"I get out there and I still do what I can"

Hadley

I get out there and I still do what I can

Terry: I cried my eyes out when the doctor told me, "Hey, there's nothing more that we're going to be able to do for you. And I learned that if you don't do something, you don't adjust.

Marc: This is Hadley’s Insights and Sound Bites podcast, where people facing vision loss share what has helped them cope and adjust.

Terry: Hi this is Terry Miller, and I live in Englewood, Florida.

What's going on for quite a while over the years, had macular degeneration, but it wasn't real bad. And my doctor, optometrist said, "Hey, you'll be able to see a little better if we get your cataracts removed," so I did.

While I was there, the doctor, unbeknownst to him, had messed up my left eye, and he said, "Oh, it'll be all right in a couple of days, and we'll go ahead and do the right eye." And then when my left eye came around, it was messed up and this was all at a VA hospital and they've been taking care of me ever since.

So this way, if I need most anything, because I'm a hundred percent disabled, they get me my equipment that I need to see. So that was the beginning of it. And I had sat down and cried because I just got married three months before.

I was going to take care of my wife because found out she had macular and it was going fast and now she can barely see to go anywhere. We're two blind couples living together.

And I cried my eyes out when the doctor told me, "Hey, there's nothing more that we're going to be able to do for you. You're going to be blind this way and you'll never drive again."

Then pulling back on my good old military days, I was a Marine and also a sailor. I learned that if you don't do something, you don't adjust. If you do something, you're going to live on. You're going to do things. You're going to be able to go places. All you have to do is do it. That attitude has pretty much got me through most of my life, and now this. I'm 77 years old now. I'm not a young man any more. I get out there and I still do what I can.

I like metal detecting. When friends take me to the beach, I have metal detectors. I go to the beach every chance I get.

The metal detector it makes a sound when it comes across metals and it'll make a grunting sound when it's iron or rusted material that's in the water. I've learned to use my ears to find things. I've had to learn that.

And so, having something to do and places to go keep me looking forward and not to look back and worry about what was or anything. But look for something that's going to happen, going to be that I make to keep me happy, to keep my wife happy. Oh, and to keep my dog happy.

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].