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My eyesight (update)
a week ago
It's been 5 years since I talked about my eyesight here. I wanted to let everyone know what's been going on with my eyes lately. For those who don't know I have an eye disease known as Retinitis Pigmentosa, which causes the cells of my retina to fail over time, potentially making me go completely blind.
Yes, my vision has gotten worse over the last five years, and just these past couple months, I've noticed some big decrease in my vision. I actually now have blind spots in my eyes... Like there is no vision there at all. My left eye is the worst one. I have about half my vision in my left eye. The blind area is creeping its way towards the center of my eye. My right eye is about the same, but not as bad. I've noticed these blind areas for a couple years now, but they weren't as bad as they are now.
Five years ago I mentioned how I noticed a decrease in my vision but man, I wish I had the vision of even back then compared to now...
I am actually terrified. I'm scared, depressed, and helpless. I'm potentially going to lose a big part of my life. Drawing is the only thing I was ever good at and something that makes me happy. I've cried over this a few times now... This is going to be life changing for me.
Drawing is becoming more difficult. I'm still trying my best though. I really don't want to give that up. Reading is also becoming harder. Words get split or doubled in the middle of a word, (for example I will see "wowordrd" instead of "word" or I'll see 1000, instead of 100.) that really messes with me. I can't really enjoy video games anymore, I can't enjoy shows or a movies. But I at least can still enjoy music and listening to people talk.
Yes, it's been pretty rough for me. All I can do is still hope for the best. I'm waiting to see a specialist in hopes they can give me some insight or possible gene therapy treatments.
I know there's not much anyone can do about this here, I just wanted to let everyone know what's been going on. Everyone has been super supportive and I really appreciate you all. Thank you all for reading.
Yes, my vision has gotten worse over the last five years, and just these past couple months, I've noticed some big decrease in my vision. I actually now have blind spots in my eyes... Like there is no vision there at all. My left eye is the worst one. I have about half my vision in my left eye. The blind area is creeping its way towards the center of my eye. My right eye is about the same, but not as bad. I've noticed these blind areas for a couple years now, but they weren't as bad as they are now.
Five years ago I mentioned how I noticed a decrease in my vision but man, I wish I had the vision of even back then compared to now...
I am actually terrified. I'm scared, depressed, and helpless. I'm potentially going to lose a big part of my life. Drawing is the only thing I was ever good at and something that makes me happy. I've cried over this a few times now... This is going to be life changing for me.
Drawing is becoming more difficult. I'm still trying my best though. I really don't want to give that up. Reading is also becoming harder. Words get split or doubled in the middle of a word, (for example I will see "wowordrd" instead of "word" or I'll see 1000, instead of 100.) that really messes with me. I can't really enjoy video games anymore, I can't enjoy shows or a movies. But I at least can still enjoy music and listening to people talk.
Yes, it's been pretty rough for me. All I can do is still hope for the best. I'm waiting to see a specialist in hopes they can give me some insight or possible gene therapy treatments.
I know there's not much anyone can do about this here, I just wanted to let everyone know what's been going on. Everyone has been super supportive and I really appreciate you all. Thank you all for reading.
With how profoundly it's affecting you, it must be agonizing. I can't even imagine.
I really hope that with time and effort, you'll be able to find treatments that can prolong your vision, or even repair it.
We're living in an era with incredible medical breakthroughs, so I want to believe. But even if there were, having to live through what you're experiencing now is something I wouldn't even wish on my worst enemies.
It's horrible unfair. It's cruel.
Please hang in there. And please reach out if you ever need to spiral or unpack your feelings.
I am so sorry to hear it Rodney. Your works are always fantastic.
We will give as much support as needed for you.
Take heart, complete blindness is very uncommon for those who have the condition, it usually results in tunnel-vision instead. But there is hope with vitamin A supplements to slow its progression down, and you can opt for a visual prosthesis, a bionic eye.
I only can send you a hug.
And, well. Music is comforting, and more when you pick a good piece, or you find an epic song or even A great album like "news from the world" of Queen, or "Low" from David Bowie.
Sending greetings and good thoughts
I hope that there is some treatment the specialist may offer you. If not, I hope you find the grace and peace to handle this gradual loss in a way that lets you appreciate other aspects of your life.
I hope you the best and hope there's a point where a solution exists and everything goes better for your vision.
Thank you for all these years sharing your art with the furry community.
You did a lot.
Thank you.
I'm so sorry to see how difficult it must be to navigate. We're all hoping alongside you, I guess all that's left to do is embrace more than ever what time you have left with what you can do. <3 And, if it's any consolation... it's so nice to see how much your community loves and appreciates you.
I also can relate to being helpless man :/ I have depression, it's actually quite crippling so idk man.
Hoping the following is helpful and not just what you already know:
Make the best use of the vision you do have. Invest in low vision tools. You wanna look for things that give you better light and better magnification. There are some you wear on your head and others that you can maneuver into place or put overtop a book. You can also put colored tabs on things to make them easier to identify. There are low vision specialists out there who can help further, although insurance usually doesn't cover them.
Kindle is great because lighting doesn't matter and you can increase the text size on the fly, rather than deal with whatever size they printed at. Don't feel bad about increasing the size of things on your computer, I've had to do that multiple times over the years and it feels like admitting my limitations every time but I'm grateful it's an option. There are also some browser extensions that let you zoom in further on specific areas. There are even apps that connect you with someone who can help guide you around based on your video feed from your phone camera.
You can check clinicaltrials.gov and search for RP to look for trials. Most of them are gene specific like RPE65 or RHO but there's new studies all the time.
Please let me know if there's anything at all I can do for you.
I really do appreciate your tips and insight. Thank you so much. Let's hope they can figure something out to fix our eyes
hope that the disease could stop in any time, and not make you fully blind xwx
lots of wishes and strength on the matter *hugs*
God, that sounds like a nightmare.
Hoping for the better, - Cam
I am deeply sorry this is happening to you, if you have any sort of place where we can help out at all, I'd like to help to the best of my ability. With support or even with cash. I wish I can help out more, though the least I can say is that there are groundbreaking discoveries made in medical fields everyday. I hope that the newest ones can help you out very soon.
We love ya big guy.
Love ya and stay strong
It really helped with my vision. Also diet, where junkfoods make it worse.
*Hugs*
I hope there is some kind of treatment that would let you get your eyesight at least a little better
We live in times when medicine is crazy good, so maybe there is something that could help you
I'll pray for you and wish all the best for you, and I really hope things will get better <3
Is there no treatment for the eye to try and save it?
I am kinda dealing with something different but similar myself. I had cancer that claimed my right eye as a kid and back in 2024 I was diagnosed with diabetic retinopathy which if left untreated can cause blindness. They said I had to get a needle injection in the eye every few weeks .
I didn't know if they had something similar for what your going through? I have to go see a eye specialist for my case. I really wish you the best big guy keep fighting it you are still a amazing artist . Dont give up
Thank you so much!
I hope your able to get a treatment that works and helps stabilize everything . I wish you the best big guy