Hello, I would like to welcome you to Smokey Vision, a place where those that are struggling with vision loss can come together in order to help one another deal with living in a sighted world with little or no vision.
Let me begin by telling you a bit about myself. My name is Scott (also known as Skooter Bob), maybe in a future post I will explain how I got this nickname, but I wouldn’t hold your breath if I were you. I am 39 years old, a father of 4 children. 2 sons; Scotty (18), Joshua (16), and 2 daughters; Elizabeth (11), and Makayla (9). My daughters and I live in Georgia with my very beautiful fiancé Bronwyn (Boom Boom).
Both Bronwyn and myself have Retinitis Pigmentosa, also known as RP. This is a Retinal degenerative disease that slowly takes a persons vision until it leaves them almost completely blind. This is an inherited condition that is passed down from generation to generation. I have 2 older brothers that also have RP. My oldest brother George who is 47 is at just about the same place as I am as far as his vision is concerned, and our brother Dale who is 45 still has the ability to read large print.
It is my hope that by writing this blog on the subject of vision loss, that I will be able to convey to whomever reads this blog that they will learn that just because a person loses their eye-sight, does not mean that they have to lose their vision!
I decided to name this blog “Smokey Vision” because that is what I feel as though I am constantly looking through (smoke). Whenever someone asks me what it is that I can see (yes people actually ask this) I usually tell them that it feels like I am looking through a very thick layer of white smoke. Some people that have “RP” say that they lose all of their peripheral vision first, but for myself and also for Bronwyn it seems to be the opposite. You see we both are still able to see some movements in our periphery but basically nothing directly in front of us. For me this can be very nauseating at times, so I tend to keep my eyes closed most of the time.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not complaining about what little vision that I have left, quite the opposite actually. I am very thankful for the little bit of sight that I have left. I have some friends that are completely blind and I do not know how they can deal with it. I mean no offense to anyone that is completely blind, my point is that for those of us that are fortunate enough to still have some light perception, that we should treasure every day that we have this little bit of vision.
Well I think that this is enough rambling for today. Again, welcome to Smokey Vision, and please come back and see how this little blog grows. Have a Blessed Day!
