Injections ease degeneration
For four years, Judith Ellis has had to have injections in her eyes to combat macular degeneration.
Now, she’s encouraging others with eye trouble to act fast, no matter how small the problem may seem.
Macular degeneration (MD) is a chronic eye disease that is the leading cause of blindness in New Zealand.
It affects the central vision and this impacts on a person’s ability to drive, read, watch television, access websites and even recognise faces.
A free public seminar will be held in Hamilton this weekend to spread awareness of the disease.
‘‘My dad had it, and they didn’t have any help for it in those days,’’ Ellis said.
‘‘My mum, at age 64, got her license because he couldn’t drive, and drove him for years all around New Zealand.
‘‘Having known it was in my genes, I always had regular eye tests.’’
Then one day, Ellis noticed a fault in her right eye, something that looked like a dot, she said.
‘‘It was discovered that the blood vessel behind the eye had burst and that was wet macular degeneration.’’
For four years, Ellis has been having intravenous injections in her eyes every seven weeks. Drops are first put in to anaesthetise the eyes.
‘‘Sometimes I don’t even feel it. Other times I do. It’s relatively painless but it does vary from time to time.
‘‘There’s no cure, you can only be treated. My advice to anyone is, if you find anything that’s untoward with your eyes, get them checked immediately because it’s so well worth it.’’
Ellis said she’s had the best of treatment, and was warned that if she hadn’t had it, she would be blind in her right eye by now.
Saturday’s seminar will be held on September 30 at the Airport Hotel and Conference Centre, 201 Airport Road, from 10am to 11.30am. Ellis’ optometrist Dr David Worsley will be guest speaker. For more information, phone 0800 MACULA (622 852) or email info@mdnz.org.nz