The Waiting Game: Macular Degeneration Progression
My latest injection followed a wonderful walk around the harbor with my women’s walking group. It was a shortened walk as we had the pleasure of scones and coffee in our provincial legislature dining room afterward.
Sidewalk obstacles
This is a special treat I look forward to each time, usually only once a year. Window shopping during a leisurely walk through our dynamic downtown to my retinal specialist’s office. But with an injection on the way, I’ve started noticing things such as grates, and uneven sections of the sidewalks. There seem to be so many of them! Am I going to be able to see these obstacles in the future? I try to put it out of my mind and enjoy the sunshine.
My eye injections
After several months of stability, a new leak. The Dr. had said it was a very minor bleed, almost non-existent. This was the second of this new series of three injections.
They always apologize before the iodine saying this will sting a little, and it does, but very little. First, antibacterial drops, then one so the iodine doesn’t sting too badly, then the iodine, followed by xylocaine to freeze it. I wait a bit with a bandage over the eye, then the Dr. gives more xylocaine before the shot which I really don’t feel at all. I have that small perfect black circle that resembles a sequin which always follows.
My dry macular degeneration
I’ve been thinking more about the progression of my wet left eye than I have of my dry right one. But perhaps the chance of the scotoma in the right eye getting worse is more likely as my mother lost her central vision due to dry AMD.
My blind spot
It seems to be getting slightly larger and less translucent, although still quite small. Not really noticeable even on the Amsler grid, but the numbers 5, 6 and 7 are less clear on my wall clock. The other morning I noticed the sprinkler in the ceiling disappeared when I closed my left eye. So, of course, I spent that day closing the wet left eye and looking at everything with the other. Haven’t we all done that? In normal daylight, the sprinkler was still there. It’s only when the light is dim that it disappears.
Progressing macular degeneration
I described these small changes in my dry right eye to my retinal specialist. We looked at the previous OCT pictures on his computer screen where he showed me the large soft drusen in that eye, explaining that they are more likely to advance to wet than the small hard type, especially as the other eye has advanced to wet. Now an appointment to do more tests. Again. I'm worried. Again.
The waiting game
On the way home in the bus I was wondering, or hoping, would just these three be enough to stop it again. They had worked before, hadn’t they? Well, after 11 of them. Or would this be the time it continues for years as some others have endured? And would this be the time I needed injections in both eyes? I feel like I’m continually in limbo. Wait for the next appointment. Wait for the next injection. Wait to see if they’re working. I need to stop playing the waiting game and choose to change how I see (pun intended) life.
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