My right eye is my good eye. It has myopic macular degeneration. In the past year, I have had two laser treatments (photodynamic therapy) and 7 shots of Avastin in that eye. I see my retina specialist every 6 weeks, unless something is going wrong. My vision in my right eye is currently correctable to 20/40 with contacts. I have a small blind spot in my central vision and some general distortion from floaters. A lot of times, I feel as if my contact lens is dirty. I take it out and clean it, but the “dirt” is part of my eye, not part of the contact. Annoying.
As this progresses. I am losing my ability to read printed words on a page. The computer allows me to make text huge, but there will be an end to curling up with good books. I am also losing my ability to distinguish faces. The other day, I ran into my daughter in a restaurant. I wasn’t expecting to see her there, and did not even recognize her until she spoke. This made me realize how bad my facial recognition vision is. Still, there is good news. I am glad that my path is toward central vision loss. I will still be able to see the sky and the trees and nature. I will be able to see the “big picture.” I may not recognize faces right in front of me, but I will be able to make photos large on my computer and examine every nuance of loved ones’ faces. I am thankful to have low vision in this technological age. The medical treatments are working. The computer assistance is wonderful. I may change my attitude as this disease progresses, but for now I am accepting this low vision direction in my life.
Hi Belinda,
About curling up with books, might I suggest getting an iPad or some other form of electronic reader. I know it’s not exactly the same, but you can zoom into the text and still curl up with it.
My eyesight is not there yet, but this is what I plan on doing when it eventually does get there.
Take care,
Imran