How bad will this get? What to do about lighting?

Dear Friends

I am new to the group and have not written beyond my initial contact because using my computer is difficult. I have multiple eye conditions which include advance dry AMD and GA. I was under the impression that my condition was so advanced, it would not get much worse. Well, to say that was wrong is an understatement. In the past few months, my vision has declined from week to week. Things I could see the prior week, I could not see the following week. Each week has fewer things within my vision. I thought I was coping and learning to live with this condition but the last few weeks have been really tough on my state of mind. I keep flirting with depression on top of the extreme frustrations I normally encountered. I have to talk myself into refusal to get depressed.

My retina specialist keeps telling me more light and magnification. That is the answer.

Let’s talk about magnification first. That seldom helps with anything. The assistance derived from magnification is minuscule in most cases. I now have a collection of magnifying lens in every power imaginable.

Light – there is never enough light or too much light. I have experimented with just about every type of light, various lumens, various kelvins, and combinations of them. I have purchased more flashlights, task lights, floor lamps, in the past two years than I have in my lifetime and I am 75 years of age. I have had an electrician come out and changed overhead lighting and nothing has worked. I feel like I am in a dark cave all the time with only a candle for illumination.

Using my desktop computer, . . . . .
That is like looking at very light gray type on a white background. No matter how BIG the type, I can’t see it on the white background. I have tried using Windows 11 accessibility tools with just new frustrations and they don’t work inside the programs I use the most in my daily life. I still use AOL, yes, and I use a black background and that helps. I also use “Read Aloud” often but again, it is not available inside some programs.

The biggest problem using the computer is seeing icons, menus, pull-down menus, etc. The body is usually affected by the tools I have found but they don’t have any effect upon the menu bar and other menu items.

The computer is a big part of my daily life due to being a “shut-in”. I order my groceries online, my prescription drugs, pay my bills, email my out of state friends, etc.

I would love to hear from the community not only about the specifics I mentioned above but also what you can and can no longer see. What are your biggest obstacles?

I would list some of mine but it would make this post much too long. Here is just one.
Television in my house is now “radio”. I can’t see anything so I listen to old shows where I can recognize the actors voices.