Wendy's story

Wendy

Routine eye check helps save sight after disease diagnosis...

Blenheim resident, Wendy Reynolds was struggling to attend dog shows around the country as her eyesight deteriorated.

The white lines on the road seemed to wobble slightly as she drove, but Wendy put occasional problems with her sight down to age.

However, the elder care co-ordinator was experiencing symptoms of a disease that could have left her blind. A routine eye check uncovered the condition, macular degeneration, and Wendy wants to warn others to get regular eye checks.

"Just sometimes when I was driving, the lines on the road wobbled and seem to split. I wear glasses and thought I just needed new ones.

"I went in for an ordinary eye test and the optician said he was sorry to tell me that I needed to see a specialist straight away. But even then I didn't really think anything of it," she said.

"I hadn't even heard of it before, I thought the optician was probably just being overly cautious. I was quite blase about it really," Wendy said.

"I saw a specialist privately and he told me that I needed to have injections in my eyes for the rest of my life and that if I didn't, I could go blind. It was a shock."

Wendy was getting regular Pharmac-funded Eylea injections, which had improved the condition in one eye. But she said her left eye had proved more problematic.

The proud owner of a new $120,000 mobile home, Wendy said she was worried that one day she would not be able to drive it.

The keen animal lover, who shows her pedigree poodles around New Zealand, said the disease had sometimes made it more difficult to attend events.

"Today, my eyes are clear but get worse when I'm tired. I remember one day grooming one of my poodles when it looked like the table was buckling but of course it wasn't.”

"I don't know what's ahead with my eyes but I don't really have a choice if I want to keep my sight.”

"All this from a routine check - it's just so important to see an optician," Wendy said.