Part 1 – The Beginning

Before mentioning my retina detachment, I feel it is important to provide a brief background on various events leading up to it.

I was born premature at 25 weeks. As a result I needed lots of oxygen to be kept alive. However, this negatively affected my eyesight, and I required cryotherapy surgery, in both eyes to ultimately save my vision, which was deteriorating rapidly. This surgery was successful and as a result, I was left with myopia, or short sightedness, along with strabismus (lazy eye) in my left eye, and nystagmus in both eyes.

Throughout my school years, I struggled to accept that my vision wasn’t like everyone else. Like most people when they are young, I just wanted to fit in, after all, no one wants to be perceived as different. At least I didn’t.

At the age of 13, I underwent strabismus surgery on my left eye to hopefully improve the appearance of my eyes. Looking back now as an adult, this was a success, although as a teenager, I just wanted to look ‘normal’ like everyone else, and was disheartened that it wasn’t perfectly aligned.

However, as the years went on I slowly learned to accept my vision for what it was, and as I entered adulthood I actively embraced it. Although I begrudgingly accepted the fact that I would never have my own fast car to drive, being from London, I got free transport instead. That was a win in my book.

My vision has and continues to have an impact in various ways, both visible and invisible, and I will shine a spotlight on these areas in various ‘Focus’ posts as this blog progresses.