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There are several typesw of "drusen" on the eye: optic nerve drusen which are described as hard or soft and are part of macular degeneration. Optic nerve drusen look like rock candy crystals in the optic nerve. The important things are that it can cause an optic nerve to look swollen (papilledema), obscure or simulate glaucoma and in rare cases can cause loss of peripheral vision enough for the patient to notice. It is often heredity. Sometimes the drusen are buried in the optic nerve and only show up with OCT testing.
A baseline visual field and optic nerve photographs are a good idea to do.
JCH III MD Eye MD
JCH IIIMD
Before the test he said I needed to have the test regularly because of the risk of glaucoma. Are these results correlated?
Thanks for any help!!!
Then use Google IMAGES and search optic nerve drusen to see what they look like.
Optic nerve drusen interfers with the best for glaucoma so often the visual fields are NOT accurate.
JCH IIIMD
Both you and your daughter need to understand that blindness is not a curse or something to be afraid of. It is still possible to live a full live with a meaningful career and family too. The sooner everyone realizes this the better off the world would be. That is the NFB's position on blindness (and mine too)
Yes, she'll have to adapt to doing things a bit differently, but nothing is impossible. She can still go to the movies (many theaters have headsets that describe what's happening on screen), access the internet (via a screen reader), and read (with Braille or CCTV). There is public transportation in many cities for those who are disabled. Daily living activites: cooking, cleaning, etc. are all still possible.
Losing your sight can be a difficult adjustment, but the sooner you begin to make the adjustments the better your quality of life will be. Don't go stumbling around in the dark when there are resources and poeple available to help.
If your daughter truly wants to live independently than she needs to take the initiative to get help: learn proper O&M techniques, Braille, screen reading software, etc. She can accomplish anything and everything she wants (ok, I'll admit she probably can't drive, but that's it)!
JCH MD