During the last year I've been putting up with some blurring, burning, and lots of tearing in my eyes - especially in the morning. I didn't think much of it, thought that maybe my eyeglasses needed a new prescription. About two months ago, just before my last operation, I had an eye exam at the VA Medical Center and the doctor nonchalantly asked if I knew that I had Fuchs' Dystrophy.
"What's that?" She went on to explain it's a familial disease the essentially destroys a layer of the cornea, but no big deal, when the time comes it can easily be replaced. "Okay, if you say so."
Well, now that I'm nearly recovered from the abdominal surgery I'm getting around to spending time on the computer as I did before and I'm learning a lot more about Fuchs'. It's something that can be corrected by the corneal transplant, but the ramifications of it are enormous. Long story short, it can bring on near, or total, blindness - very quickly in some cases.
I'm already at the point that I can't ride or drive safely at night. And I make the distinction of 'SAFELY' - sure, I CAN ride or drive, but I realize that I'm missing lots of visual clues that ensure that I can stay upright. For instance, I've noticed that when coming to a stop I must be careful when putting out my legs to complete the stop - at times I can't really judge how far my feet are from the ground, or if there is any debris, dips in the pavement, etc. that could cause me to lose footing.
My question is to riders out there that may share this dilemma. At what point is it desirable to have transplants done? I know they only do one eye at a time, because they can't tell just how the 'new' cornea will affect your vision. It is after all, a live tissue transplant from a cadaver. I'm beginning to believe that I should just accept the fact that the better than 20/20 vision that I have enjoyed all my life is now history and that pretty soon I might not be able to continue my ride into the sunset.
Hope somebody can give me some insight. Thanks....
"What's that?" She went on to explain it's a familial disease the essentially destroys a layer of the cornea, but no big deal, when the time comes it can easily be replaced. "Okay, if you say so."
Well, now that I'm nearly recovered from the abdominal surgery I'm getting around to spending time on the computer as I did before and I'm learning a lot more about Fuchs'. It's something that can be corrected by the corneal transplant, but the ramifications of it are enormous. Long story short, it can bring on near, or total, blindness - very quickly in some cases.
I'm already at the point that I can't ride or drive safely at night. And I make the distinction of 'SAFELY' - sure, I CAN ride or drive, but I realize that I'm missing lots of visual clues that ensure that I can stay upright. For instance, I've noticed that when coming to a stop I must be careful when putting out my legs to complete the stop - at times I can't really judge how far my feet are from the ground, or if there is any debris, dips in the pavement, etc. that could cause me to lose footing.
My question is to riders out there that may share this dilemma. At what point is it desirable to have transplants done? I know they only do one eye at a time, because they can't tell just how the 'new' cornea will affect your vision. It is after all, a live tissue transplant from a cadaver. I'm beginning to believe that I should just accept the fact that the better than 20/20 vision that I have enjoyed all my life is now history and that pretty soon I might not be able to continue my ride into the sunset.
Hope somebody can give me some insight. Thanks....