Lloyd recently celebrated “the 40th anniversary of his 40th birthday” with a few friends, neighbors and family members at his home in Lexington, South Carolina. He loves to laugh, play golf and watch football–especially his team, the University of South Carolina Gamecocks. Life has been good for Lloyd, a former sales manager, and his wife of 57 years, Betty.

He credits part of his good fortune to a routine eye exam, which may have helped save his vision. Six years ago, he began to notice wavy lines creeping into his right eye, and says “things were blurry from time to time.” Lloyd, who made a habit of having his eyes checked annually, told his eye doctor, who tested his vision with a grid, gave him a new prescription for glasses, and told him to hurry back if the lines became wavy.

One night, while reading the paper on the porch, Lloyd noticed that the mini-blinds on the windows looked like they were “wiggling along like a worm.” His doctor sent him to a retina specialist who diagnosed Lloyd with wet age-related macular degeneration (wAMD).

AMD is the leading cause of severe vision loss in people over the age of 60. There are two types of AMD, dry and wet, both characterized by central vision loss. Dry AMD progresses more slowly and can lead to legal blindness. Wet AMD affects only 10 percent of people with AMD, but progresses more quickly and can cause the total loss of central vision. Early detection is key to delay or reduce the disease’s severity. The first symptom is often a dim, blurry spot in the middle of one’s vision.

Since Lloyd’s wet AMD was caught early, he and his retina specialist were able to work on a plan for him. But it could have turned out much worse–as it did for Lloyd’s neighbor John. Unlike Lloyd, by the time John found out he had AMD, it was too late to delay the disease, and he went almost completely blind in both eyes. Lloyd checks in with his retina specialist every few months, but his vision has been good for a while now.

Prevent Blindness America has resources for those who have been recently diagnosed with AMD, their family members, and caregivers.