When my daughter was 6 weeks old a paediatrician at baby clinic told me she was blind. Just like that. No preamble. It was a devastating experience, a cruel message, bluntly delivered.
I went to see my GP, whom I knew well and trusted. She confirmed what I already suspected. My daughter wasn’t blind, but she did have something wrong with her eyes.
My doctor wrote the word nystagmus on a compliment slip and handed it to me. She couldn’t tell me any more. I had so many questions, but she had no answers for me. She made me an emergency appointment (another scary thing to hear at this point) with the ophthalmic hospital. It took two weeks to come through.
There followed a barrage of tests, each more alarming than the last, and at the end of it all we still had nothing but that ugly word, nystagmus.
I keep that compliment slip to this day as a reminder of how far we have all come. It’s what spurs me on to support other parents and raise awareness and understanding of this complex condition.
Since the early 1990s the Nystagmus Network has campaigned for and invested in nystagmus research whenever funding permitted. Thanks to the generosity of our supporters, there has been a substantial sum invested nearly every single year.
In the past 30 years clinicians have gained so much knowledge about this truly Cinderella condition: how to diagnose it, which of the many possible causes may be responsible for it and even how well a child will be able to see. They have also learned a lot about delivering worrying news to a parent.
Today researchers stand poised to unlock genetic secrets, manipulate enzymes and stop nystagmus in its tracks.
We have come this far together in just 30 years, a period which has seen the birth of the internet, the end of apartheid in S Africa, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the credit crunch, a decade of austerity, Brexit and, today, a global pandemic.
Who knows what is to come next for our brave new world? One thing is for sure. The Nystagmus Network will still be here, making your voice heard, working alongside the best brains in the country to find effective treatments and yes, eventually, a cure.
With your help, we can do this.
To donate now to the Nystagmus Network research fund, please click here.
THANK YOU.
