I have RP too. The fear is real. When each day is darker than the last and you wonder why the grocery store's lighting is so much dimmer than it was last week it's scary.

I don't think about it much, though. I stay positive by focusing on the positive things in my life. I only have a few months of eyesight left so my family and I put together a blind bucket list. We spent last weekend waterskiing. I'm trying to create some awesome final visual memories of the people I love so when I remember how they look I'll remember their smiles, their excitement, and their laughter.

Sure, you could dwell on the unfairness and the fear. You could grieve the loss of the man you could have been and the things you could have accomplished if just a single protein in your DNA had ended up in a different part of the chain. Maybe you should, from time to time, just to keep life in perspective. But try to remember everyone thinks life is unfair. All of us are handicapped, some of us just more noticeably than others. We each struggle. Those of us who are blind might face a bigger challenge but bigger challenges give bigger rewards.

So we fight on. We create the best life we can with the tools we've been given and we do our best.

I'm sorry, this sucks. I have RP, dx in mid 20s. I've done various things to help cope with the stress: working out, mindfulness meditation and getting involved in my local live music scene. Good luck!

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RP here as well. 1 don’t give up on anything! There are adaptations and work around s to allow you to do most anything you desire. 2. Get with your ophthalmologist and discuss genetic testing and find out if you are a candidate for gene therapy to pause the progression. 3 if you need to vent feel free to do so here.

Best advice I can give is to take time to grieve. I started my grieving process in my late teens when I was first told I was a glaucoma suspect. Since my great grandmother was blind from the disease already, I knew what to expect, but as a lover of other people’s art, it’s hard to know at some point I won’t be able to see it some day. So, I second the blind bucket list strategy. I plan to hit up as many museums and art galleries as possible and see as many of the world’s wonders as I can between now and the day I have no vision left. And then, I’ll simply find something else to marvel at.