Look Into My Eyes

And so another milestone gets reached. It doesn't change anything in reality - nothing about me or my condition is any different to what it was 24 hours ago.

 And yet ... and yet ... somehow it feels like everything is a bit different.

This is my right eye. It's crap at anything that an eye is supposed to do. Massive distortions and a tiny field of vision.

This is my left (or what I laughingly refer to as my "good" eye).

I went to Torbay Hospital's excellent eye clinic today for a field of vision test, a fairly routine affair. I also got the standard Snellen eye chart test and a retinal scan.

I've been under the (self-diagnosed) assumption that I work on approximately 35 to 40% of a normally sighted person's vision.

I learned today that I've been wildly over-estimating what I can see in relation to what non-VIPs are able to. In fact, that makes me quite pleased with myself for managing as I do.

The consultant reckoned that the raw data gave me something like 15-20% of normal vision, strangely enough with the narrowest field of vision in my "good" eye which has moderate corrected acuity. The crappy right eye has a slightly better field although its corrected (with specs on) acuity is shot; I can manage the top - the biggest - letter on an eye test chart. Just.

All of which means that I am officially, as of today, what used to be called Registered Blind. These days it's known as being registered Severely Visually Impaired.

That's a grade up from the Partially Sighted status I've had for the last several years.

Like I said, nothing has actually changed since yesterday except for a label on my condition which means I can get a Blue Badge for parking and a few other benefit concessions; but I'm feeling quite odd about it all.