Community Views: Things We Took for Granted Before Our Diagnoses

A few months back MacularDegeneration.net asked the community to share what they took for granted before being diagnosed with macular degeneration. This question resonated with the community.

Driving

Driving elicited lots of responses. This was no surprise to me. I recently had a scary experience when I got lost driving at night.

“Driving at night”

“I can't remember the last time I drove at night. Social life is mainly in the day time now”.

"Can't drive at night! ... adjusting to daytime life. I am still very bless[ed].”

“I do have lots of friends and neighbors who drive me. I don't like to miss church."

“[I'm] seeing better in dim lights and driving at night.”

My independence

“My independence, coming and going on my own. Having to rely on others. I believe giving up our independence and having to rely on others is one of the hardest things with macular degeneration.”

“I  do have a good support system but role reversal is hard to handle in your 70’s. It is helpful to know I am not alone with this change.”

“I believe giving up our independence and having to rely on others is one of the hardest things with macular degeneration. I have to depend on my daughter or my brother to drive me to my retinal specialist appointment. They are always willing to help but not everyone is that fortunate to have family.”

Good health

“My good health”

“I find as I get older I develop many more ailments, as well as my macular degeneration. I think I might have taken my good health for granted when I was younger.”

“This wouldn’t happen to me.”

Reading

The community had a lot to say on the subject of reading. I love to read but having age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and chronic dry eye, my ability to read is limited to my iPad. I have to enlarge the text and reverse the print and background colors.

“Reading a book”

“Reading, I can read some large print”

“I do kindle and audiobooks but it's not the same as holding a real book”

Nature

One last topic that comes up frequently in the community is the ability to enjoy nature. I have always loved walking outdoors.  I had to stop after a couple of bad falls related to my lack of depth perception.

“Being able to see the stars”

Miscellaneous topics

The ability to continue hobbies comes up frequently in the community.

“Threading a needle!”

I expected more comments about the difficulty distinguishing faces.  It is a subject that appears regularly on our Facebook site.

“Driving and distinguishing the features on people's faces. They are a blur...”

Also mentioned was the ability to travel. AMD has left me fearful of traveling alone. I greatly admire those that continue to travel alone in spite of being legally blind.

“20/10 eyesight most of my life.”

“That I still had plenty if time to travel and sightsee.”

What else did you take for granted prior to MD?

If you missed the opportunity to share what you took for granted before your diagnosis, feel free to leave a comment below.