Thursday, August 30, 2018

Macular Degeneration Injection

Several years ago, I developed the wet form of macular degeneration in my right eye. It tends to be hereditary and I believe I got it from my mother. At the time she had it, the treatment involved a laser cauterizing the leaking/growing blood vessels. Unfortunately, that procedure destroys the cells that allow you to focus on objects and she was left with peripheral vision only. She was legally blind with 20/200 eyesight.

Fortunately, by the time I needed treatment, a new procedure was developed that requires an injection of medication directly into the eye (it sounds a lot worst than it really is). It does not destroy any cells and as a result I have 20/25 vision in my right eye. The biggest disadvantage as compared to the old procedure is having to get the injections every six weeks which is a bit of a hassle for a full-time RVer. However, I consider it a small price to pay for being able to see and do pretty much everything I did before developing the disease.

Today, the doctor was kind enough to allow his assistant to video the procedure...


FYI - the cotton swap contains a numbing compound

1 comment:

Jim Brown said...

I thought getting old would take longer.