I have been spending quite a bit of time with my 76 year old mother lately. She was diagnosed with a swollen retina that would ultimately lead to macular degeneration. Not seeing well enough to keep from driving a grocery cart into fellow shoppers, she relinquished the keys to her car, It has thus become my duty to drive her wherever she needs, or wants, to go.
Surprisingly, on her very first visit with her Retinal Specialist, she was told that her years of smoking had probably caused the problem and that she should stop. The constriction of blood vessels from smoking causes the blood in your eye to find another path. This leads to "leaking" and ultimately, macular degeneration, slowlly destroying your vision and causing blindness.
The only possible remedy for her problem of blood collecting behind her retina would be a shot in the eye to dry to the fluid. One shot would be terrifying enough, but the doctor told her that she was probably going to have to endure four to six shots, at a rate of one per month.
The time between hearing that and going for the very first shot was a time where my brother and I hit Mom hard to stop smoking. However, she thought that the shots would correct the problem, and she would not have to put herself in the uncomfortable situation of trying to stop smoking. The shots ended up not being so scary after all, but we learned today that not only is the problem not getting better after four shots (four months), she is developing the problem in her good eye.
Her doctor came down hard on her today. He insisted that she must quit smoking, or she would end up losing her vision in both of her eyes.
My father died of lung cancer after smoking for the majority of his life. I have been amazed that my Mom continued smoking after watching his slow demise due to this horrible form of cancer. Somehow, the thought of going blind is what did it today. We stopped by Costco and got her some patches, and she had me throw out all of her remaining cigarettes.
I know the next few weeks and months will be tough for Mom because she has been smoking for 60 years. I hope she can stick with it, regain her vision in her bad eye, and maintain her vision in her good eye. This will enable her to get back to the independent life she has been missing for the last six months.
If you are a smoker, I hope this will resonate with you, and you can stop now before you too may be facing macular degeneration as a result of years of smoking. I hope it helps someone not have to face losing their vision and independence in their later years.
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