Hi listers,
My name is Leah and I have been watching the answers on the
Blankenship list concerning possible connections of families with the
same medical problems, so I thought that I'd give it a shot. I started
doing my family genealogy in 1983 due to a inherited disease that I have
of the Eyes.
The disease is of the corneal of the eye's and it is called Macular
corneal dystophery. It is a deterioration of the corneal, sometimes
confused with cataracts. The doctor's at John Hopkins University told
me that it was inherited and usually affected about every third
generation. It is usual just in one eye, but I had it in both.
I am one of four siblings on my mother's side and one of nine by my
father's, but no one else has it. The one good thing is they can
transplant the cornea's to correct the situation. The disease doesn't go
away, but the vision is corrected. It can cause blindness.
I have searched my mother's side and haven't found any one with the
disease. My father's side of the family comes from West Virginia. He
was Cuba Hosey, his mother was Rosa Blankenship, and his grandmother
was Nancy Carpenter from the area of Braxton Co., West Virginia.
Thanks for listening, Leah