“Change is not merely necessary to life–it is life.” Alvin Toffler (Futurist)
My last post was in November, and I have not had any chance to reflect on my journey last month, December 2024. Now it is January 2025. You may have wondered how I manage each day over the holiday breaks. It has been no different; some days, I am okay, and some days, I am not. Currently, I am using two different eye drops to treat the pressure of the retina. Yes, it is a bloody agony when it is time for an eye drop in the morning and two eye drops in the evening. Yes, there are several side effects when a person suffers from glaucoma or a cataract or both through life, for example, tired, red eyes, eye appearance looking red or different, and difficulty focusing while watching television or typing an article.
The worst part is when a deaf person like myself, I have to stand within a metre of a family member or staff member to lip read, ensure the interpreters are aware of my eye condition and organise the layout of the room where there is no bright light even a burst of sunshine glaring the wall, signing flow pattern through conversation should be clear and not too small as a computer screen size. I struggled to read the captions on the television, and I gave up because it was no use to sit close when I blocked the viewing for my partner to watch. It’s frustrating not being able to enjoy simple activities like watching TV due to my condition.
My partner tried to help me and often suggested I wear reading glasses if I was too close to the computer or book. I explained the reading glasses are not helpful except for the Kindle device, which works well.
Important note to consider about anyone who wears a hearing aid: it is okay, and it does not help me entirely around the environment due to different people’s backgrounds and speech tones. I would struggle to hear many different sounds while listening to background noises, such as cars and television being on with my eyes closed. No one in my family or my staff has experience in tactile sign language except to touch me.
I am fine driving anywhere and at the intersection, especially in bad weather like fog or heavy rain. I wait until it is clear to drive on. If the weather is a bright sunny day while driving or riding in the ute with my partner, I wear sunglasses to prevent sun glare over my eyes. At home, when three dogs are out for their runs on the large property on a sunny day, I wear sunglasses or even do light gardening in the morning.
Many technologies work wonders when increasing the font size or display screen size, reducing the screen’s brightness, reading as it looks like a blurring or double font imprint or changing the mode, e.g., dark modes.
It is hard to describe my eye condition. I live with two Glaucomas in each eye, and one left eye has a cataract over glaucoma. I sought several images for you to look at, including a photo of me reading computer screen fonts or looking at writing fonts.
Last month, I made several announcements to the Leadership members of the EGL (Enabling Good Lives) Waikato Leadership, my work colleagues, and several small families about the outcome and the waiting list for the double eye surgeries this year. I made one comment clear: I am just me as to them, I don’t really need pity or feeling sorry to hear about my eye conditions in the EGL Waikato Leadership because there is a disabled person who is blind, and she is different to my cousin from birth – one eye cancer and myself as deaf from birth and other disabilities in the later life.
Looking beyond made me wonder what it would be like to recover from the double surgeries and live with three dogs in a large rural home. On our last visit to the Ophthalmological Department in December 2024, I had another pressure test and eye review testing. The ophthalmologist asked several questions and spoke to the head of the Department about the options to reduce the pressure, which means a daytime eye drop and eye surgeries if I am qualified to have laser eye surgeries in 2025. These options confirm that I can have eye surgeries and ongoing eye drops.
The ophthalmologist told me I could not drive for a week and wear both patches. Then he realised I would not hear anything around home, suggesting that one patch be fully covered and the other be transparent. It’s mind-boggling how I would manage to do this! The only comments I received from my mother and sister were about how I would manage when the dogs were up to mischief or running around me. My partner replied, ‘Mum is fully used to them as long as he is around. We are okay.”‘
Life in Eureka 