Miracles

Eight months ago when I was diagnosed with Macular Degeneration I had a hard time accepting the fact that I couldn't see. My eyes bugged me all the time. The world looked "cockeyed". I was kind of dizzy all the time and I became quite depressed. My sweet husband, who is always optimistic about everything, tried to encourage me, but nothing seemed to make me feel better. I asked him for a Priesthood blessing and in that blessing he told me that a miracle would occur in my behalf. I was comforted but still discouraged.

I decided that I needed to find out all that I could about this crazy disease so I sent for several books from Amazon dot com and began my education about Macular Degeneration. I learned that you will not become completely blind---you just won't be able to see. The central vision is destroyed---the peripheral vision is still there. There are two forms of the disease--the dry (or slow progressing) form and the wet form that progresses rapidly as tiny blood vessels in the retina leak and cause permanent damage to the macula.

I was diagnosed with the dry form and the specialist told me to come back in a year. I was not comfortable with that so I went back to see my regular Opthomologist. I could tell that there were changes happening in that eye. The distortion was changing. The wavy lines were different than they had been. Dr. Alder, my regular Opthomologist examined my eyes again and immediately made another appointment with the specialist. Dr. Alder indicated that there is probably something that the Retina specialist could do.

After taking a scan of my eyes, Dr. Kwun, showed me on the picture of my eye, that there were pockets of fluid indicating that the macular degeneration had indeed changed from the dry form to the wet, or more rapidly progressing form of the disease. The good news is however, that there is something that can be done to treat the wet form. He explained that he would be giving me an injection of medicine directly into the eye. There would be a series of three injections, given at intervals of 6 weeks apart.

I have now had the series of injections and there has been a marked improvement in my vision. My right eye has gone from 20/250 to 20/100. Before the third injection, the doctor did another scan and it showed that the pocket of fluid has almost disappeared. He feels that I will perhaps need another injection in another 6 weeks. I will always have a spot in my central vision that is dark, blurry and distorted, but the peripheral vision has improved greatly.

So when Joe promised me in that Priesthood blessing that a miracle would occur in my behalf, I have seen several miracles and I'm sure will continue to see more as I exercise faith.

The first miracle is that I was prompted to go back to Dr. Alder when I had concerns about changes in the eye. If I had waited for a whole year to go back to the specialist, the damage would have been extensive and permanent.

Second, that the drug that is injected into my eye works. It is a drug that has been successful in treating uterine cancer. It is amazing that someone figured out that it would help macular degeneration.

Third, that the body has two eyes and that the brain can be programed to see out of just one eye and yet use the vision that is left in the periphery of the diseased eye.

I am so grateful for the Priesthood and the blessings of the gospel in my life. I know that I will always have vision problems. My left eye has the beginnings of the disease, but I know that as I understand my limitations, and follow the advise of the doctors and know what I need to do to preserve the vision that I do have I can continue to have a productive life. I just need to remember to take my vitamins, eat lots of fruits and vegetables, stay out of the bright sunlight, avoid eye strain and limit my driving at night.

In the meantime, if you want to know about Macular Degeneration, I have some good books that you are welcome to borrow.

Focus on the Abundance!

In his October 5, 2008 conference talk President Monson quoted a well-known author: "Both abundance and lack of abundance exist simultaneously in our lives, as parallel realities. It is always our conscious choice which secret garden we will tend....when we choose not to focus on what is missing from our lives but are grateful for the abundance that's present---love, health, family, friends, work, the joys of nature, and personal pursuits that bring us happiness--the wasteland of illusion falls away and we experience heaven on earth."

I have learned during the past month to be grateful for the abundance that's present and choose not to focus on what is missing!

Louise picked up our book from the printer and was delighted at its appearance. She called me and said that it is "gorgeous". I was so happy that it was finished and that it turned out so well.
Then I received a second call from her and she informed me that page 197 was missing from the book....there was simply one page that was blank. The dialogue was not there...page 196 and 198 were there but not page 197.
I was sick as I wrote an e-mail to the technical support at Memory Press and explained the situation and that we would hope that they could print page 197 and we would glue it in place. My contact at memory press said that she was sorry and that the PDF file that I had approved was also missing page 197 and so it is virtually my fault. She also stated that they would not be able to print again until after the second week in January. I typed the dialogue and we inserted it in the blank page. We will replace those pages when it is reprinted on the matching paper and print.
There were also typo's that we were sure we had corrected that were in the book so all in all, we have a gorgeous book that is not perfect!
The last week before printing was frantic as there seemed to be problems with the software program in Memory Press, but my contact person worked so hard to correct them and we felt that all was well. Too bad it wasn't!
I was assured by many that the spirit of the biography is still there and the story is intact, and the expressions of love and appreciation by children and grandchildren are priceless and so we have chosen to focus on the abundance that is present and choose not to focus on what is missing!
I have learned much from this experience!

During the final weeks before Christmas my eyes began bothering me, especially after working for long periods of time at the computer. I noticed some blurring in my right eye and after checking my vision on a chart that my eye doctor had given me because I had been diagnosed with the beginnings of macular degeneration, I recognized that the lines on the chart were wavy and distorted. At church, when I closed my left eye, the faces of the people on the stand were distorted and blurry so Monday morning I called my Dr. and he sent me to a retina specialist and we discovered that indeed the macular degeneration in my right eye is getting worse. It seems that all that can be done is to take mega doses of "eye vitamins" and come back next year for further evaluation.
WOW!! once again I am learning to be grateful for the abundance that's present!
How amazing is the human body. We have two eyes and somehow the body compensates for what is missing. I hope that there will be some way that a new prescription in my glasses in the right lens will be able to help the distortion some...but I don't know.
In the meantime I'm so grateful for the vision I do have and there will be some way that I can prepare for the time when I lose the vision in both eyes. I wonder if there is such a thing as "Blind School" where I can go to learn braille. Our daughter in law has offered to train a service dog for me and in the meantime I'll be looking for good books on tape.

We are so blessed to have a living prophet to guide us in all the concerns and problems that we have and help us to be happy and live abundant lives!