"It's more comfortable talking to others that understand"

Hadley

“It’s more comfortable talking to others that understand”

Terry: I was kind of like embarrassed to say anything. I feel more comfortable when I'm talking about it with people that understand what I'm going through.

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

Terry: Hi, my name is Terry Bruce. Everyone calls me Shorty. I'm from San Antonio, Texas, and I have optic atrophy. At the end of 19, I had a stroke, so that affected my vision even more. In 2023, I had another stroke, and it's called a CVA.

And it affected my eyes tremendously. And now I'm coping and trying to deal with losing my vision. I have vision in one eye, my right eye, but not as much. And vision in my left eye is totally gone. I can only see sometimes like flashes of light.

And after the first one, I was kind of like embarrassed to say anything. I'm a very independent person. I'm used to taking care of everybody else. I used to be a CNA, I used to be a QMA nurse and a provider. So I'm used to doing for others.

After I came out of the rehab, they say, well, you're gonna need this, you're gonna need that, you're gonna need this. And everything they started telling me, I heard it, but it wasn't happening to me. It was somebody else. It was like an out-of-body experience. And they was like, did you understand? Did you understand?

And I was like, yeah, sure, but you're not talking to me. You're talking to somebody else and I'm just listening to it. So, I wasn't grasping it.

I thank Hadley so much and I'm so glad I found out about it because y'all are helping me talk to other people that either have the same issue that I have or similarity of issues that I have. And I feel more comfortable when I'm talking about it with people that understand what I'm going through.

I know it's a hard road that we're going down and that we're traveling, but if you believe in God or any higher being or whatever, just talk to them. If you have family or friends, Hadley or whatever, just remember that little engine that said, I think I can, I think I can. And one day, sooner or later, you will be able to say, I can, I can because after you lost your vision you can't expect to just jump up and run a marathon you got to take it step by step and day by day a little by little.

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].