Coming out of the closet: I am Legally Blind
LIVING A LIE, UNTIL YOU CAN FAKE IT NO MORE. I have always heard about the term "coming out of the closet" as it relates to sexual orientation. I recently realized that I also lived this tortured existence as it related to my visual condition. I have a degenerative eye disease called Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP). It is a disease that slowly causes your retina to deteriorate; hence, you are slowly robbed of eyesight and eventually end up blind. I was diagnosed with RP at age 14 and had 20/70 eyesight, some blind spots, full peripheral vision and night blindness. The doctor who diagnosed me hypothesized that I would be blind by the time I was 30, and that being a doctor or lawyer was out of the question. I am now 45 with 20/200-400 eyesight, some more blind spots, a 20 degree field of vision and severe night blindness. It has been quite a journey to get to where I am today, and I am writing this to help those going through sight loss to cope with the journe