Angela Delgato calls Manhattan, New York home. She is by nature a helper, which made her work as a medical assistant in a hospital setting a good fit.
A few years ago, Angela noticed her vision changing and was ultimately diagnosed with glaucoma. “I started losing my peripheral vision, so I knew something was wrong. But when the doctor told me there wasn’t a cure for glaucoma, I was shocked.”
“I started with the drops but as it turned out I was allergic to the drops. So, the pressure in my right eye was going up.” Then one morning while getting her coffee, Angela noticed that her right eye had gone completely dark. An appointment with her glaucoma specialist confirmed that her vision was gone from that eye and unlikely to return.
Angela signed up for services from the New York Commission for the Blind and learned, among other things, how to use a white cane. She had one in her closet for quite some time but avoided using it. “I was parading around like a sighted person when I was actually losing my vision. I was bumping into things and putting myself in danger. I never wanted help. I was in denial”
Last year Angela reached out for help. She called Hadley and signed up for our Peer-to-Peer program. She calls her peer, Susan, once a week and shares her fears and dreams and listens with compassion as Susan does the same. Just being open and connecting with each other’s experiences has made a world of difference to them both.
Angela also decided to contribute her story to our Insights & Sound Bites podcast. Her struggle with accepting the help of a white cane is among our most popular episodes as Angela so honestly shares her struggles to accept the role vision loss now plays in her life.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen day by day. Is my left eye going to get worse or not. How’s my life going to be with this? It’s just so emotional,” Angela reflects.
“Everything has changed because I changed the way I think. I changed the way I do life. I have to be aware of my surroundings. I have to be aware of who I allow into my space and where I put things.”
Angela decided to step away from her career for a while, taking time out to heal. “I’m taking time to look within myself. I want to volunteer and help others facing vision loss. I want to help other people like me.”
Thinking about the changes in her life, Angela remarks that “I am more empathic today. I am more compassionate today. I want to give back. To give what was so freely given to me; encouragement and hope.”
Thank you, Angela, for your commitment to helping others in the Hadley community.