In Search of Solutions

For most of my life, I thought I was like a cat! Throw anything at me and I’d land on my feet. Ahh, the confidence of youth! Remember the days when you thought you were bulletproof and that all the bad things only happened to others? In my youth, my mantra was, "Full speed ahead, we got this!” All setbacks were temporary, there were no problems that didn't have solutions.

Life's curve balls

Then life happened! Like all of us, life threw me some curve balls. It even threw me some "chin music” (high, inside fastballs)! Sports analogies, I know. But I digress, let me outline some major events that shaped me and made me what I am today. I'm not all good and I'm not all bad, I'm just me! There was the then me, and there is the now me.

Baseball

I grew up in South Florida, looking back it was idyllic. I was driving boats before I was driving cars. I fished, camped out under the stars, was an avid skin diver. With my tight group of guy friends, we hunted in the Everglades, fished in the Florida Keys and lettered in sports at our high school. I played baseball, I was a pitcher. I was all-city in Miami and was starting pitcher in the all-stars two years in a row!

My first curve ball

Then, the injury happened! It was the ”Tommy John” arm ligament injury. And this was before the "Tommy John” surgery had been perfected. OK, baseball is out!

Football

Football, I was a starting outside linebacker. I never was a star, just a pretty good solid starter. I wasn't ”on fire” with it like I was in baseball, probably because I was late coming to the party. I hadn't played ”peewee” ball as I had in baseball. So, football ended after high school, I didn't play any sport in college.

Flying

Long story short, before I was 20 years old I obtained a Private Pilots License, a Commercial Pilots License, an Instrument Rating, and a Multi-engine Rating. I was in love with flying! I went on to college and enrolled in Army ROTC for 2 years, then was accepted into, what was then called, NAVROC. The prelude to Navy flight school, I wanted to fly fighters off an aircraft carrier.

Another curve ball

Then another curve ball came, high and inside! My eyes went south! (the same thing happened to my sister about the age of 20, it must be genetic). Anyway, Navy flight school was no longer an option. I was gutted, but I had to adapt and persevere. I did, and it all worked out, I never flew fighters, but I had a good career in aviation for 40+ years.

Problems and solutions

Identify (your) problems but give your power & energy to solutions.

How can we apply this philosophy to the AMD pickle we’re in? Here's my advice:

• Don't miss any visits to your eye doctor and keep him/her advised of any changes to your vision.
• Do the health things: avoid smoking, improve diet, practice a regular exercise regimen.
• Take the vitamins if prescribed and don't delay or miss any injections if you have wet AMD.
• Educate yourself, this site is a great one to learn about AMD strategies and to get support and encouragement.

We are all still here! We’re still in the fight. Recognize the problems but give your power & energy to the solutions. New AMD drug trials are ongoing, both for wet and dry forms of AMD. Don't give up hope and stay informed.

Just watch out for those high, inside fastballs! I wish us all well on our health journey.

Editor's Note: As of August 2023, 2 drugs known as complement inhibitors — Syfovre® and Izervay™ — have been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat the advanced stage of dry age-related macular degeneration, or geographic atrophy (GA).