I have read quite a few books written by people with vision loss (click here for The Blind Reading The Blind), the majority of the authors going blind over time due to Retinitis Pigmentosa, commonly referred to RP. RP is a group of inherited (genetic) eye disorders that cause progressive loss of vision. It affects the retina, the light-sensitive layer at the back of the eye.
I have, of course, and will most likely continue to do so, thought about their experience, knowing you are losing your sight, versus my experience, which had me, with no warning, waking up completely blind in one eye one morning, the other eye blind the next. After several weeks, some vision returned and that’s where any improvement stopped. December 2012.
I have been told by multiple eminent physicians that my experience is rare, the suddenness, the inability after all this time to say for sure the cause. Based on what I have read and videos I have watched, perhaps the most unusual part of my story is that I have been fully-sighted, completely blind, and now visually impaired with just a bit of sight. One could say that when it comes to vision, I have seen it all.
When we are living day-to-day, we mostly forget the near misses and alternate outcomes that could have been more severe and life-altering than the missiles that do hit their target. My missile read “Loss Of Most Sight,” while “No Sight At All” and “Fully Sighted” passed me by. Of the three, you can guess which one I would have preferred to be a direct strike, as well as the one I am so thankful zigged when it could have zagged. It is extremely challenging to live with little vision, but I know that I could have experienced a larger impact.
It is easy to think about when I had proper vision, (click here for Comparison Living) but I cannot lose sight of the fact that I once was without any sight at all. That’s the missille that should hit me every single day, the one that is GRATITUDE.
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