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Name
Jojy Michael
Born
05/31/1959
Home
Fremont CA
Diagnosis
Wet (Neovascular) Age-related Macular Degeneration
Eyes affected
Left only
Age at diagnosis
55-60
Visual acuity in better eye
20/20 (normal).
Treatment
Eylea injections, AREDS2 supplements
Prognosis or Current State of
Vision
20/70 in the left eye, objects are distorted due to scar tissue in the retina, double vision for reading especially with electronic screens and when eyes are tired, mid-range (TV watching, for example) vision is fuzzy, distance vision is fine. Large amount of floaters from blood in the eyeball are now almost fully absorbed by the body; it took about 18 months but I preferred to do this than vitrectomy. There is some fluid in the retina which the doctor hopes to control with Eylea injections.
Family History
I don't know of anyone in my extended family who had anything other than corrective lenses and cataracts. I am the first to get AMD.
Impact on My Life
Working with computers caused stress headaches after about 60-90 minutes. The headaches are alleviated by frequent breaks. This severely impacted my work life. I worked part time for 18 months after the onset of the disease at which time my company terminated my service.
I did not drive for several months but eventually got back on the road starting with trips around town on familiar roads. Now I am almost back to normal driving but try my best to avoid night time driving.
Depth perception was a problem for a while but not anymore. The brain adjusts for the mismatched acuity between the eyes, I suppose.
Employment
I worked in high tech, software development initially but eventually moving into technical relationship management.
More About Me
Hiking, movies, reading, volunteering for several worthy causes (church, Coursera.org, dog shelters), travel, religions and spirituality
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