Very short sighted, aged 22, depressed and scared

[Sunrise22]

I'm a 22 year old male and very short sighted with astigmatism. Approx -19 in both eyes.
I currently wear glasses or RGP/soft contact lenses which give me very good vision considering.
Fairly recently ive noticed more floaters in my vision so i went to the hospital yesterday to have them looked at. She said the floaters are caused by bits of jelly breaking off and floating around in the eye, but it is nothing to worry about and i will get used to them with time. She said to come back if i get a swarm of floaters or flashes/cobweb affect.
She checked my retinas fully, using a little wand type thing to apply pressure in various areas and tell me to look in all different angles.
She said my retinas look fine with no damage or anything, but with my myopia they are obviously stretched some.

Right now i'm very upset and worried about the future. More so after reading about myopia on the internet and the masses of problems i will likely encounter later in life. To me, vision is the most important thing and hand on heart i can say i would not want to live if i lost my sight.
I've read im at a much higher risk of macular degeneration, retinal tears, retinal detachments (which if repaired in time will increase my myopia a lot as well, and if not repaired in time well its game over really), cataracts, glaucoma....
I've also read about having an IOL surgery but also read that will make it even MORE likely to have retinal problems post surgery.
All of the above is making me very nervous and upset. I've had nightmares recently about turning blind and woke up thinking i was for a few seconds. I also dont want to have children with anyone because i wouldnt want them to have this problem. The myopia runs from my mums side of the family and her, her dad, her sister etc all have it.

What hope do i have?

[Claracluck]

Hi Sunrise.  I, too, am very short-sighted. I am appx -23 in each eye and the high myopia runs in my family.  My sister's two little girls also have it as well as my sister and my dad.  Although my sight was poor without any correction, like you, when wearing RGP contact lenses, it was great and I always felt that I was lucky to see so well considering my high prescription!  

Ensure you have regular checks and seek immediate help if you notice any sudden changes.  Otherwise, try not to worry and make the most of what you have got!  You don't know what is round the corner.  You may never have any problems.  You may get knocked down by a bus instead!!!

I am 45 and until last Sept had never really had any problems apart from not being able to see well enough to join the police service! .  I have a macular hole and have had three vitrectomies to try to close the hole.  I was told after the second op that the edges of the hole were flattened but the hole had not completely closed - it was about 200 microns in size.  This was after putting heavy oil in the eye.  I had the oil removed a month ago and another gas bubble was put in but I don't think things have changed much. I still have the same distortion and haziness.    Am waiting for a further consultation.  Although things have improved since after the first op.  So if I must live like this, then it's better than no sight!  With two eyes working, together I should still manage to read..  By the way, I had a lens implant too at the time of the first op and now the right eye is -3 so that does help things albeit meaning a contact lens in my left eye!

Best wishes.

[Sunrise22]

Is anyone else in the same position?

[Ray T Oyakawa, MD]

duplicate.