I WANT My Eyesight

• Posted on November 1, 2011
• by IngridRicks
• in Articles, Uncategorized
• 9 Comments.

Thought I should put those words out into the universe and make my intentions known in case the universe―or any really forward-thinking eye doctor or visionary―is listening.

Nearly eight years ago I walked into an optometrist’s office for the first time in my life expecting to walk out with a cute pair of red cat-eye frames and instead learned I was going blind from a devastating degenerative eye disease called Retinitis Pigmentosa.

When I asked how to solve the problem, the eye doctor went silent. “I’m sorry, there is no cure,” he said finally. “There’s nothing that can be done for you right now.”

Since that time, I’ve been on my own determined quest to halt the progression of the disease. After a devastating follow-up appointment with a retinal specialist who repeated the “no cure” bit then scrawled down the phone number to The Center for the Blind and shoved it into my hand, I decided I was through with Western Medicine.

I’ve since researched every alternative therapy I could find and have tried everything from microcurrent stimulation to acupuncture to color therapy lamps, and still, my vision is fading.

A couple of weeks ago, after a four-year hiatus, I had an appointment with a new, kinder Retinal Specialist who at least had empathy for my situation-–but still no answers.

There has got to be a solution. Thanks to incredible medical advances, people who are HIV-positive can now look forward to long, fulfilling lives and animals of all sorts can be cloned. There has got to be a way to halt the loss of vision in those of us suffering from Retinitis Pigmentosa and other serious degenerative eye diseases.

I’ve got two young daughters and I want to see them grow up. I want to watch them score goals at their soccer and ice hockey games and I want to see them all dressed up as they head off to their first dances and dates. I want to enjoy candlelight dinners with my husband and I want to take in the beauty of the ocean inlets and mountains around me. I want to see myself when I look in the mirror each day and be lucky enough to watch wrinkles and grays take over as I grow old. I want to continue to see the words as I write them on my computer screen, and I want to walk through my neighborhood without aid.

I would love to drive again, a passion I had to give up several years ago. But I l can live without that. I just need to see.

So again, since my girlfriends tell me it’s all about making my intentions known, I’m putting it into the universe-–asking for a cure or a miracle or whatever it takes. Please help those of us with fast-fading vision to preserve and restore our eyesight. We want and need to see.

Tags: Cure, Eyesight, Retinitis Pigmentosa, Vision