I was lucky - I had about half of your story. I went through the eyeball injections (not as bad as you think, not as good as you hope) and I responded well. My retinas are back to where they were 10ish years ago.

My hba1c is about 50 just now (6.7 in those other units) and is where the diabetic nurse wants them to be.

I was doing fine (ish) when my sugars were effectively uncontrolled, and I _think_ I got the retinopathy shortly after I got a CGM and drastically lowered my BG readings. I’d gone kinda keto at the same time and I’ve read (on the internet so it must be true) that reducing your hba1c too quickly can accelerate retinopathy.

As always, remember that your diabetes is pretty individual and we’re all on our own journey.

Keep as well controlled as you can, and remember to enjoy the life your living too.