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A woman with a name tag welcomes a man into an office that has anatomical eye posters on the walls.

Is It Too Soon To Consider Vision Rehabilitation Therapy?

Why am I considering checking out a low vision specialist?

It seems odd that in a month, when I go for my first scheduled visit with a low vision specialist, that I’ll be driving myself!  
You might ask, “If your vision is good enough to still drive, why are you going?”  Well, the short answer is, because I am a bit scared. I want to establish a “plan B”.  Just in case my vision continues to tank.

A bit of background

I was diagnosed 9 years ago at age 63 with wet AMD in one eye and dry AMD in the other. My vision was in stasis and did not change much for most of this time. (It stayed in the 20/30 to 20/40 range).  Just recently, my dry AMD eye has progressed to GA (Geographic Atrophy) and my vision in this eye went from 20/30 to 20/300 (20/200 being legally blind). Oh, and I’ve had over 80 injections in my wet AMD eye that is hanging in there at 20/40.

Seeking a “plan B”

During my phone interview with the low vision specialist, I told her all of the above things. I asked her if she thought I was being too reactive and seeking their help too soon?She told me that she was sure she could help me with some things I’ve been struggling with.

So, I’m going to go and check it out. You can be sure, I’ll report back to you on how it went and what I learned in a future article.

Here’s a brief description from community services for vision rehabilitation

According to their site Community Services for Vision Rehabilitation (CSVR) provides the following services:

    "We helps all with any degree of vision loss. We are highly accessible, responsive, and open to all. Our policies are designed to make all of the resources, training, aids, and devices available to all who will benefit."

They also offer strong glasses, adaptive aids, and equipment. And an initial evaluation enables them to choose the aids best suited for each individual. They even allow you to try different devices and training on how to use them.

Am I happy that it’s come to this?

Heck no!  But I prescribe to the theory that I may not know what I don’t know. Meaning, I don’t even know what knowledge I am missing. And these people are obviously trained professionals in a field I know little about.

A different approach

I am more likely to learn from them than through my rushed conferences with my RS. Don’t get me wrong, I love my RS and he will answer any question I have... the trick is having the question ready just before or after he stabs a needle in my eyeball!  

That procedure seems to get my entire attention and even if I have a notecard with questions, my mind is blown sufficiently to forget about having a “gab-fest” with my eye doc. I just want to go home to my recliner and my lap dog after the eye injection business.

So that’s it for now, I’ll report back on how it went and what value I derived from the experience. I wish us all well on our shared journey.

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This article represents the opinions, thoughts, and experiences of the author; none of this content has been paid for by any advertiser. The MacularDegeneration.net team does not recommend or endorse any products or treatments discussed herein. Learn more about how we maintain editorial integrity here.

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