Things To Remember if You Have Macular Degeneration

Learning about my disease and taking action

Then I began the long process of learning about my disease. This learning phase took a long time and is still ongoing.  At the risk of boring you, I will recap the basic steps and actions we can take to best prolong the vision we have.

1. Smoking This is the big one! If you still smoke, please consider quitting There are many aids and programs to help you do this. Things like nicotine patches and gum. This single act of quitting smoking is very important.
2. Nutrition  Follow or at least try to follow the recommended eye-healthy Mediterranean Diet. It consists of oily fish like salmon and lots of greens and multi-colored vegetables. And avoiding processed food and added sugars.
3. Sunglasses  Not only good polarized sunglasses but hats with eye shielding brims. Our eyes with this disease are hypersensitive to bright glaring light.
4. Exercise and fitness Transition into an active lifestyle should be moderate at first and slowly build into a more rigorous and beneficial routine. This can improve things like high blood pressure and help you get a better night’s rest, etc.
5. AREDS2 supplements have been deemed beneficial to those with dry AMD or wet AMD in only one eye.

Regular visits with the doctor

My RS is a really good guy, he wants me to keep tabs on myself and report in with any changes to my vision. I do this by regular use of the Amsler grid. Also, it is very important to avoid the human tendency to just wait until your next scheduled visit to report new anomalies!  If something changes, ask to speak to his nurse and I can almost guarantee they will see you very soon for an OCT and consult.

Quotes that may apply:

• Scared as a mouse in a snake pit
• We are on the high wire without a net
• Luck is an illusion embraced by those who are unprepared
• I think everyone of you is as brave as the first man who ate an oyster
• If the whole world were blind, how many people would you impress?
• Shaken but not deterred
• Sooner or later, everyone sits down to a banquet of consequences
• Knowledge comes in two ways. You divine it yourself or pay attention to clever friends.