"Don't let this steal your joy"
Listen in as Cindy shares how advice from her son helped her adjust to her new normal.
Hadley
Don’t let this steal your joy
Cindy Scott Huisman: I have really called upon those words from our son many times throughout the five years since sight loss.
Marc: This is Hadley’s Insights and Sound Bites, where people facing vision loss share what has helped them cope and adjust.
Cindy Scott Huisman: My name is Cindy Scott Huisman, and I live in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Our son became legally blind at age seven in 1999 due to a hereditary condition called Lebers Hereditary Optic Neuropathy.
And 18 years later, my eyesight became affected with the same condition.
Lebers Hereditary Optic Neuropathy or LHON causes central eyesight loss due to issue with the optic nerves. And so, it has caused me to have issues with seeing people's faces and reading print. And of course, I can't drive a car.
Along the way, shortly after sight loss, I remember discussing what was going on with me with our son, and he said, mom, this isn't the end of the world. That was encouraging. “This isn’t the end of the world.”
And there was another day when he and I were at the house together and I was trying to totally reformulate how I go about making a grocery list, and I was getting really frustrated and he said, don't let this thing steal your joy.
I have really called upon those words from our son many times throughout the five years since sight loss.
There were just so many steps along the way with him growing up and just figuring out the system as far as his education and everything else that needed to happen along the way. And then for him to have that opportunity to turn it around and help advocate for me, encouraging me and making me feel better. It was just such a lovely full circle kind of situation.
Marc: You never know who might need to hear your story. If you’d like to share with us, just leave us a message on our Insights & Sound Bites voicemail. By calling, 847-512-4867. Or, you can use your smartphone or computer and email us a recording to [email protected].
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Episode 42
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Episode 41
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Episode 40
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Episode 39
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Episode 38
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Episode 37
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Episode 36
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Episode 35
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Episode 34
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Episode 33
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Episode 32
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Episode 31
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