What People Say

I’m writing this testimony with a profound feeling of friendship, deep recognition, admiration and gratitude for the wisdom, creativity, generosity and optimism Dr. Meir Schneider demonstrated while working with me on my eyes, an excellent work that will be forever in my heart and in my eyes!  I am 63 years old and due to a really fast progression of glaucoma in both eyes I have already lost 95% of the fibers of both optic nerves, I have a reduced visual acuity not amenable of correction, 1/10 on the left eye and much less than 1/10 on the right one, and a very critical reduction of the visual fields of both eyes.

Despite all the efforts made by conventional medicine to stop this progression the truth is that it failed to do so and blindness was presented to me as the only inevitable and incontrovertible prognosis. Terrified by this prognosis, but filled with hope by this new possibility, I flew from Lisbon, in Portugal, to San Francisco, in the U.S., to carry an intensive treatment of 15 sessions of two and a half hours with Dr. Meir Schneider. This trip was worth all the time and money spent on it because the treatment was really effective! I had really positive results having made progress with both eyes especially with the right one, the eye that sees worse.

Just after six sessions I had my first very, very special and remarkable moment: I was able to see Dr. Meir’s and Sarah’s, his Office Manager, eyes! This event made me feel an immense and overflowing joy that filled me with hope. Until then, at a distance of 15.7 inches (40 cm), their eyes as well as those of others were hidden behind a thick dark fog.

A few days before going to San Francisco I wrote some lines on what I couldn’t see by that time and the way that it affected my daily life: “I cannot see myself at any distance nor my face or my body.  I cannot recognize the faces of people that are at a more than 3.9 inches (10 cm) distance or even recognize my son and daughter except two steps away, unless I know they are there. I cannot drive or go to the movies, or read books and write except in the computer because the screen has light behind and the font sizes can be increased. I can read only short texts and preferably in the computer, needing ten times more than the normal time because the letters are shrouded in shadows, are missing some parts, have dark spots and reading or writing like this is incredibly tiring. I can’t go to places that are dim light because I fail to see, distinguishing only shadows which is horrible and often scary especially outside, I can’t see people’s faces and I take one person for another or even objects for people, even my own children and granddaughter, and when eating I cannot cut or arrange what’s on my plate. Everything around me is increasingly wrapped in brown haze increasingly thick and this perception causes me fear and anxiety which I try to fight with optimistic thoughts”. And here are some other huge differences from the situation described above which were obtained during the treatment and that show that my visual field and peripheral vision have expanded and that also my far and near vision has increased, especially in my right eye and the amazing subsequent discovery that I could see with that eye: before going to San Francisco my right eye could only see at a distance of 1.4 inches (3.5 cm) meaning that I had to lean my nose over the paper surface to see a 1 inch (2,5 cm) printed letter, or over the mirror to see my own right eye. By the end of the 8th session I could already see my eye at a distance of 6.7 inches (17 cm) and a letter with the same 1-inch (2,5 cm) high. Now I can see both at 17.7 inches (45 cm) distance though not yet with complete sharpness but in return at this distance I can also see my face, my body and everything around! The really dark mist, sometimes even black, which filled most of the visual field of my right eye, is much smaller, much lighter and much thinner. Also, dimly lit spaces are less of an obstacle for me, I can move much more easily in them, feeling much safer than before.

All these developments, and other not detailed here, seemed absolutely impossible to obtain and yet I managed to achieve them with the visual therapy I did with Dr. Meir Schneider: It is amazing that this really happened and this is a huge window of hope that has opened up for me! Of course there is still a long way to go but this intensive treatment was absolutely fundamental and decisive in my life! Dr. Meir Schneider truly loves what he does and this was well reflected in the dedication and commitment with which he conducted his work with me, in the wisdom and great intuition showed, in the positive reinforcements with which he encouraged me and helped me de-dramatize my visual situation, in the words of encouragement and the ability to motivate me for this daily work with my eyes which I see now as a special gift that I offer myself every day and which gives me a great inner joy that invades me making me immensely happy!

Now I am able to see the future and I believe that I will be able to carry on seeing! Thanks to Dr. Meir Schneider I’m going to continue to see and this is wonderful!

Thank you so much, Dr. Meir Schneider!! I wish you all the best and I really want you to come to Portugal!! Aurora Machado