Funny things I did

I am not a punk rocker, I just kick dogs and smash glasses because I am going blind.





So before I knew what was going on, I thought that everyone saw the world the way I did, and I was just especially dingy and clutzy.


So here is a list of things that I thought were normal that were apparently an indication of my vision loss.


1. When I drop something on the ground, I think oh crap, I am never going to find that. I have to get on my hands and knees and look for elevation changes, or keep moving around to scan the whole floor.


2. When I get busy in the kitchen, I "lose" things on the counter top. Like spatulas and glasses. I break a glass a week. I often cursed my black counter tops and black spatulas, and considered buying pink spatulas.


3. I have also considered orange safety vests for my small dogs and small children that come to my house.


4. About a month before I was diagnosed, I took my youngest to the movies. As the movie ended, my sweet 6 year old said, let me help you in the dark. Then he took my arms and lead me out of the theater.


5. I have always hated 3D movies. They make me nauseous. And I like to sit as far back as possible so I could get a good view of the screen.


6. We moved to Georgia from Colorado in 2008. I thought that it was just harder to see the stars here because of the trees and cloud cover (Oh the things your mind convinces you of). Really, I can not really see stars very well anymore.


7. My night vision has always stunk, but again moving to a more suburban, rural area, I thought these roads were darker at night, then I was used to.





So really that list just seems like old lady complaints. What made me insist something was wrong was the flashy lights,that have increased to being in my vision 24/7. And the sheer number of old lady complaints I had for a 35 year old seemed unreasonable.



The crazy thing to me, is that I have always been nearsighted. I had my eyes dilated annually. I had lasik eye surgery. I went to an opthomologist, and it was not until I was at Emory that my condition was diagnosed. This eye disease is common, I mean like not super common, but 1 in 3000 common. Crazy....