Thursday Thirteen #3

Thirteen Things about Living With RP aka Retinitis Pigmentosa aka Tunnel Vision 1. I've always got a garden of bruises in various stages of bloom. No inch of my skin is safe anymore--from eyes to thighs and nose to toes and lips to hips and breasts to all the rest. 2. It doesn't mix well with being absent minded. 3. It doesn't mix well with being clumsy. 4. It doesn't mix well with an anxiety disorder. 5. Any light source equivalent to less than 100 WATT unshaded bulbs might as well be candle-light. 6. Wearing 3 pair of eye-glasses while carrying a white cane invites funny looks. Which doesn't mix well with social anxiety. But on the other hand, wearing dark sunglasses gives me a free pass to stare and observe people without seeming to and that is a plus for a writer. 7. Reading font sizes of less than 12pt on or off the computer screen requires magnification. As does the fine needlework which comes in a strong third under reading and writing in my favorite pastimes list. I suffer constant eyestrain because I insist on doing these things I love way beyond the first signs of distress. 8. Walking in unfamiliar territory feels life-threatening. Running? Which used to be forth on said list? Forgedhaboudit. 9. There are an amazing number of drivers and pedestrians who do not seem to know what a white cane means. 10. Every task takes more time and forethought. 11. Teamwork is difficult and takes a willingness on the part of all members to be proactive about compensating measures. My mother and I had to forego working together in the kitchen over a decade ago as I could not seem to learn to look before I took a step and she could not seem to learn to stop talking with her hands while holding a knife. 12. Dogs and cats have a quicker learning curve than people when it comes to learning to watch out for me. Iron ducks are another story. 13. Non-verbal communication cues are nearly impossible to keep track of since I cannot see the whole face of a speaker anymore, let alone any body language below the chin. My attempts to scan for it seem to make people nervous--I assume because my lack of eye contact gives a non-verbal cue that I'm not listening. Mostly I have to watch lips since I have 50% hearing loss as well. Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. Katia 2. Caylynn 3. Addie 4. Norma 5. Colleen Gleason 6. Chaotic Mom 7. K T Cat 8. Jane_of_art 9. crygibb 10. Kathy (leave your link in comments, I'll add you here!) For those of you wanting to know more about RP, I linked the term Retinitis Pigmentosa in the title of the list to the Wikipedia article about it. There you can find more links and also a pictorial representation of a view with normal vision juxtaposed with the same view as seen by someone with advanced RP. I debated whether to answer the questions about it left in comments directly in comments or write a separate post. The latter wins because then I can controll font size and spell check. :) So watch for a more typical rambling style post about it in the near future. Now that I know there is genuine interest, it won't feel so much like whining to talk about it.

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