by Joel Deutch It felt like instant karma. Payback for almost running over an unsuspecting kid a few years ago, because I hadn’t been smart or brave enough to quit driving when I should have. (See “The Day I Quit Driving”) On a bright, warm Los Angeles September afternoon, I was strolling down Fairfax Avenue [Read More]
Category: Patients’ Writings
Essays, poetry, and stories from the low vision community.
Taking Stargardt Disease By The Hand
by Marisa Snyder So, I have been sitting in this “world of alones” dealing with an orphan disease which no one had ever heard of and no one even remotely close to me has it. What is “Stargardt disease”? Who is affected by it? How does one get it? What happens once you are diagnosed [Read More]
The Day I Quit Driving
by Joel Deutch “Nobody with a good car needs to be justified.” –Hazel Motes, the self-blinded preacher in “Wise Blood,” by Flannery O’Connor. __________________________________ All my life I was crazy about cars, starting with the family Studebaker designed by Raymond Loewy that looked like one of the World War II fighter planes I drew all [Read More]
The Grayhaired Bearded Lady: My Latest Hallucination
Experience with Charles Bonnet Syndrome by Marge Louer I am 93 years old and was diagnosed with macular degeneration several years ago. About one year ago, I began having hallucinations that puzzled and confused me. The most regular one was a miniature of a woman’s round and placid face, surrounded by bushy gray hair that [Read More]
There Is Life After Macular Degeneration
By Dave Pearce December, 1998 Updated October, 2005 Introduction What started out to be a journal of my experiences with macular degeneration for the benefit of my children has evolved into a detailed accounting of what a normal, middle class member of our society must contend with when MD starts to take its toll. Perhaps [Read More]