Smile...

I wanted to show everyone a picture of my dog. She had just come in and I asked her to smile and it looks like she did.

I feel a lot better today than I have in awhile. My jaw is still achey but nowhere near as bad as it has been. At least I can tolerate it (Yea!!). Happy Valentine's day everyone. I have nothing special planned. My husband usually gets me flowers. I wasn't able to get him anything cause I can't get anywhere (I don't drive because I'm legally blind; a condition known as Usher's Syndrome; aka Helen Keller's disease. I wear hearing aids too). So, I think I'll just cook him a really nice dinner. My daughter stayed home from school today sick (sinus infection I think). She's twelve so they don't do the Valentine's cards anymore.

I should probably explain what Usher's syndrome is so you don't have to search the web for it. I have a degenerative eye disease called Retinitis Pigmentosa with hearing loss (Usher's Syndrome). I have lost most of my peripheral (side up and down) vision; I have around 6-8% left as of two years ago. If you look through a camera to take a picture, you know how you can only see what's right in front of you and not what's around you? That's how I see. I also have night blindness...yep blind as a bat at night...I often need help in places I'm not familiar with. I found out it was Usher's when I was 28 years old. I stopped driving about two years ago (I REALLY miss driving). My doctor told me no more driving because my eyes had gotten too bad. My younger sister has it too. Her eyes are worse than mine. My hearing is worse than hers. I read lips and with hearing aids I hear ok. All three of my kids (two boys 17 & 16 and one girl 12) are carriers and when they have children their spouses need to be tested as well. If their spouse is also a carrier the chance of them having a child with this condition is 50%. My older sister does not have it, but she and her kids are carriers of the gene. There is no cure. Scientists are working on some things but currently, no cure. The doctors don't know if or when I will become totally blind and totally deaf. For now I consider myself lucky because I can still see and hear enough to communicate with other people. I don't know brail or sign language. I am going to learn both though. Better to be prepared I guess. Sorry I'm so far off the braces subject, but most people have never heard of Usher's before. I don't usually talk about it but, I figured what the heck...people don't know much about it anyway and to look at me you would never know I'm losing my eyesight. People usually don't believe me when I tell them I'm legally blind. I don't have the sunglasses or the stick or the dog or the blank stare...stereotypical right? But, really, that's what people look for when we say blind. I function really well at home, but any place else I usually need help. I have run into people in the store (very embarrassing), I ran into a beam right in the middle of the floor; it hurt and again very embarrassing(the color of the beam and the wood floor were almost the same color)and I trip over my dog all the time. When I bend over I hit my head on the counter, table, washing machine, cabinet doors etc. I always have bruises on my arms and legs from running into things. One time at work, (I no longer work by the way) I walked right into a closed door that I thought was open...lol I laughed and cried at the same time. No one saw me do it thank goodness! But, you get the picture. Anyway, thanks for listening to me go on and on again. I hope I didn't bore anybody to death. 'Til next time...see ya later!