My Coats’ Disease Story
My name is Ryan Stach. I am twenty five years old and was diagnosed with Coats' Disease when I was seven years old. Coats’ Disease is a very rare eye condition that has abnormal development in the blood vessels behind the retina, resulting in the leakage of the eye and could potentially lead to blindness. Visually, for myself, it appears as a constant dark spot in my vision (though it can be a bit different for everyone). After six surgeries between the ages of seven to nine, the leakage stopped. The downside was that the amount of surgeries at that age caused damage to the superior vision (the top part of my field of vision) in my right eye, leaving it worn down over time. I refer to it as being “half blind” because that’s the easiest way to explain it to someone. Since I was 18, nothing further happened, the Coats’ Disease was in remission. However, due to some slight complications, I went to get it checked out, only to discover that it has now spread to my left eye. I am now part of a lucky five percent of everyone who has Coats’ to have it in both eyes.
Even though it’s been detected early, since there is no cure, nothing can be done about it. I could wake up one morning and have a giant spot in my dominant eye’s vision and it cannot be reversed. It’s a lot to take in coming from someone who’s career depends on sight. As of right now I can still see, but it’s like there is an invisible countdown. Until then, I have been working on a project dedicated to raising awareness for this disease. It feels like the start of a new journey and brings much more meaning to what I create while I have my vision. This is part of who I am, and I have finally learned to fully embrace it. To everyone I have told individually, thank you for your support and understanding.
Talking about this feels like a breath of fresh air. Makes me appreciate what I do more. If anyone has any questions on this disease feel free to reach out, I’m more than happy to explain. For now though, I have a big project concerning this to tackle, as well as some other projects that I will talk about soon.
Time to get back to work.