Dr Tracy Craggs has been listening to people talk about sensitive issues for the past 20 years, including asking Holocaust survivors and members of the armed forces to share their experiences. Her interviews have been used for a variety of educational purposes. She was delighted to be asked to attend our recent Birdshot Day No 3 and listen to some of our attendees talk about their lives since diagnosis.
The inspirational Mike Brace CBE, Chief Executive of VISION 2020 (UK) talks about losing sight in one of his eyes from a firework accident when he was 12, the subsequent development of uveitis in his remaining eye, and how he has dealt with this. He vividly describes life following his sudden loss of vision at such a young age. His talk at the Birdshot Day, was greeted with enormous laughter as he is such an amusing and inspirational speaker. He explains exactly what challenges he faced, and how he never let his loss of vision hold him back from achieving. (Apologies for having to shorten this to the maximum 20 mins. It was a hard choice to decide which jokes to cut.)
Carlos Pavesio, consultant ophthalmologist is interviewed at the Birdshot Day, 11th September 2010, by Mikael Porath-Petersen about this rare sight threatening eye condition. (18 mins.
“There is NO single test/indicator/marker for birdshot, although everyone seems to think the HLA A29 positive is. It is not. Just one of many areas a good diagnostician will ponder. We all want an answer and the reality is, for some, there is not a definite yes or no as to their diagnosis.
Uveitis = inflammation of the uvea, something has caused that inflammation. Therefore, having uveitis indicates there is something else wrong; there are about 60 or so conditions that are identified as causing uveitis, and for a quite few, the diagnosis is ideopathic or cause unknown. Our ophthalmologists are just like a lawyer who is building a case, bit by bit, with each piece of evidence to draw a conclusion.”
Here are 3 short interviews people with birdshot who attended the Birdshot Day back in September 2010.
Mrs Birdshot has had Birdshot for over thirty years. It took a long while for her to be diagnosed and over the years has received a number of different treatments, some more successful than others. Her’s is a positive story. She has maintained her vision and she doesn’t regard herself as ill and doesn’t want to be thought of as a patient. She wants to have a partnership approach to her treatment with her doctor.
https://audiomack.com/embed/birdshot-recordings/song/mrs-birdshot
Carole’s story is similar to Annie’s. She has been treated for a number of years and has maintained reasonable vision.
https://audiomack.com/embed/birdshot-recordings/song/carole
Lesley is a young woman who has been treated for her Birdshot for over 10 years. She’s had a tough time finding the right treatment for her Birdshot and her arthritis, but her current medication is controlling both and she couldn’t be happier.
