been to school maybe twenty years and i worked as a professor so i was a teacher so i'm used to teaching ok and it was just better for me to be the student again after all that time and people went to school they were all at different levels you know like i'm trying to say is you have people with different education levels different you know levels of life young it was easy for me because i was really i was really anxious to learn because i wanted to continue to function so i had to learn you know i really wanted to learn especially how to use a computer and how to read again what other goals that you may have that you think you would like to pursue well i'm still concentrating on this practice and  go to practice i would like to help people any way i can and if this some sort of way i can create some sort of charity organization to help audience tell them what would you like to give them advice or your from your life experiences what you want to tell people who might be facing any type of challenge not just apply blindness any type of challenge that you really don't think that this can happen to me well i've learned that disabled people are the largest minority in the country and many people who have disabilities some have slight disabilities that really doesn't interfere with their function they wanted their life so they may not consider them to be disability i see about you know you never know what's going to happen in your life so you should  so many places and i'm sure that there were many incidents that touched your lives touched your heart and if there's anything that stands out stands out we have some time the prisoners would come to the clinic and they wanted orthopedic boots ok so they had to see a podiatrist and if they had orthopedic problems ok then we where is the the irregular you know the best shoe get a day they would see was just like the cheap canvas converse sneakers and very very hard boots so they didn't want those you know you have to leave so he wouldn't leave so i had the core like in the prison you have the security guards the guards they stand outside the door so i had to call the guards and say he has to leave because i'm not going to give him the booze and he said he's not leaving and was crying and everything you know and it made me feel bad i never forget that the lie felt like i was the cause of you know being be like that but but it really did not need it no  very tragic that any any other you know i've done i've done some surgery in the past and if i had good results in a surgery i get satisfaction like blindness surgery and have a toast surgery there's so many you know cases i can't really pinpoint one particular incident but it's just that when when when a patient is happy of the results and i'm satisfied as far as teaching as a professor the same i sad i'm satisfied when my students do good and go on to be professionals and so forth and so on and productive citizens maybe a good story about the school was that  one one thing that makes me feel good is that when i taught there the students in my class always got the highest grades in the school and in in the department of tests i schedules that t two might be an option even though it could be some other topic that you know where you well know that you might be able to share your knowledge is difficult because because i can't see i see is a lie because by when i taught i use powerpoint and it be it's not impossible to use it now but it's a little bit more difficult and there are other factors as far as me not being able to see that may make it difficult for me to teach and i thought about it i would have most likely i would need  i don't use a dog i thought about using a dog but i still use one right now from my jaw doing you're satisfied and that makes a big difference and especially that you are still staying active and just like to say that many times when people who are handicapped such as blind people may feel like at times a day or so mentally ill that's a very strong point and i find that a lot and i just like to explain to people that that's not the case many times it's not the case sometimes or maybe not always there are many people that have a disability like blindness or deafness that are not mentally ill and when you can you communicate with them you should try to be as communicate as normally as possible  scared from your insights and your challenges they learn from it and if they want to reach out we will provide them the information here and i thank you again being here at the show