Every single day our doctors are so fortunate to have such interesting patients sit in their exam chairs.

Some of them are so incredibly artistic and talented, and we enjoy every second of getting to know them!

In this case, one of our retinal specialists, Andrew Schimel, shares an amazing experience.

Dr. Schimel has been helping a young man who was suffering from Atypical Macular Degeneration.

A quick summary in case you dont know about macular degeneration …

Macular degeneration is a medical condition which may result in blurred or no vision in the center of the visual field. Early on there are often no symptoms (scary!) but over time, some people experience a gradual worsening of vision that may affect one or both eyes. Loss of central vision can make it really hard to recognize faces, drive, read, or perform any other of your daily normal activities! They also claim that visual hallucinations may occur! Macular degeneration “typically” occurs in people of an older age, however, not in this case and in many others!

Genetic factors and smoking also play a role because these things do damage to the macula of the retina. This can be diagnosed with a COMPLETE eye exam (call us) and the severity is usually categorized into early, intermediate and late — dry and wet AMD which you may have heard us refer to in the past is usually the “late” type. The dry form makes up the majority of cases. How to prevent this? Recommendations include things that help you with ALL of your overall health! SHOCKER! Exercise, eating well and NO SMOKING!!!!!!!!!!

If you want to find out more about macular degeneration, visit our Macular Degeneration Page! And for more on the retina, visit our Retina Center!

Well the conclusion of our story is the best part. This is what this incredible patient brought to our office today in return for what Dr. Schimel has done for his vision. A true, incredible work of art! That he would not have been able to do without his eyes!