Macular Degeneration Progression

With a slow-moving disease, like my Macular Degeneration, I find it fascinating to take note of its progression. Call it a morbid scientific curiosity.

Over the past few months, I have been noticing more of a significant change in the way that I see while using one eye. Luckily, for me, using both eyes does not yet show any sign of deterioration from 20/20 vision, as confirmed by my ophthalmologist, (as long as I wear glasses or contacts for my near-sightedness and astigmatism of course). However, when one eye or the other is covered, I am noticing more changes in my central vision. 

I wanted to demonstrate those changes somehow.

This next set of photos is what each eye sees when looking at typed words. When looking at this phrase with both eyes, there is nothing amiss. In these examples, I am at a distance of approximately two feet from the page, with the font (Calibri) at 36pt, and looking at the centre of each word (not each letter separately). I used white-out to show what I see with my separate eyes: 

To test the progression of AMD, an Amsler Grid is usually used, shown below: 

The Amsler Grid will bend, deviate, and even include disappearing parts with progressing AMD, until the grid is unrecognizable or the centre of the grid is greyed out. The photo below is an example of how my left eye (the worse of the two) sees the very centre of the Amsler Grid, looking directly at the dot in the centre: 

I wanted to demonstrate my personal progression in terms of reading - because that is where I have noticed it the most. Parts of letters will be missing or will be so bent to one side or another that, while reading with one eye, I will mistake letters for others. 

I am lucky that my progression has been slow. 

I was diagnosed when I was 21 years old - with much confusion on the part of my specialists. My scans have been perused by no less than 6 ophthalmologists to ensure the diagnosis is correct, however odd it may be. 

Until the past three years, though, I had not noticed any unexpected vision changes. Then I began noticing very minor issues - like tiny little grey spots polka-dotting a clear blue sky. 

More recently is when the bending and line-deviations started. 

Here are hand-written examples of how I see text and vertical lines with each eye: 

Notice the slight deviations, bends, and even some missing portions of the hand-written text. 

Notice the deviations and even a slight break in the lines. In my left eye, the greyed out blind-spot is just to the upper right of my centre, whereas the blind-spot in my right eye is to the lower left side of my centre. 

Now is the perfect time for me to document my own subjective experience with this disease. Since my collective vision is 20/20, it is very clear to me where the deviations and breaks are within my vision with each eye. 

If you are also a morbidly curious person, feel free to follow along in my sight-loss. Fingers crossed that my central vision will stay mostly intact for decades. I guess we will have to see (ha ha). 

*There is no current medication for the treatment of Dry Macular Degeneration. I am taking Vitalux and consuming fish oils through my diet on a regular basis, as this has been shown to potentially slow its progression.*