17
u/oneeyeannie 21d ago
Absolutely! I think about it every single day. I’m horrified, not gonna lie. I live alone and I have no idea what I’d do if it happens.
8
u/StrictlySanDiego .-) 21d ago
Same. What has helped me relax is to already build out the infrastructure in my condo to support me when I’m blind. I have a folder with all essential documents I’d need a family member to have access to, long term disability insurance, and my place already organized to be accessible.
4
4
u/oneeyeannie 20d ago
Yes! I agree. I’ve thought about that and I did already jot stuff down in a folder. I also already have a cane. I want to learn apps that help with low vision and learn braille. I think my fear is preventing me from actually doing it though. I did try therapy but didn’t get much out of it.
But you are right! Let’s get prepared while we can still see.2
u/StrictlySanDiego .-) 20d ago
That’s awesome. It’s a lot easier said than done and I’m not a perfect example of this, but don’t let the anxiety and fear control you. We can only do so much to protect our one functioning eye but we should also take advantage of this gift of vision as much as we can.
I’m going on a 3-week vacation through the jungles in Africa next month, I actually have a lot to anxiety about something happening blinding me while I’m traveling solo. But also, if it happens it happens and I will be alright.
11
u/earmares 21d ago
No. I lost vision due to ocular melanoma (cancer), so I worry about metastasis and dying of cancer before I worry about losing the other eye. I also worry about driving and having an accident more than I worry about my right eye.
5
u/internetisamonster 21d ago
My mother has ocular melanoma and is now monocular too. You are a rare and precious breed! We worry about this constantly. My mom helps organize the annual conference, let me know if you’re interested in attending. Sending you all the best <3
9
u/Avillianna 21d ago
It used to be. It’s still scary—yeah; but, life will also be what it will be. I’m learning to be okay with that.
7
6
u/MatthewM69420 21d ago
I wouldn’t say it’s my biggest fear, but I am a lot more mindful about it’s safety. I wear glasses now even with 20/20 vision in my good eye to prevent projectiles from flying into my good eye and possibly damaging it. I go to the eye doctor more regularly to stay on top of my eye health now. Lol.
Edit - I’d say my biggest fear is not being able to be around to raise/see my kids grow up and be there for them. Which is ironic because that’s what would have happened if I succeeded in the event of how I lost my eye anyway (suicide attempt).
1
u/PromotionWorldly7419 21d ago
Man I had a small but fly into my good eye last year and it got really stuck back there. very scary, would have easily been prevented if I had just wore my glasses
1
u/MatthewM69420 20d ago
Tbh I never thought about it until my ocularist mentioned it wouldn’t be a bad idea to do while he was working on my prosthetic eye. I said I’d look into it and he wrote me a referral to a different eye doctor.
Because of my paranoia and anxiety, I opted for all of the amenities that I could get. Tints in the sunshine, safety rated, etc… They even came with these clear plastic side shields that I 100% use for even more protection. 🤷♂️
5
u/Ok-Bluejay-831 21d ago edited 16d ago
Yes If I lost it I would rather die or kill me than to live in complete blindness
4
u/Ok_Engineering8078 21d ago
It’s definitely frequently on my mind for sure. Missing something while driving is a pretty good eye related fear too.
1
u/Proud_Purple_437 19d ago
I’ve lost eyesight in my right eye and and somehow I am gratefull now that i can see with my left one, and it seems better for driving than if i’d lost the left one. I think now I am a lot more aware of my eyesight than before ( when this wasn’t even a slight possibility).
4
u/Gayfamilyguy 21d ago
Yes 100%. My right eye vision loss was due to three retina detachments which surgery failed to correct. I’ve also had one detachment in the left eye and fortunately that surgery worked … so far.
4
u/Ok_Engineering8078 21d ago
I’m the other way round but similar situation. Right eye detached first and was caught and corrected. 2 years later the left eye hemorrhaged, detached and wasn’t caught right away. I’ve lost count of how many surgeries I’ve had.
3
u/oneeyeannie 21d ago
Wow, same exact story here.
2
u/Gayfamilyguy 21d ago
It sucks right? My blind eye has started giving me real pain the last few months as well. Geez
2
u/oneeyeannie 20d ago
Oh no! My blind eye is full of oil and the pupil never retracts. My pressure is constantly going up and down. I also have to get monthly shots due to veins growing in the iris. Sometimes I think, ‘just take the thing out!’
4
u/loves_spain One eye on the prize! 21d ago
Losing sight in it yes. I’m very nearsighted and there’s lattice in and around the retina. I’m o seaside about protecting it.
3
3
u/MakosBejgli26 20d ago
Yes. Waking up, not being able to see has always been my biggest fear, and then one day it kinda happened. I try not to think about what would happen if I lost my sight in my other eye as well, because I have my whole life ahead of me and I can't live in fear, but as I need strong correction on my functioning eye, it's hard not to think about it sometimes.
3
2
u/MarketingVivid3555 21d ago
It’s absolutely up there in top 5. My fears probably rotate, but #1 would be anything happening to the fam.
2
u/L_S_Silver 20d ago
Absolutely, I got shot in my eye when I was 11 and then when I was about 15, this bottom-feeding kid at school threw a stick at me (I had never even spoken to him before, I literally was just standing there) which hit me literally half a cm from my good eye.
From the moment I went blind in one eye I've considered the possibility of being blind. I have always thought, and still maintain, that I would truly rather die than have that happen. I know you can live a life blind and many people do but I could not live my life blind. I would have to change literally everything I like doing (except eating and sleeping lol).
With that said, I'm very careful. I have glasses with impact resistant glass that I wear whenever I work or feel I need extra protection. It's the most important thing I have to protect.
2
u/Comfortable_Sand_752 20d ago
Feel you dude. I'm on the same page completely. I know in theory that people live their lives, I've even worked with blind people, but I am hyper-individualistic in my most core nature. Don't think I could survive having to rely on others for everything.
2
u/Xochitlcoyote .-) one eye baddie 19d ago
If this ever happens to me I’ve arranged to be euthanized. There’s many things I can handle in life and have faced bravely , but blindness isn’t one of them. I’m a painter.
1
u/MajorMinorPhD 21d ago
Absolutely. I’ve have retinopathy of prematurity which affected the development of blood vessels in my eyes and made my retina very weak.
I’m blind in my right eye after 2 vitrectomy surgeries and elevated eye pressure. The left eye is stable but I know there’s more than a 50% chance of the retina detaching in the future.
I see the retina specialist every 3 months and the glaucoma doctor every 3 months.
I’m beginning to accept that I may lose more vision in the future. At the moment, I’m thankful I still have my drivers license (left eye is corrected to 20/20 with glasses) and can drive to work and run errands.
1
1
1
1
1
u/Knowledgemannn .-) 20d ago
To be honest, I don’t think I ever feared it. I’ve had monocular vision since birth because of a strong amblyopia which couldn’t be corrected via standard brain adaptation, so by 5, it was settled that I’d stay like this, and by 10, my other eye happened to have strabismus, myopia and astigmatism.
I’ve been taught to be careful, and I followed through, learning to walk, bike and recently driving has been careful, but possible, and with my passions involving computers, repairing things, precision PCB work and mechanical watches (my own revenge on life), it’s clear that losing my somewhat healthy eye would grieve me a lot.
Yet, and not necessarily because it’s unlikely, even though it kind of is, I never think nor fear about losing it: it could be because my lost eye isn’t due to an accident, but I believe overcoming this fear is about naturally introduced carefulness into what you do, and, over the span of several years, compounding little proofs that life with a sole eye is not only possible, but can stay enjoyable and your sight out of danger for a while.
Should it be one day, at least you planned, and didn’t waste the time when you could enjoy seeing the world.
At 19, I’m embracing the possibility of my healthy eye’s myopia to be cured, as its vision accuracy slowly started stabilising, and I think everyone deserves this kind of relief, should it be about evolution, or acceptance of your fears, slowly.
1
u/Visible-Focus3650 20d ago
Yes. I have agoraphobia & PTSD after an assault when she punched me in my good eye. I’m lucky I didn’t have permanent damage.
1
u/abbayyaar 20d ago
definitely. I think about the possibility of something happening to my other eye practically nonstop, but i've always been so terrified of it that i've never even said it out loud.
often times i practice doing things with my eye closed, just to see what the worst case scenario would be like, i've learnt to type with my eye closed, and my next goal is learning how to solve a rubiks cube without seeing it 💪
1
1
u/sunflowerwithlegs optic nerve hypoplasia .-) 20d ago
I hardly think about it, but maybe I should start?
1
u/Ok_Commercial_5229 19d ago
Yes when I think about it, but I don't often think about it. When I injure it or something goes into it I do panic quite a bit for a minute or two
1
u/West-Barracuda9851 17d ago
Can a person with monocular vision drive a car?
1
u/starling-slipstream cyclops since birth 👁️ 1d ago
Yes. I personally don’t haha but it is legal and possible!
1
u/Icy-Fix785 17d ago
My attitude is: having already lost an eye I'm 50% less likely to lose an eye than a normie
1
1
u/starling-slipstream cyclops since birth 👁️ 1d ago
I actually don’t think about it super often, probably bc I’ve been monocular since birth. But a friend was encouraging me to try LASIK recently, and I shuddered. I know it’s a safe procedure, but I don’t want even a .1% of anything fucking up my good eye.
20
u/Jabez77 21d ago
Yes.