a bit of good news

[miriam_e]

Went to an eye specialist yesterday. He thinks that although it looks similar to macular degeneration, what I have is not that, but a viral infection in the retina of my right eye. He believes it will continue to worsen for a while as it runs its course, then quit leaving some permanent damage, but at least without blinding me. Best of all he doubts it will spread to the other eye. While this is not really great news, it is certainly way better than the prospect of going blind in the near future. Yay?

Comments

[adelaidepell.livejournal.com]

Yay, is right.

One of my best friends from high school, Marla,
has had macular degeneration since she was ten.
She had over a 4-point average all through
high school, and a dual major with a 4-point
all through college. She's a registrar at a
major university, now. She can just barely
see -- she uses a VisualTech which blows up
all the text she has to read to about six-
inch type or more.

She has a 2-year-old daughter now. Awww...

^_^

[miriam-e.livejournal.com]

It is uplifting to hear of your friend Marla finding ways to cope like that. It justifies my feelings that life today is marvellous, even if we have temporary setbacks, this is an amazing age. Not so long ago blindness would put you on society's scrap heap.

One of my best friends is prone to schizophrenic breakdowns, but she is able to control it and live an almost completely normal life today. Just a few decades ago that might have been almost impossible. And the future for curing it is looking very bright.

With the leaps and bounds our technology is making I suspect that Marla will be able to see properly again soon. Two technologies hold out great hope: stem cells and remote stimulation of neurons. The first would possibly repair the retina. The second would possibly stimulate the nerves directly, taking their information from cameras either worn or embedded -- the visual version of the bionic ear which is such a terrific success these days.

How lucky we are to be living today, during the greatest renaissance of art and science in human history. But wait. :) It is nothing compared to what is coming just a decade from now. Great things are afoot.