"I found the support I needed"
Listen in as Zenobia shares how she found the support and strength she needed.
Hadley
I Found the Support I Needed
Presented by Douglas Walker
Douglas: Hello, and welcome to the Insights and Sound Bites podcast, where people facing vision loss share insights about what has helped them cope and adjust.
Voice 1: You cannot do this alone. You need people who are experiencing the same thing.
Voice 2: Probably the hardest part was just navigating through the emotions of it.
Douglas: My name is Douglas Walker. It’s normal to feel all alone when faced with fading vision. Today, we’ll hear from Zenobia. Zenobia will share with us how she worked through the isolation, by finding people just like her, willing to share their frustration as well as their success.
Zenobia Carson: My name is Zenobia Carson. I live in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. I'm originally from Chicago, Illinois. Born and raised.
I'm 75 years old, and I've been a social worker, a writer and author. I'm an avid reader and when my eyesight began to dim a couple of years ago and I was also let go from a job, I felt that it was the ultimate insult. I would lose more and more independence, and I didn't know where to turn.
I didn't want to be a burden on anyone that my children and I didn't take offers here in Minnesota to find help.
And I believe that along with Hadley and the encouragement that I've received from friends who finally figured out the truth that I was not seeing as well as I used to. I became more comfortable with sharing my day to day, I guess you would call it my day to day distress sometimes, or my day to day happiness. It's not all stress. I have very low vision and going from being a visual person or a seeing person to being able to not see much at all is a great leap for anyone, especially for me.
I participate in the Writers groups and it just gives me a sense of well-being to know that I'm not alone. I've not been thrown away. I'm not being ignored. And I am still very, very capable of doing many things.
Douglas: Was there something that someone said to you or something that happened along the way that made all the difference in the world in helping you adjust to living with vision loss?
We‘d love to hear from you 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]. Again, my name is Douglas Walker. Take care and I’ll see you next time.
All Episodes
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Episode 56
When Emma lost her sight in just a few months, she struggled to cope. She felt alone, her insecurities grew, and self-esteem plummeted. With time, she came to a new understanding and that helped her tremendously.
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Episode 55
Dave calls his experience with vision loss a slow torture. In the face of this, however, he has found a sense of inspiration in explorers, history, and an activity you wouldn't typically connect with vision loss, sightseeing.
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Episode 54
When Albert's vision decreased to the point that he could no longer read print anymore, he found it stressful. But he's found a new source of comfort that helps him quite a bit.
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Episode 53
Jayne can feel isolated living with her eye disease, spending much of her days forcing herself to focus on things that have become blurry. The stress can be overwhelming, causing her to shut down. But there's one area of life that now brings her more joy than ever before.
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Episode 52
When Jeffry lost his sight, he felt a loss of control, a loss of dignity. Then, he began his long road to empowerment, one small goal at a time.
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Episode 51
Marilyn went through bouts of anxiety and depression with her vision loss and still grieves the loss several years into her journey. She also decided to do something for herself which has helped tremendously.
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Episode 50
Learning to live with vision loss wasn't always easy for Pam. But with time, her bad days are fewer.
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Episode 49
Jennifer didn't know what to do or who to go to for help as her vision was fading. Then, by chance, she found some help. She found some direction.
The book referenced in this episode is "Macular Degeneration: The Complete Guide to Saving and Maximizing Your Sight"
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Episode 48
When Carmel heard a Hadley podcast, it helped her understand what had been happening to her along with her vision loss—something she had nicknamed her "phantom vision."
Carmel mentions an episode of our sister podcast, Hadley Presents. Here's a link to that episode on Vision Loss and Charles Bonnet Syndrome.
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Episode 47
It was tough for Linda to give up driving and she was heartbroken when reading became difficult. She felt her world was shrinking. But then she asked for help.
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Episode 46
Ashia felt all alone in her vision loss. No one around her knew what she was going through. Then she found something that gave her hope.
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Episode 45
Dennis found that many aspects of life with vision loss can be a struggle. Then he found something that turned that around.