Spotlight on: Ava Jenkins ???? @avajenkins_
“Hello everyone! My name is Ava Jenkins & I’m a college student. I remember first noticing my VSS when I was around 7. I told my mom I had been seeing lots of dots on the walls & it really bothered me. I began meeting with eye doctors who told me there was nothing they could find “wrong”, my eyes were “healthy”. Luckily, I finally found a doctor who knew what VSS was. I was recommended to a neuro-ophthalmologist who couldn’t help me, so I tried to go to a different neuro-ophthalmologist. By this time I was around 16. It had been a long time coming with no answers. I remember how frustrated I was when the neuro-ophthalmologist told me that “floaters were normal”. My response was simply to hand him a stack of papers I brought with me so that I didn’t have to explain what VSS was again. I was offered seizure medications, to which I declined. I left the doctors being told that it was simply an “incurable” disorder.
This was a hard pill for me to swallow. I struggled with understanding I would see this way for the rest of my life. However, this extremely hard time showed me that only Jesus could get me through it. God equips us with the ability to persevere in the midst of tribulations. Instead of complaining, I have actually been able to see the blessings in it. I constantly find myself thanking God for the ability to see! Although it is far from normal vision, it is still something, & for that I am grateful.
As for my symptoms, they include heavy static, bad night vision, depersonalization, sensitivity to fluorescent lighting, & light sensitivity. The depersonalization is the worst part, but it has gotten extremely better over the years. I used to have really bad floaters, but those have also decreased. As for the light sensitivity, I try to avoid fluorescent lighting as much as possible.
If I could give any advice it would be to not dwell on this terrible disorder but to embrace it. For God said, “Let light shine out of darkness” (2 Corinthians 4:6). Feel free to reach out to me with any questions! :)”
