Low Vision

I am really excited about sharing with you my latest toy. It is a speech recognition program that allows you to type as fast as you can talk. The name of this program is called “Dragon Natural Speaking”. In fact, I am utilizing this program in writing this comment. This is one of the greatest programs on the market for speech recognition which can be used by people that are disabled, or just can’t type fast enough. The program is a little on the spendy  side around $200. I bought mine through Best Buy of which I paid that price. Later I was scanning through Amazon.com and found the same program for $129 plus it had a $50 rebate, so you’re only looking at $79 which is one great deal for which you get, and what you can do with this program. As I stated in one of my comments, I have been a writer for 30 years with poetry and creative writing in both the US and Europe.  I was not able to type with low vision. Now, I am back to writing and currently writing a science fiction novel and hopefully a trilogy called “Tony Deaton and the quest of the Luyers”. Look for it on the bookshelf in the coming months as I am about three quarters from finishing my first book. Here is the link to where you can find out more about this program. I strongly suggest and recommend this to anyone who wants to type whether it be letters, books or e-mails.

This program does take a little time and work on your part to get it to work properly for you. But this process is quite easy and does not take long to do. In doing research, what makes the operation of this program more functional is the microphone and headset that you use with the program. What I found out is that the microphone should be a powered microphone and even better yet, a USB port microphone and headset. I obtained mine through Amazon.com but you can also find it at other  places like Best Buy, or other computer related sites. This is important for the quality of your microphone means everything. I chose a microphone and headset combination with a USB port hookup. As I promised earlier here is the website to gain further information http://www.nuance.com/talk/ The program does come with it’s own headset, but not powered, so it was an additional expense to by the  one I chose to use.

http://www.rcsys.com/dt.htm

Here is a neat little device that can assist in making your computer easier to use. This is just one of many helpful items out there to aid using your computer more effectively.

There is a drug, not yet widely used by Eye Doctors, called AVASTIN. This is actually a chemotherapy drug that can also be injected into the eye for off-label use treating eye disease. People with macular degeneration or people that have macular edema (swelling) have had success with this. I went in to Boise Retinal clinic on a Wednesday and received an injection. My vision at that time was 20/80. Two days later on Friday, my eyes were 20/25. I was ecstatic over the results. I received shots every six weeks for about a year. Unfortunately, I had a problem with my eye just giving up. But, this drug has helped other people see better. I wanted to let you know about this, as it can be used on an off-label basis for some eye diseases, and Opthalmologists can have access to it.

After I reported on this drug called Avastin, I found that it has been taken of the market due to medical side effects of this drug. I am experiencing these side effects. Actually, I discovered alot of medical problems I had shortly after the injections into my eyes. I experienced migraine headaches, sinus problems and scarring of the sinuses , along with additional hemorrhaging in my eyes. One of the things I discovered in reading on the Internet is that my chances of a brain aneurysm is increased by 20 to 30% .. So do yourself a favor before any Dr. wants to inject your eyes and do some research on what it is that he wants to put in your eyes whether it be Avastin or another steroid some kind .. You can Google “side effects of Avastin”. I see on the Internet, that there are some class-action suits against the maker of Avastin. Although the drug seems to work for people with macular degeneration, my disease was branch vein retinal occlusions which as I stated in the column that eventually became blind .so do your research and get a second opinion as a lot of doctors in Sweden, France and at other European countries recommend that when you have hemorrhaging in your eyes that you not receive injections. They say eventually the bleeding will be absorbed and you would be a lot better off and even possibly regain your eyesight back to normal.