Not a Veterinarian or a Vegetarian, but a good old Government Issue (GI) Veteran! Here’s where you come in, and it will cost you nothing. I’m seeking vision impaired veterans of any age or physical condition. This is my quest.

I am legally blind from age related Macular Degeneration. There is an existing program through the Veterans Administration (VA) Hospital that I am intimately familiar with as I was fortunate enough to attend it.

The Blind Rehabilitation Center (BRC) is one of the most successful and prominent programs of its type in the United States. There are 10 BRC locations in the U.S., and the one at American Lake in Tacoma ranks among the top with a 90 – 98 percent patient approval. I know from personal experience that the program reinstated me to my previous self, and I will forever be grateful. Personally, I am able to conduct my life and affairs as I did before I became blind, with the exception of driving. And, with today’s advances in technology, they are working on that!!

In today’s world, Cataracts are not much of a problem anymore. The doctor merely peels off the affected cloudy lens, and replaces it with a plastic one and you can normally see better than you ever could. Glaucoma, an eye pressure related disease that pinches the optic nerve at the rear of the eye, and slowly reduces peripheral vision until you can only see a pinpoint directly in front of you is detectable and treatable with drugs. Macular Degeneration is a disease that predominantly affects older women, primarily because women out live men. However, in my “class” at the BRC was a male Sergeant Major from Korea, a Male Navy Commander from WWII, and a 40 year old male computer type from Alaska with blindness brought on by Lupus disease. Fascinating people all, dealing with their handicap. There are two types of Macular Degeneration, Wet and Dry. The type most people get is the Wet type that manifests itself by leaking blood vessels in the rear of the eye, in the retina. There are treatments to halt the progression of vision loss. Medicine, to this day does not know the exact cause. There are hereditary factors, some think it is UV ray associated, another school of thought thinks it may be viral, but essentially it makes no difference, the results are the same; blindness.

Enough gruesome details. The VA offers a 6 week, in-patient program that offers training in all aspects of life and is designed to make the individual completely self sufficient. There are costs associated with the program that are far outweighed by the advantages. There is a means test. If you have money, you attend and pay up. If you do not have sufficient income, the VA will pay the cost for you.

The program is designed for people that are totally blind, but can be of a tremendous help to anyone with any degree of impairment. You are required a physical when you are accepted to the program. The center has 24 hour nursing on duty, and the objective is to provide all necessary medical care to the patient that will enable him/her to attend and complete the program. As an aside, these people are wonderful!! As long as the patient is ambulatory they will assist in any way. The Center is equipped with a kitchen and an instructor that teaches you all the little tricks of cooking for yourself. There are many little tips, organization and specialty wares that can make the individuals life much easier. There is a shop with electric saws, drills, etc. for the blind!! Instructors assist people that have worked in their garages all their life in making beautiful birdhouses, cribbage boards and other products safely.

My favorite block was communications. When you lose your sight, you no longer can read. This is definitely a major downside. There is a company on the east coast of the U.S. that makes a computer program called “ZoomText.” It is a program that you install on your computer, and it interacts with all of the programs that you have. It has a magnification that enables a user to make the print as large as necessary to read, if you have any vision. It also allows the computer to read to you! It can be set to audibly read to you each letter that you type, or each word, or each sentence, thereby letting you write articles such as this one, or e-mail, etc. It also has a component that lets you (through your printer/scanner) scan a document, such as your mail, into the computer, and with a command the computer will read the document to you.

I was also given instruction on a Closed Circuit TV Magnifier that I can put any document under, magnify it to any size, change the background and type colors to make it easier to read, etc. There are also degrees of “binocular” type magnifiers that you wear like glasses (you look like something out of star wars) some are suited for TV viewing with a fixed focal length, and some are suited for watching a baseball game and have a greater range.

I was just 65 years old when I noticed the problem, and I am male. My doctor at Madigan Army Hospital told me that I had “the eyes of an 80 year old!” All in all, my life has been tremendously enhanced by my experience at the VA. The confidence regained by being trained how to take care of yourself is invaluable. The independence that you are able to regain after the loss is difficult to put into words, but I will forever be grateful for the difference in my quality of life that the VA staff imparted to me.

One of the VA’s major tenants is to provide the Veteran with whatever they need to make life better. If you are an amputee, they provide a prosthetic, etc. When I left the program, they provided me with all the equipment that I needed to carry on my life independently. To say I am grateful is a huge under-statement.

So, here is your assignment!! There are blind veterans of all ages, wealth, and descriptions that do not know this help is available to them. Everyone has an aunt, grandmother, or knows of a friends relative that is going blind and needs help. My quest is to find these people and get them referred to the VA for assistance that will make their life better in every way possible. It costs only your time, and I would be forever grateful if you could help, and I would welcome contact with anyone interested for guidance or more information. Also, if you are a member of an organization that has regular meetings and has guest speakers, I would be honored to address your organization.

Ron Muell is a retired US Air Force veteran and has lived in the Kingston area for the last 13 years, and is active in the Kingston Revitalization Association.