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Artist's lost vision returns after hereditary blindness disappears
Tags: Blindness; Drusen; Optic Nerve Head Drusen;
In the mid 1990's I had a routine eye exam at a major eye hospital. I was amazed when the Doctor reported that she found Optic Nerve Head Drusen, an hereditary progressive form of blindness, manifesting as specs of bright calcifications in the optic nerve. As these specs multiply, the assumption is that eyesight diminishes. There is no existing treatment for optic nerve head drusen, and I was told that it was a question of monitoring how fast it was progressing in order to determine when I would become blind.
As a lifelong visual artist, this was difficult news. Testing over the next 5 years showed increased drusen, and I experienced diminished vision.
I enrolled in The AIM Program in April of 2005. In October 2005, 2 years since any Doctor had looked at my drusen, I felt my vision had cleared. I no longer stumbled while walking because of constrained peripheral vision. Blind spots disappeared; my vision was more flexible and alive. I decided to see my optometrist for a routine reading glasses checkup. Since the drusen can be seen very clearly with a light and the naked eye, I was excited to see the optometrist's response. Not wishing to interfere with his opinions, I said nothing at first regarding my belief that I had healed this "incurable" condition. He stalled for a very, very long time gazing into my optic nerves and I asked: " How are the drusen looking"? After a great deal of hesitation he said he really couldn't see them. I assured him that I felt that they were gone as well. He said, "I really am interested in seeing the results of your testing".
The real fun began when I took the very long Humphries's Field of vision test. When the results came back, it was obvious that the Ophthalmologist was expecting the worst. As she talked more about her expertise in this area, and the negative prognosis, I asked if she had actually seen the results of the test yet. She opened the folder, and for the next 20 minutes no one in the office spoke to me, as they considered their position and response. There was much whispering, darting in and out of rooms, and consulting previous testing.
"I know that they are gone", I said, "can we please get on with reviewing the results" at which point she opened a nearly white sheet of test results for both eyes and pleaded to be able to take further photographic slides to compare with originals from 10 years ago. There was almost no visible trace of drusen.
These results were such a powerful (and if you'll pardon the pun, most visible) validation and metaphor for all the healing that my family and I have experienced since becoming members of the AIM community. This is just the beginning!
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