But I am only 25!

At 25, I was a young mom of an overactive toddler. Like most moms, I wanted to capture every moment so I always had a camera around (this was before the advent of smartphones).

There was something in my left eye

One day, I was attempting to take a snapshot of my son doing something cute when I realized there was something in my left eye, and couldn't focus. Don't ask me what my son was doing that was so cute because I don't remember and I never did get that photo because I was busy trying to wash out my eye while trying to keep tabs on my son.

I went through that day all alone and terrified

No amount of washing removed that blind spot in my eye. Later that week, I went through a day-long battery of tests and left without a diagnosis. As you can imagine, that was one of the worst days of my life... not only because of the tests and the fear of diagnosis but because I went through that day all alone and terrified. My husband was out of town that week and no one else could make time out of their busy schedules to sit with me and hold my hand between tests.

"There's a spot on the back of her left eye..."

At the end of that day, I was told that I had myopic macular degeneration and to find a really good retinal specialist. The words sounded so cold and hollow as I sat there hearing the sound reverberate through my hearing aids to my brain. Flashbacks to the many times that eye doctors fitting me with glasses would tell my mother, "There's a spot on the back of her left eye - be sure to watch it."

At 25, MD also caught up to me

To further clarify, my mother had rubella - also known as German measles - while pregnant with me and as a result, I was born with a severe-to-profound hearing loss and at 25, MMD also caught up to me. It took me a long time to make peace with it.

It only took 6 injections to clean it up

Fast forward another 25+ years later, I have learned to live with it and naturally, with the history of AMD on my paternal side, I am worried about my right eye and having wet MD show up again as it did a few years ago.

Thankfully, it only took 6 injections to clear it up. My employer is so supportive of me and my needs for accommodation for both my hearing and vision loss as is my husband and family. My journey continues and I feel incredibly blessed.