A Summer Trip to Alaska With Limited Vision

I am pretty sure I am not the only one wondering how in the heck time is flying by. Honestly, each year I scratch my head in amazement over the passage of time. In the blink of an eye, another page is turned on my calendar of life. It feels like yesterday it was Christmas time, and somehow today we are sitting at the end of summer.

Self-doubt and worry over rechecks

The important marker on my calendar these days revolves around my retina specialist appointments. My life with the diagnosis of myopic macular degeneration (MMD) has become my barometer. Rechecks happening every 6 months is how I mark my days off.

Approaching the 6-month recheck appointment fills me with a lot of self-doubt and worry. Swirling around in my brain is an endless dialog of worry: Am I maintaining? Is my vision the same? Have my Amsler grid rechecks been accurate?

A special reward for myself

Fortunately, this checkup, again, was good news. Hearing the word "stable" makes me almost giddy. I then scheduled the next appointment — 6 months into my future.

Almost as a reward for this accomplishment, my husband and I scheduled and actually went off on an Alaskan cruise. The planning and scheduling was exciting, possibly almost as exciting as the trip itself.

MMD snuck into a day of discovery

After a long day of travel, we arrived in Alaska eager to start exploring all there was to see. Of course, MMD snuck into the adventure as well.

We had many opportunities to visit many areas that we had previously only read about. One day of discovery centered around spotting the many bald eagles in the area. The tour guides were so helpful, pointing out all that there was to see.

That is, if you could see.

Photographs helped me 'see' what I missed

With my limited vision, the sought-after eagles tended to look like a lump of indistinguishable something. Using binoculars was an unfortunate challenge, too.

When one of my eyes cannot really focus, the "good" eye struggles to really see. Husband was the saving grace; he photographed many species, letting me "see" what I actually missed.

Another day was an attempt to see whales as they frolicked in the ocean waters. Our guide gathered us travelers for the sea trip and, again, pointed out various aquatic sea creatures to be discovered. There were families of sea otters gathered about and a hint of various whales off in the distance. Again I tried to focus on what was to be seen, and unfortunately, I only had a hint of the idea of these sightings.

All this is to say, Alaska was amazing. The skies were beautiful, the weather great, too.

Actually "seeing" all the creatures did not pan out as planned. I have photos to prove they were there.

Preparing for the next adventure

This summer trip was great, even with my limitations. On our next adventure, I will research a better means for sightseeing — smacking the frustrations of myopic macular degeneration down to something a little more manageable for me to see, and also ensuring that I really do see what can be seen.