"It's a part of me now"
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.
Hadley
It’s a part of me now
Jayne: With vision loss, so often I spend so much of my day trying to force myself to see things I can't see. And I stress out about it and I just shut down.
Marc: This is Hadley’s Insights and Sound Bites, where people facing vision loss share what has helped them cope and adjust.
Jayne: My name is Jayne Surrena and I'm from Philadelphia.
I went to school for painting and got my masters in art education. I had been painting and showing my arts since I was 20 and working nonprofits and teaching.
I have retinal dystrophy. I didn't realize I had an issue until I guess the beginning of the pandemic. I honestly thought everyone saw the same way I did my entire life.
So I went to a different eye doctor. They're like, there's nothing we can do. This is normal, it usually happens when you're older. We can't do anything about it.
I felt so in the dark about everything and just very isolated. I would go online and just try to look up the terms that they were using because I still feel, I guess, very vulnerable about it.
With vision loss, so often I spend so much of my day trying to force myself to see things I can't see, like trying to focus on something that's blurry or not there anymore.
And it I get anxiety and I stress out about it and I just shut down. And because it's never gonna come back, it's never gonna come into focus.
But the one positive of everything is with my artwork. The fact that I can't see every imperfection and mistake in my artwork anymore, I have so much more freedom. And instead of spending like hours trying to make everything meticulous, I'm going through pages and using colors for the first time. And creating images that are just actually from like inside of me and like from emotion, instead of trying to remember technical skills that I was taught in school years ago like…I'm enjoying myself for the first time.
And like I'm actually smile, I feel like myself smiling as I work. And like I step back and like yes. And it it's there because I'm not focused on any details. It's just the overall piece that is…
I just feel like it's a part of me now.
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].
All Episodes
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Episode 16
Listen to Carol's story as she shares how owning her changing vision gave her the drive to discover useful resources and realize that it's important—and okay—to ask for help when she needs it.
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Episode 15
Listen in as Chuck shares how he found hope in a chance encounter.
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Episode 14
Listen in as Kara shares how she found new ways to express herself in her love of visual art, and redefining a meaningful life.
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Episode 13
Listen in as Leah shares how it finally clicked for her—the realization that she's not alone.
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Episode 12
Hear how Axel set one goal at a time and slowly took the steps to rebuild his skills, reengage in his art, and reestablish his emotional well being.
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Episode 11
Gregory shares how finding a mentor made all the difference in the world to him, and his entire family.
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Episode 10
Listen in as we hear from Sarah. For her, hearing a blind architect's story changed her perspective on what was possible.
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Episode 9
Listen in as Tom shares how leaning on his faith helps him adjust to vision loss.
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Episode 8
Pat shares with us the choices she made when faced with a visual impairment.
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Episode 7
Darryl shares with us how a referral to a low vision specialist was where his life with vision loss began to turn around.
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Episode 6
Annie shares with us the steps she took to work through her depression by seeking help from a mental health professional.
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Episode 5
Sharon shares with us how she worked through the isolation and found people just like her to get the support she needed.