B.C. artist fears losing vision amid specialists’ fee dispute [Video]

Every four weeks, 45-year-old Christina Watts visits her retinal specialist to receive an eye injection, a treatment she says has helped slow her vision loss. 

But now she’s worried a funding dispute could put the treatment out of reach — potentially putting her out of a job.

The Prince George, B.C., artist and art instructor was diagnosed with wet age-related macular degeneration (wet AMD) — a chronic eye disease that causes blurred vision or a blind spot — in January. 

“I have a big round circle [in my left eye]…a grey mass in the centre,” she told CBC News. “It feels like you’re trying to clean your glasses and you can’t get it off.”

Thanks to B.C.’s retinal diseases treatment program, which covers the cost of her monthly injections, her vision has stabilized a little, Watts says.