jxj24

There are a couple of factors affecting your vision. One is your nystagmus. But even if your eyes were perfectly motionless, you still might not be able to be corrected -- using LASIK, contacts or glasses -- to 20/20. This is because your retina may be underdeveloped, which is very common in albinism. The way to test for this is to have a test called a multi-focal electroretinogram performed. The mfERG measures the actual electrical responses from the back of your eye as you view specific moving patterns. Your eye is anesthetized and you wear a special contact lens.

The results of the test will show what your best possible vision could be, if nothing else were going on with your eye.

As for the nystagmus, this is not an insurmountable problem. There are several forms of treatment that can reduce the nystagmus, usually resulting in better vision. This is my field of research, and my lab developed and verified the utility of a new form of nystagmus surgery about a decade ago.

To ensure that you receive the optimal treatment, you need to work with an pediatric ophthalmologist that understands nystagmus. They will have you go to a lab that can measure and analyze your eye movements. (My lab performs this testing for free, as part of our research.) They then work with the ophthalmologist to plan the proper therapy, whether it is *surgery or special optical additions to your glasses. I'm happy to answer any questions you might have.

Got all the bleeding out of the way up front.

A friend of a friend of mine had OI, and their sclera (the whites of their eyes) were blueish because they were slightly translucent. Is this common in OI? Does this affect you, and if so, are you more sensitive to bright light?

I am curious about this because I am a vision researcher and have worked with people who have differing degrees of a different condition (albinism) that can have this effect, so that the normal reaction to light, the pupil getting small, doesn't help as much because light will still pass through their irises and sometimes their sclera.

As a (fellow Ohioan) MTBI researcher who believes in the need to better incorporate PTSD into the diagnostic program, I wish that the budget committals were in line with the stated goals. Funding levels have not kept pace with the problem.

I've always wanted to know how you you ate and breathed. I'm actually quite wound up about this.