"You tap into other things when you lose some vision"

Hadley

You tap into other things when you lose some vision

Dianne: I think we have to acknowledge that yes, our sight is diminishing, but our other senses come to life to be more available. And maybe we didn't think of them.

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

Dianne: I'm Dianne Gavin and I currently live in Ashton, Illinois.

I was diagnosed with glaucoma. My mother had that, so she shared that with me. But she was able to take the eyedrops and she never went blind, but I was unable to take the eye drops because of allergies.

So just got the letter from the doctor, it's called severe primary open angle glaucoma in both eyes. And so, I'm legally blind now. I can still see, but not very well.

I think that you tap into other things when you lose vision, other senses come to life.

During Christmas time, I would crochet and knit for 30 years. Now I can't see to follow the pattern and to see to do the work, but my sense of touch is what I use to make some headbands for Christmas and it wasn't a big project, which gives you the satisfaction completing it, which is what you want,

And so that was an ideal thing. But it was done by the sense of touch, not by a pattern or anything.

The satisfaction of completing something that you started to do is really phenomenal. That’s a great thing to.

And I think we have to acknowledge that yes, our sight is diminishing, but our other senses come to life more to be more available. And maybe we didn't think of them. I didn't think of the sense of touch come to life, but until you actually do it, you don't realize it yourself. And so that's why I was wanting to share that with the group.

Marc: Insights & Sound Bites has made possible by Hadley’s donors. Who understand that hearing someone else’s story can truly make a difference.

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].