Name
Allan Wise
Born
July 7, 1952
Home
Coventry, England
Diagnosis
Wet MD
Eyes Affected
Both
Eye Color
Brown
Age at Diagnosis
40
Visual Acuity
No central vision in both eyes, poor peripheral vision.
Registered blind 1995.
Treatment
Laser treatment on left eye 1994. No other treatment possible.
Discharged by Retinal Consultant after being registered.
Prognosis or Current State of
Vision
Along with the problems associated
with central vision loss I have no detailed
peripheral vision. Mobility not a problem unless in new surroundings. I
expect my vision to progressively deteriorate,
but expect that I will never be totally blind.
Family History
The disorder has been passed through my mothers side of the
family. My grandmother had the complaint,
as did my mother. She was originally diagnosed with Doynes choriditis.
My retinal specialist examined both my mother and me at the same time and
diagnosed the same condition. My youngest
brother has recently been diagnosed with the same condition.
The RS said it is a genetic default that can affect all members in a family
generation or skip a generation or appear in individuals
within a generation. This appears to be the case with us, as I have another
brother that is unaffected.
Impact on My Life
The impact on both my personal and business life has
been severe.
In both, I believe that having to stop driving causes the main problems and
the
most frustrations.
In my personal life, performing the normal activities (shopping, going
fishing, holidays, etc.)
are now difficult and inevitably involve making special arrangements.
In my business life, getting to work, business travel all provide problems.
Career opportunities have disappeared. My employer and working colleagues
have
been very understanding and in some ways supportive, but I can't help feeling
I have
been "put out to pasture."
Having said all this, the main problems caused by my disability are felt by
my
wife and family. They have to put up with my tears, moods, depression and, in
the main,
do this with loving understanding.
Positive Effects
Recognising that there is never only one way of doing
things.
Examples of this include:
free travel pass for bus and train travel;
using talking books (I have read more since I was diagnosed than before???);
and learning different techniques for participating in my favourite pastime,
fishing.
This season, I have purchased a season ticket to attend football matches at
my
local club Coventry City FC. My daughter has an "escort" ticket. I take my
walkman
radio, tune in with my earphones to the radio commentary, and just sit back
and enjoy
the atmosphere. Its great to be involved again.
Adaptations
CCTV, using a screen reading system (JAWS) for my PC, voice
diary,
small hand-held magnifiers for some emergency reading (becoming more
difficult).
Working
I am still holding down my job as a Systems Project Manager
within
a small IT group in a large agricultural manufacturing company.
I manage a team of systems developers working on business driven IT
projects.
More About Me
I am married with two grownup daughters and one granddaughter (the apple of
my eye).
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