"Yes I Can" Blog

Last time I talked about 9 ways to help someone with low vision or who is blind. Here are 9 more ways. Millie didn’t have a guide dog. If you are talking to someone with a guide dog, don’t pet it. It’s natural for many people to want to pet a dog, but this dog […]

Not everyone who is blind or has low vision needs help. Most live independent, active lives. We’ve already talked about Be My Eyes as a way to help if you have an iPhone. If you have low vision, it’s a way to get help from someone who is sighted. Since volunteering, I have not gotten a […]

Here are 3 interesting facts from the Perkins School for the Blind about white canes. Most people who are visually impaired don’t use a white cane. In fact, only an estimated 2 percent to 8 percent The rest rely on their usable vision, a guide dog or a sighted guide. Millie would not understand this fact. “I wouldn’t […]

Before I talk about Millie and how her white cane helped her mobility, I want to give an update regarding Be My Eyes (see previous blog). I called the phone app and volunteered! Much to my disappointment no one has called me for assistance. They have many more volunteers than they do help-seekers. I would […]

Be My Eyes is a smartphone app to help those with low vision. With a phone call, someone who needs help “seeing “something can use the camera on their phone and show a sighted volunteer what they are trying to identify. To use the app, you must have a smartphone. Below is a link to […]

We have been talking about clinical trials for wet macular degeneration. Now I would like to share a few trials I found for dry macular degeneration. I have included web sites and a bit of info for the trials. Dry AMD is not an easy disease to study, partly because of the slow progression of the disease. A lot […]

Here are some clinical trials looking for participants. If you google “clinical trials for macular degeneration” additional trials pop up. 1. www.amd.org/macular-degeneration-research/clinical-trials-for-wet-amd 2. www.visionaware.org A discussion of stem cell treatment is found on this site. The studies so far have been small numbers of patients, but show encouraging results. 3. www.centrewatch.com  – This site lists trials by state. […]

Clinical studies involve research with volunteers to add to medical knowledge. Participating in a trial is a personal decision that requires self-examination and study of the trial itself. These questions were taken from the www.clinicaltrials.gov website to help in discussion with the doctor. I underlined the first sentence because it is so important. Once on the website, go to […]

The shots work to stop the growth of new, fragile and often leaky blood vessels. Although there is no cure, the shots can slow the progression of vision loss. The results are not guaranteed, but they worked for Sharron. But it wasn’t nearly as bad as my imagination. They dilate the eye and deaden it with drops so that all […]

One of the treatments for wet macular degeneration is injecting the eye with medicine. This medicine has a good possibility of stopping the growth of new leaky blood vessels causing loss of vision. This will protect further loss of vision and maybe save precious reading and driving vision. Currently there are 4 different types of medicine: Avastin, Eyelea, Lucentis, […]