My lifelong eye journey as a high myope (20/22) — feeling scared and isolated

Hi everyone,

I just needed to share my story because sometimes it feels like no one could understand what I’ve been through.

I 29F have high myopia in both eyes — 20 in one eye and 22 in the other. My journey with my eyes has been intense since I was a child:

•	At 12 years old, I had a macular hole in my right eye. It left a permanent distortion in the center of my vision, but luckily I can use both eyes, so it doesn’t affect me functionally.

•	At 21, I had a huge central hemorrhage in my left eye. I got injections and it fully healed — 100% success. Minor complications after that for the next 5 years . 

•	About 7 years after , I had a retinal detachment in my right eye (the one with the macular hole) and had vitrectomy, laser, and a gas bubble. That went well too.

Even though my ophthalmologist says that with high myopia, these events are unfortunately common, and that I can have an excellent quality of life, I still feel terrified every day.

I constantly see tiny floaters or dots, and even though I know it’s normal after surgery, I can’t stop worrying about another detachment. It’s affected my ability to live my life — I’m scared to travel, make plans, or even go for a coffee because I worry about my eyes.

I know there are people who have worse conditions — people born with serious eye problems or syndromes leading to certain blindness — and I’m grateful for what I have. But at the same time, I feel so alone in this. I don’t know anyone my age who has gone through all of this. I am a really normal looking person , very pretty and working in the beauty industry , had a modelling past , and whoever hears about my issues who are obviously not seen with the naked eye , looks at me with wide eyes shocked . I feel less of a woman when something like that occurs . I’m ashamed to talk about it because most people think that high myopic people look weird for some reason .

I’ve also struggled with depression and anxiety over the years, partly because of my eyes. I’ve taken medications and tried therapy. But the fear, the sense of unfairness, the feeling that I haven’t had the same opportunities as others… it’s heavy.

I’m just sharing this because maybe someone out there understands what it’s like to constantly live with fear for your vision, even when you’re told you’re “safe” by modern medicine.

Has anyone else gone through multiple serious eye issues at a young age? How do you cope with the constant fear?