This is my handsome husband in 1970, shortly after we got married. Our life seemed perfect and we had so much to look forward to. In 1975 I became pregnant and like most expectant parents, we were excited and were making plans. One thing we did not plan on… he starting going blind due to diabetic retinopathy half way into the pregnancy. Sad memories of waddling into a hospital for weeks on end, for laser treatments, haunt me. In 1976 we gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. That should have been the best summer ever; however the laser treatments were not effective and at some point, rather than help, they start to cause the retina to be damaged. He had too many laser treatments to count. He was hospitalized for a procedure to try to reattach his retina in one eye when our baby was six weeks old. The operation was not successful. The good news… his other eye seemed to be doing well. We had great hope.
So much for that good news. By December 1976 his other eye was acting up; hence laser treatments continued. The bleeding into his vitreous, which is what happens w diabetic retinopathy, was arrested.
However, with so much trauma to his good eye, he developed a cataract. For the next 8 years he struggled with partial sight as the cataract grew…. but was assured that, like most cataract surgeries, when it was big enough to remove he would have a good amount of vision.
We were excited when he had the surgery. When we got home, later that night, he said…”I cannot see anything.” I assured him that the next day when we have a follow up appointment, the doctors will give you a new lens. I remember him sitting in the chair while I watched. Two doctors, one old and one young were working with him. The body language of the two doctors got my attention. The tears that rolled down the face of the younger doctor told me what I didn’t want to hear.
He has been totally blind since the age of 37. He has no light perception. Against all odds, he is still here at the age of 75, challenged everyday by the dread disease that rendered him blind…. a disease he has had since age 12. Flash forward, on June 20, 2020 we celebrated our 50th anniversary. We couldn’t be with our close and loving family, but with Zoom and Facetime we had a party. Two successful, beautiful daughters, two charming son in laws, and four lively grandchildren ages 5,8,10 and 13. We came a long way from my terror of being the only breadwinner on a teacher’s salary. He went on to a very successful career at the National Institutes of Health and we have retired to a beautiful community in Southwest Florida. Yet every time I see this picture, it brings me to tears. By the way, he has never ever complained.