“Do You Want Your Sight Back?”

It’s a question I get asked more than you might think! And honestly, for a long time, I wasn’t sure how to answer it.

Recently, I’ve been losing more of my sight – the result of a couple of tears from my retina and the multiple procedures and doctor visits that have followed. It’s been a lot to process.  And somewhere in the middle of all of it, my doctor brought up the question directly: “There are new treatments out there, clinical trials — is that something you want?”

It made me stop and really think.

26 years ago, when I was first diagnosed, the answer would have been immediate and absolute. Yes! Without question. I need my sight – I can’t imagine life without it! That fear of losing vision felt like the worst thing that could happen to me. Sight was something I couldn’t picture living without.

But that was 26 years ago.

Over the last 9 years, something has shifted in me. I discovered that I’m far more resilient than I ever gave myself credit for! I learned to navigate the world as a blind person. With my trusty cane, the robotic voice of my screen reader, and a confidence that I didn’t know I had! And somewhere along the way, blindness stopped being something that was happening to me and started being something I had learned to move through.

So, when my doctor asked me that question this time, my answer was different. Not a “no”, but rather a calm, grounded “I could go either way.”

Would I love to see my kids’ faces? Absolutely. That’s not something I take lightly or pretend it doesn’t matter. But could I live a full, happy, meaningful life without that? I already know the answer is yes! That’s because I’m doing it.

That shift from fear to confidence, from “I need this” to “I’ll be okay either way”, didn’t happen overnight. It came from years of showing up, adapting, and learning to trust myself in circumstances I never would have chosen. And that’s what I want you to take from this, whether you’re navigating vision loss or something else entirely. Resilience isn’t something you’re born with, but rather It’s something you build, one hard day at a time.

If my doctor ever comes to me and says, “John, we can restore your sight” – I’ll be there. But know this, I won’t be waiting for it to start living!

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