An Author-Illustrator Faces Blindness

by Sylvia Ross
(Lemon Cove, CA, US)

I began to think there was something wrong with my glasses, but a new prescription didn't help. Eventually, I went from a good optometrist who sent me on to a good retinologist where I was diagnosed with dry macular degeneration.

I'm an author-illustrator. I like the work I do and wanted to continue it as long as possible.

However, I tumbled first into denial. But it is hard to deny that one can't find an object in a cluttered background. My family noticed, and families disrupt denial. Forced to face up to my vision problems, I was overcome by an obsessive need to finish any project I'd started - before I couldn't see to do my work at all.

Finally I came to realize that I was no worse off than anyone else my age. The body does wear out. It just happens to be the eyes for me. It is balanced by the fact that my hair is still brown while friends my age are having to color theirs.

I've had no major health problems, and friends are facing life threatening illness. I shouldn't complain.

And so, I began to research online and talk to everyone I knew who had vision problems.

A big screen computer lets me magnify my work. I read WebRN-MacularDegeneration.com daily, take recommended vision supplements, wear blue blocker sunglasses when outdoors, and carefully regulate interior light. I'm doing okay.

In the two years since my diagnosis, I have stopped driving at night, not wanting to endanger anyone else and am careful never to drive in high traffic areas. This is an inconvenience, and I have to plan my schedule. Eventually, I won't drive at all.

But, this past year, I have designed covers for three books and finished a novel.

Life is good. When I can't work with my eyes, I'll take up guitar. Sylvia