Macular Degeneration

My Mother is almost eighty-three years old and, for the past five years or so has been fighting a delaying action against macular degeneration.    The other day at lunch, she showed me a little card that she carries in her wallet.  It has all kinds of grids and lines on it and she's supposed to look at it every day and call her doctor if the lines look like they are moving.  I remarked that I had just watched an episode of I Dream Of Jeannie where Barbara Eden was wearing a sweater with black and white stripes and they looked like they were moving.  She diagnosed me with macular degeneration right there in the restaurant.

I had an eye-doctor appointment in a few days anyway so I promised that I'd have the Doc. check for macular degeneration along with whatever else he checks.

So the appointment was today and after he had checked my vision and shined the bright light into my eyes I remembered to ask him.  He remarked that I had just turned fifty-two and wanted to know why I thought I might have it.  I told him that I didn't think I had it but my Mother did and I had promised her that I'd ask him to check for it.  So he wanted to know why she thought I had it and I explained about the card in her wallet and the lines on Barbara Eden's sweater.

He looked at the macula, said they looked  fine and then he projected a bunch of little grids and spider webby-looking designs on the wall and asked if any were moving or if any had dark spots or areas that were missing lines.   I told him no and that all of the designs looked fine.

He turned the lights back on and said that my macula were fine and that if I ever saw Barbara Eden in a striped  sweater and the lines weren't moving, that's when I need to call him.

 Its nice to have a doctor with common sense.