We took Gramma to a symposium about macular degeneration on Saturday. It was very informative, and she even said she was glad she went. (She is rather tactiturn, and rarely expresses enthusiasm).

She is still in the mild stage ("dry") and is bothered very little, so far. She has admitted that it is easier to read Large Print books, though. And now she is getting Readers' Digest magazine in large print, too.

There have been amazing breakthroughs in the treatments, even since last year, and that news is very heartening. The severe form of the disease is a major cause of blindness in older folk, and even the mild form can be extremely aggravating (you eventually lose the central part of your field of vision; i.e. the part where people's faces are!)

The new treatments have had some success in reversing, not just slowing, the degeneration of the retina. Gramma doesn't qualify (yet) for any of the treatments, as they are all for the severe form, but it is good to know that there is hope out there, should she progress to that point.

OH, and by the way: Her 90th birthday is this October 26th. We will probably have a party for her in Albion either this summer or actually in October. The more family who show up, the better! Just a thought for pondering.