Welcome to my blog. I have had ALS for 10 years now.


Since I started this blog in June 2008 I've had amazing feedback. Family, friends, people from all over North America, Australia, Scotland, England, and places I can't recall, have commented, encouraged and corresponded. I had no idea when Cynthia taught me how to set this up, how much I would love posting and how many people would read it. I want to say THANK YOU to everyone who has helped propel this therapeutic exercise into a daily routine. All of you, both friends and visitors, are now part of my blog family. Welcome.

From Go Pro

From Go Pro
View from my living room

Friday, January 22, 2010

Eyes hurting

I'm having eye problems so won't be on the computer as frequently. I'm not sure if it's an ALS complication or something else. I've been to an eye doctor and will be seeing a specialist soon. It's so important to protect my vision and eye movement--as it's all I'll have to use for communication near the end of life.

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS):

People with ALS are generally very successful operating the Eyegaze Edge. We have, however, seen limited eye movement in a few people with ALS, which made it difficult or impossible for them to perform the more complex Eyegaze functions, such as typing, on traditional direct-select Eyegaze keyboards. Several Eyegaze keyboards designed for users with limited eye movement are now making it possible for most users with ALS to continue to operate the Eyegaze Edge indefinitely. A common problem for users with ALS is dryness of the eyes. The corneas are normally moistened by tears, which are spread around by blinking. As the blink reflex decreases, the corneas dry out, and don't reflect infrared light very well. The Eyegaze Edge needs to see a corneal reflection in order to function. Over-the-counter artificial tears eye drops will typically solve the problem of dry eyes.


1 comment:

Alice said...

hang in there, karyn. praying for you to have some relief with the eye issue!