"Survive, Adapt, Overcome"
Larry shares how he found strength in his core beliefs to get him through the shock of his initial diagnosis.
Insights and Sound Bites
Survive, Adapt, Overcome
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 Walker: My name is Douglas Walker. When you’re new to vision loss your emotions can be all over the place. Today we’ll be hearing from Larry. Larry will be sharing some of the things that helped him work through the emotions of vision loss when he was first diagnosed.
Larry: I mean, I was in a fog, a funk if you will. I was shell-shocked that I'd been, I can see, but I can't see. I shouldn't drive. What does that mean? How do I make a living? How do I do the things that I did in life? How do I recreate? How do I associate with people when I can't recognize them? I just see blobs. I mean, they're severely out of focus, and the further away they are from me, the harder it is for me to identify them.
It's an unnerving time because you really don't know what to expect. What's going to happen? How am I going to do this? And at some point, you get through the 'why me' stage, and then you've got to get back to your core beliefs, your faith, your training. In my case, it was the army. The survive, adapt, overcome. And once you get that on board, and once you realize that your wife is in it for the long haul. God bless her. She's been with me 40 years. You can do it, but when you first get it, it's tough. It's rough.
Douglas Walker: Was there something someone said to you, or something someone did for you early on that made all the difference in the world in helping you to adjust 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 and Soundbites” podcast 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 33
This week, William shares how learning to continue with his favorite hobby, even with vision loss, has been therapeutic—and uplifting. Here's the link to his website https://www.blindtruths.org/
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Episode 32
This week Angela shares how she struggled to get around due to vision loss, how she tried to hide it from others, and what helped her.
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Episode 31
This week we hear from Appreciate. She found that a Facebook group, The International Blind Cafe, gave her a source of comfort and encouragement.
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Episode 30
Marian's inner voice had her living in fear. Listen in as she shares how she redirected that voice to be more helpful for her.
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Episode 29
This week Dorrie shares how technology has made all the difference for her in living with vision loss.
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Episode 28
Today we hear from Ed who shares how the source of hope for him has changed with time.
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Episode 27
Listen in as Cindy shares how advice from her son helped her adjust to her new normal.
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Episode 26
Listen in as Tim recalls a conversation with a store clerk and how it helped him adjust to life with vision loss.
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Episode 25
Listen in as Alice shares a boyfriend's advice from many years ago. Words that give her hope, even today.
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Episode 24
Listen in as Bill shares how a chance encounter changed his perspective on vision loss.
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Episode 23
Listen in as Ruth shares how her frustration and impatience turned around with just one phone call.
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Episode 22
Listen in as Sam shares how he struggled trying to hide his vision loss-and how he finally turned the corner.