"You don't know it all."
A close call on a walk changed the way Lance thinks about living with vision loss. It reminded him to stay open, keep learning, and keep moving forward.
Hadley
“You don’t know it all.”
Lance: You can't be too sure of yourself, you really have to understand and it's a continuous education of how to read your environment and so on and so forth.
Marc: This is Hadley’s Insights and Sound Bites, where people facing vision loss share what has helped them cope and adjust.
Lance: I'm Lance Farmer and I'm from Oxford, Florida. I have the trifecta, I have glaucoma, macular, and I had a couple of strokes. I have no peripheral vision and a very narrow field of central vision.
So my first clue was in my work, I couldn't see the computer very well, but I just thought I needed new glasses. And I noticed that out in the field I was having more difficulty seeing machinery and so on and so forth. And then one weekend, my wife followed me in her vehicle and I drove home and she said, "Are you okay?" She called me and said, "Are you okay? Are you sleepy?" And I said, "No, I'm not sleepy." She says, "Well, you're all over the road. You're running up on the curb." And I said, "Well, I think I maybe need some new glasses." So then she started really kind of putting two and two together and we went to the doctor and within about three to five minutes in the doctor's chair, he said, "Oh yeah, your driving days are over." And that was the start, it just happened that fast.
Recently I was out walking with my dog on an adventure actually to find a Dairy Queen. I knew where I was at, I knew there was a sidewalk there. So I took my family pet but on the way back, I used my cane to follow the ramp, but long story short, I got out into the center of a four lane highway.
And I came face to face with a semi-truck, screeching its brakes and laying on this air horn and had a near miss there. And that really grounded me to the fact that, you can't be too sure of yourself, you really have to understand and it's a continuous education of how to read your environment and so on and so forth. So I came home, I threw that white cane in the trash and I sat down and I told Bailey, my dog, I said, "I'm done. I'm not walking anymore. We're just going to have to sit here." And that lasted about 30 minutes, regrouped and I took my wearable magnifier back to that corner, looked through the view master of the view and understood the lay of that. So I educated myself and then I got help to how to understand that intersection a little bit more.
And I think that was a turning point for being grounded, not to get ahead of yourself, but also not to give up. You don't know it all. You still have to keep learning, you still have to keep trying, you still have to be aware of your surroundings." So that experience grounded me 100% to you're not done learning,
It was very humbling, very grounding, very ... It was a good turning point to say, "Hey, don't give up, use your skillset, use your tools in your toolbox." You can survive, you can make it happen.
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 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.
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Episode 44
Judy has lived with progressive vision loss for many years. She's found a way that helps her cope and adjust.
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Episode 43
For years Bill hid his vision loss from others. He was self-conscious about it. Then, he decided to open up.
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Episode 42
For Cynthia, every story shared helps her on her own journey with vision loss.
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Episode 41
Living with low vision meant Karen was constantly explaining to others what she can and can't see. Then she found a tool that has made a big difference.
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Episode 40
Having to give up the car keys was traumatic for Eugenia. She worried about becoming isolated until she found a new way.
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Episode 39
This week, hear how rediscovering a favorite activity helped Celia find balance as she adjusts to vision loss.
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Episode 38
Denise can struggle with the slow but continuous loss of vision she's facing. But she's found a way to pick herself up on a bad day.
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Episode 37
Listen in as Vanessa shares what has helped keep her from feeling hopeless and defeated due to vision loss.
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Episode 36
Stacy shares with us how being honest about her vision loss with her friends and coworkers has made all the difference in the world.
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Episode 35
For many, having to give up the car keys due to vision loss is traumatic. Deb felt it too. Then, during a call to arrange transportation for herself, a new door opened.