It sounds like you have found a good eye doctor who really cares about helping people, @Babs Hunt , and already your husband is seeing better than he has been able to, from the sound of it. That new glasses prescription has really made a lot of difference, it seems. Why does your husband have to surrender his driver’s license ? As long as he is not driving, that achieves the same effect as surrendering the license; but if there were an emergency where he HAD to drive, he still legally could do that. Is it for insurance purposes ?
He is the emergency Yvonne. Since his central vision is basically gone in one eye and can at anytime go out in the other eye this means that he is often not able to see the car in front of him or on the side of him...cars the same color as the road pretty much fade into the road so he often cannot recognize it as a car. If the road does not have bright contrast stripes he cannot even stay on his side of the road, etc. In each State too you have to meet certain vision guidelines even with corrective lenses and my husband is at the point where he may meet that guideline one day in his new glasses and only in one eye, but the next day his vision may not meet that guideline. Macular Degeneration has no stability (in some people)...your vision can change from one day to the next and even from one time of day to another time of that same day. It is not safe for him or others at this point for him to be driving...he has made this decision for himself and because of what he knows his vision is doing. Even if we went to renew his DL and he passed with his good eye right now there would still be lots of restrictions....but those restrictions would not take into consideration whether he could be driving and lose his central vision and not see what is right in front of him, etc. It was a hard decision for him to make but he feels it is for the best and even his Optometrist talked to him about this and feels it is for the best too with his vision having deteriorated so much in less than a year. And it also does have to do with insurance because as long as he has a license he will have to be covered on our insurance even though he isn't driving....and this costs more too. If there is an emergency we are surrounded by family and friends, etc. we can get to help us.
@Babs Hunt , so sorry, giving up the DL is a big thing for anyone. My hubby, does not have good vision, never has. Not the eye problem your husband has ...but i am wondering if it will lead to this disease. He is also red green colorblind. He has done all the major driving for 26-27 years, but now, he does not to drive a long way unless he has to. The construction, the noise, the closeness of cars, and not being able to judge distance anymore, keeps us close to home. We use to joke before married about what would happen as my hearing loss progressed,and his eye sight woresened. His comment was- you lead,I will follow. Very glad your husband, has a loving and caring wife to help him through this.
Gloria, I don't know whether your husband will get macular degeneration or not. The good news is my husband will not lose all his vision, he will have side vision but will lose all his central vision. I put a video up showing what that would be like. An example is he might not beable to see my face anymore but he maybe able to see my hair. And there is supposed to be ways to train your side vision to take over some of what you lose. But as much as he may miss driving, he is smart enough to know it is the right thing to do. I am losing some hearing too and my husband and I tell each other that I will be his eyes and he will be my ears. We both feel blessed to have each other....he is just as loving and caring to me....as I am to him.
I too was diagnosed with AMD dry and cataracts. My doctor is a specialist and she is watching it. Now it's been 2 yrs. I've been taking Billberry and Occuvite. My doctor is watching me closely, and she says my eyes aren't getting any worse and getting healed. Thank God! I pray a lot. I don't want to loose my eye sight ever. I want all my senses and mobility till I die. Maybe your husband can try e-cigs if he smokes, safer for him. Well I hope things turn out well for your husband and you. God be with both of you for a miracles. Saint Lucy is the Saint for eyes. https://prayers4reparation.wordpress.com/2012/08/30/novena-prayer-to-st-lucy-protector-of-the-eyes/
@Krissttina Isobe Usually the dry form of AMD does progress slowly but each case is different and my husband's is definitely progressing faster than I think even the Retina Specialist thought it would. He does take PreservaVisison Arians 2 eye vitamins and extra lutein. He has cut down on his smoking but to be honest even the Retina Specialist told him at this point it won't really make a difference for his eyes as you can't undo the progression. And he has so many of the things that help bring AMD on such as blue eyes, lived in the Florida sunshine since he was 14 and probably did not wear sunglasses that were strong enough to really protect his eyes from the ultrviolent and blue rays, etc. AMD runs in his family also. And he does not eat alot of greens and never did. Although I wish we could go back in time and undo all he didn't know to do...it's to late for that. So we go forward and do the best we can with living a good life in spite of AMD.
That's so true if we knew then what we know now, it definitely would be different...we wouldn't have AMD and be wearing sun glasses even on cloudy days. Praying does help I believe, so don't give up okay? Take care and wish you and your husband the best and cures! Take care. You're welcome in advance.
Oh we would never give up Krissttina...we will just live our lives to the best of our ability. There are things that help him use his side vision better and things that have people live and easier life in their homes, etc. with the loss of their central vision. We are already finding things that work for my husband like magnifying glasses with built in lighting which allows him to keep working part time at this point.
That's wonderful. My Mom before she passed, used magnifying glasses and reminded me of Sherlock Holmes when I saw her using it. I too use it when the fonts are too small for my glasses. My doctor is watching my cataracts and according to my Aunt, she says it's just a day for each eye and it is really quick and nothing to be afraid of...I hope so. Using Ocuvite has helped me and my AMD is not getting any worse so I'm relieved. I drink Billberry too, which got pricey recently! Take care and wish both the best and miracles!
@Krissttina Isobe My husband has made his decision not to try and quit smoking...which I believe is the #1 reason his AMD is advancing so fast. Our Doctors have talked to him about this too...but the Retina Specialist also told him at this point he didn't really think it would make a difference since he doesn't believe the damage already there can be undone...or stopped from progressing. This is one reason I wanted to switch his Retina Specialist to a new one. And we did. The new Specialist if more user friendly, but he still has no answers or anything new to try, etc. either. I wish my husband would just try going smoke free for six months to see if there is any difference at all...but he won't even think of it. I think because his Mom had the wet form ... he is just resigned to the fact that it will happen no matter what he does. No matter what I say, read to him, etc. it doesn't seem to make a bit of difference. He will take the eye vitamins and extra lutein, eat his green veggies that I cook for him, and wear his special sunglasses. But he is a grown man and I cannot make him give up smoking, even though I do think that would make a difference.
Sorry took so long to reply...Hmmm, how about suggesting to your husband about disposable e-cigs? I found a reasonable price site and the disposable e-cigs lasts about 2.5 or 3 days. NEwhere.com is the site where I buy my disposable e-cigs or I go to Hele Gas Station formerly Tesoro, to get Blu disposable e-cigs. One wonderful thing is that after a few months I wanted just e-cigs and don't like regular cigarettes too much now. Maybe your husband needs to make up his mind about it himself. Hopefully he'll want to go towards disposable e-cigs by himself. I hope he becomes a disposable e-cigger and enjoy it with better health too. By the way if buying from NEwhere.com please add in the special requests how many you bought, and to put it in one packing package, so they'll be no mistake for the amount you ordered and receive. God help both of you and cure your husband...amen. You're welcome in advance for prayers always. Take care.
I just came across a post that may help you and your husband for the post is from a gent, so it would be like man to man thing about e-cigs. The Switch From Smoking To Vaping. Discussion in 'Health & Wellness' started by Jeff Tracy, Sep 6, 2017. Good luck!
Today, Feb. 7, 2018 I got an AARP report about a breakthrough for a cure for dry macular degeneration. Things are looking up for many! https://www.aarp.org/health/conditi...=IWLNDGml2YFd6BIhbna7Sab6+TFhz15Ykc30x/Sxf3s=
https://phys.org/news/2018-10-human-retinas-grown-dish-vision.html Scientists are now growing human retinas in petri dishes which they are having success with. This will help people with AMD, and other diseases that cause vision loss one day even though it won't come soon enough to help my husband. His vision is still deteriorating, so far he is still able to manage getting around and doing what he needs and wants to do. Best of all he is adjusting to his AMD peacefully. I have asked him one more time if he will just consider trying the quit smoking program they have here in Louisiana for the New Year...he says he will think about it.
@Babs Hunt Do some checking in your area for free resources for people with low vision. In my area, we have a group called Aurora that will make a free home inspection provide some free aids to make living a little easier and provide some simple tips about how to deal with low vision. They have things like markers for stove knobs, large remote controls, telephones., etc... The tips are about things like handling paper money when you are unsure of the denominations, keeping clothing straight so you know that you match, setting up medications, setting up the medicine cabinet or refrigerator, etc... I'm not sure if Aurora is a national organization but the Lighthouse has similar programs. Best wishes to you both.