A Compromised Perception of the World

I bought some more sunglasses yesterday and this time asked the optometrist for a copy of the retina photos he took during my last visit.  The store usually charges for this but when he saw that I have morning glory syndrome, he snapped a few photos for free.

I did some more searching online and it seems that the estimates are that this type of damage of the optic nerve is more rare than I thought.  Somewhere between 1 in a million and 1 in 3 million.  In other words, no one knows.  It certainly explains why optometrists have always gathered around to look and why this one stuck the photo into his collection.

On the left, below, is my “good eye”.  On the right . . . well, what a mess.  Has been like that since birth.

Looks like some sort of solar flare!  Unfortunately, I do not have any special powers.

However, you should be aware that:

Children with Morning Glory live relatively normal lives . . . Although safety glasses should be worn for the remainder of the patient’s life, this syndrome does not usually prevent the individual from living out a normal life, to include driving cars, playing sports, reading, etc. Certain activities, such as gymnastics and ice skating, are much more difficult for patients with Morning Glory due to a compromised perception of the world and skewed sense of balance, but they are still possible. Like most other eye conditions, a diagnosis of Morning Glory precludes a person from certain professions, such as medical surgeon or fighter pilot.

 I always wondered why I was never any good at gymnastics, ice skating or fighter piloting.