None of us think you're trouble, just troubled. You need help, it's not healthy to wallow in grief for years. Grief is natural, but you're still young enough to really bounce back.

That's all we want for you, we want you to be happy.

I also decided to leave medical school. I didnt have to. I could have stayed and done psychiatry and been pretty good at it. My priorities changed.

That's life.

You can either go back to a med school that supports you but it will be harder for you and you'll have to learn to get over the self pity in order to spend your life managing otheds health needs. Its a unique vocation where you will be expected to demonstrate a standard that truly is difficult for a Lof of visually intact people to maintain long term. Many doctors therfore work at research, industry or medical legal areas which are also far more visually impairment friendly- but you can certainly practice medicine the traditional way in an area that is most suited to your disability and abilities.

Regardless you need to deal with your diagnosis in a way that isn't going to Rob you of a good but different life with visual issues, or accept you are not going back.

Plenty of support out there. Please know we all have and may often experience what you do. But dwelling on the negatives and what you lost rather than what you can move forward toward and attain, is going to take away all sense of power and purpose. Its not helpful to promote that here, it is a fundamental responsibility of your own.

I was just like you many, many years ago throwing myself pity parties. What is happening to you does suck, but feeling sorry for yourself Will not change a thing. Sooner you start to accept your blindness the sooner you will start to heal and realize that you can live a very fulfilled life being blind. The person stopping you from that is you. I wasted many years of my life feeling sorry for myself and now I am a very happy person.

There is a treatment available for my type of blindness. Last I checked, the cost was around $750,000 for both eyes. So, I can definitely tell you what I wouldn't give for a treatment. If I had that amount, there's no way I'd waste it on that. $100K or less, then I'd seriously consider it. Now, to be clear, I could probably, by going into serious debt, selling our home, etc. raise the funds for at least one eye. And if I really wanted to, I could probably fundraise the rest, but honestly it would not be worth it to me. I have way better things to do with my money and time than that.

I get that you're dead set on not buying it, but blindness is, for a whole bunch of people dealing with it, just an inconvenience. Yes, a huge pain in the butt inconvenience, but not a life ending one.

So you want to do medical school? Then do it. I know of at least one blind guy who became a psychiatrist. I've heard of others who have gone into research.

I suspect that if you put all the effort into figuring out how to get what you want that you seem to be putting into convincing yourself and everyone else that blindness is the end of the world, and that we're all just dilusional for thinking otherwise, you might find that there are still a ton of good options available to you.

I don’t really have a good answer to your question, butI can tell you that as a DeafBlind person, I wouldn’t do any of the 3 things that you mentioned . It just wouldn’t be worth it for me.

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So this is not exactly related, but your yearning for a carefree life is something I completely relate to. My view, which I'm sure is wildly unpopular, is that a person's ability to deal with blindness (may be more or less applicable to other disabilities, I don't know) has more to do with their personality than anything (but note that I'm not talking about motivation, self-pity, or the like).

If you're very goal-oriented, know what you want to do, can accept that this is just the way things are, work your ass off for it and have the energy, you'll do okay; in this day and age you'll be able to do a lot, if you set your mind to it. If you don't have those qualities? Maybe your head's in the clouds, or you can't do the traditional grind? Probably not.

I'm blind from birth, and losing my hearing. The lack of spontaneity fucking kills me. I can't convey how much I'd love to be able to just take off, on my own, somewhere new (hike, road trip, new city, whatever) get a bit lost in the world, and not stress about routes and transportation and all that shit. Not gonna happen. Instead I must plan everything meticulously, and even then it's still a fucking chore. Combine that with being a bit of a...whatever you'd call a hippie idealist without the overt stereotypical stuff, and yeah, I suck at all of it.

So, as you might've guessed, I'm firmly in the latter category. The reason I say all this (please forgive my rambling) is that I think you may not be. You were in med school to become a doctor, which from everything I've heard is pretty intense. You seem to want to live a pretty active and exciting lifestyle, and if it weren't for the blindness, you'd likely have the energy and dedication to get what you want. I wish I could say something more helpful, and I deeply apologize that I cannot, but I think, if you get over this and find things you want to achieve (I know, I know, easier said than done) you'll achieve them. I think you have the strength, "willpower", whatever, to do so. I want you to know that yearning for what you won't have again is valid. Blindness is not the end of the world, but it's shitty, and you're well within your rights to be angry. I wish you the best.

Now, to answer your question. Would I lose a limb or another sense? Fuck no. I'd literally lose my sanity if I were unable to run/lacked an arm. Abandon my family? Let's assume I could very quickly re-learn to do everything with sight (wouldn't actually happen, I've never seen and so have no frame of reference). Yeah, I could do it. I could abandon everyone in my life, in fact. I'd feel guilty for hurting them, but I think they'd move on pretty quickly. Lose 10 years of my life? Eh, I don't anticipate living all that long as it is. Solid maybe on that one.

I get you man. I went blind at 23 was busy with my commercial pilots license. It’s all I wanted to do in life. Travel see the world, exotic cars. You know live the highlife.. Celebrated my nine year blind anniversary yesterday. Since going blind I met a really awesome girl, we got married and I am happy as can be. It’s going to take time but things will get better. Still fucking sucks to be blind but hey life‘s a bitch and you have to move forward. Just don’t do some stupid shit because you are feeling down. Two years ago I got chosen to take part in a medical trial here in Los Angeles where they implanted a device into my brain which has given me the ability to see movement and identify light sources again. This is the first human trials for such a device so hang in there technology will improve and there might be some cool new thing in the future that will give you some functional vision again. Hang in there man

You want to get banned don't you? It'll prove that your blindness ruined your life to the point even other blind people won't accept you.

The thing is, anybody can be a pleasant or unpleasant person, regardless of disability.

I have a challenge for you - post about something that makes you happy. Whatever it is. On this subreddit or any other. Even if you think you have to lie. Se how that makes you feel.

I’m somewhat new to Reddit. All I have to say I’m sorry you’re going through this and I feel for you.❤️

imo, it's much harder for someone to lose part of themselves suddenly than be born with it or lose it gradually. The storm of emotions you're feeling are completely normal. If these posts help you let it out, keep it up. <3

You are the only one holding yourself back. Accept and carry on. Learn to see the beauty in darkness and life will be beautiful again.

If you asked me when I had just lost my sight, I would have sincerely told you that I would give anything. My life’s saving, sell organs, kill someone whatever I would have done it. Now honestly I’m like eh. Whatever. If something comes along it has to be covered by my country’s health service or else I’m not bothering.

I've been through that myself, with the difference that I'm not ambitious. For 5 years all I wanted was either a cure or death, but the former wasn't possible and the latter was risky to attempt. People convinced me that I had a mental problem, so I tried everything: psychiatrists, psychologists, and occupational therapy, but my actual problem was a self-imposed limitation caused by a very strong belief that it wasn't possible to live happy blind, so I kept self-sabotaging and not really attempting to adapt. Eventually I snapped out of it by accident and discovered that what I loved to do was not only possible but actually well within my reach, so today I feel moderately happy.

To answer your question, I'd give all the money I have saved (which isn't much but would be enough for me to live roughly three years without income considering my average monthly expenditure), but I would not get in debt, give up on parts of my body, trade for another kind of disability, or sacrifice my relationship with any members of my family, in exchange for regaining sight.

You come across as a very goal-oriented person, and based on my observations that makes it easier to accept blindness which, while being a life changing disability, is not an obstacle to those who just care about getting things done regardless of how. Being a medical doctor doesn't seem to be the end goal for you, it's only what you perceive to be the only way to get where you want to be in life, but there are many other ways, and I believe that, like many other goal-oriented blind people, given enough time you will find a way to achieve what you desire.

Cars or Vacations aren't what I want to live a full and great live. Helping others and having a partnership, caring for my friends and homeless animals is giving me a reason to live. And I can have all that with my disabilities. Maybe you can overthink your goals or find another profession to make a lot of money. I know blind software developers who earn very well for example.