My pre-surgery appointment is scheduled for next Thursday. I recently received a letter from the Head of the Ophthalmology department confirming that the surgery request to correct my severe eye condition has been accepted. This surgery, which involves an Implant lens and laser correction for cataracts, is a crucial step in my health journey. The letter also provided an estimate of the waiting time. This update was written two weeks before my February 27th, 2025 appointment.
How have I been faring since January and the post I posted here?
The humid temperature increased to 31oC late afternoon, and the bright sunlight gave an intense ray of light that hurt my eyes when I went out around the garden, making it impossible for me to do weeding and go to work in the city of Hamilton by driving with the glasses on. I lost one person currently overseas for three months and cannot earn the same wages, meaning I lose 6 hours a week. The eye drops are working, and I must wait until the appointment day for the outcome result. I had a couple of visitors through my workplace, and they noticed the different appearance on my face – a changing pattern around both eyes, which was a drooping shapeshifter, and a bit of dark colour rings around the eyes. This condition has significantly impacted my daily life and work routine.
Despite his technological challenges, my partner’s unwavering support in other aspects of our lives, such as managing household chores and providing emotional support, is a constant source of reassurance and strength for me. I am deeply grateful for his support and it has made a significant difference in my journey.
One key to communication is his awareness of my needs through gestures, sign language, and speaking—but he has never used tactile sign language yet!
Looking back in the past, I worked for the Low Vision Organisation and elderly seniors with low vision, including three Deaf-blind persons and one new Deaf-blind lady from Matamata recently. I learnt a lot from them and explored gadgets and tools around home and workplace over many years. New technologies, such as laptops and desktops, work wonders but are costly because I can not get funding from MSD/Te Whatu Ora due to my partner’s income. This financial challenge has significantly impacted my ability to access necessary technologies. I can get a little funding if I require support funding for part-time work under the social service. However, it is difficult across NZ that the Government and BUREAUCRATIC people have cut funding. We must ensure we have enough or abundant financial resources daily.
Here are the examples of technologies from Australia and New Zealand.
https://nz.1lowvision.com/Software-and-Accessories
Imagine I had the surgeries and took one week off, no working and no driving. I would be bored around home with three dogs, not knowing how they would be mischievous or well-behaved around me during the day. I would be unable to read—not the talking book. It would be impossible to hear rabbling sounds on the television in the background that drowned out the speech, and I would sit down and wait. I would not let my partner read business emails due to private acts from home. I will have to think of something like leaving a message such as I am away and will reply in two weeks; please leave any emergency message to one of the staff. There is one deaf with disabilities who requires help when he is resuming his treatment and medicines. I can let my partner do this through the home visits as they have known each other for a long time; however, I have to follow the Guidelines of work protocols for the second workplace under the Disability Organisation to do this. The prospect of this downtime is a challenge I must navigate during my recovery.
Today is the day of my pre-surgery appointment, and how long the waiting list will be, along with the type of daily care, guidelines around home and work, and the recovery timeframe. It was a long waiting experience, and the interpreter and my partner played a crucial role in facilitating communication and providing emotional support during the whole afternoon with one nurse and my specialist, Dr Liam. There were a couple forgotten, like providing the scan of the distance pressures in both eyes and unfinished information on the application form for the pre-surgeries.
One disappointing outcome was that eye drops did not work during the day or even help reduce eye pressure in both eyes. Oh boy! That was a relief because I hate doing eye drops during the day. I will continue to use the night drops in both eyes until the surgery date. For now, I have been accepted to have the surgeries within three months from Thursday, February 27th, until an anesthesiologist has been the source. Because many anesthesiologists have moved across the ditch – Australia for better wages. Dr Liam gave us a lot of information about precautions around the home, recovery time frames, the importance of wearing night eye shields with sticky tapes to prevent infections, the possibility of staying overnight if something goes wrong, and the list. Dr Liam is learning about my Deaf culture and the need to communicate around home and work. I am hopeful for the surgeries and the positive changes they will bring. My time leave – sick leave under two different workplaces is enough to cover while I am at home resting from the surgery day to ensure we pay all the bills, loans and mortgage. My partner is taking leave in care within one or two weeks due to dogs around the home and ensuring I am not doing any heavy lifting or activity. We hope it will not fall on my birthday in April or my partner’s birthday in May. The most important thing was to finish off the fence around the large property because our young dog had slipped through between two wires. If we require updated fencing with extra height, cover it with wire mesh wrap over wooden fences, which is more expensive and breaks the bank. One kind neighbour gave us a large roll of mesh, and the other neighbour kindly offered to help before I went to the Public Hospital at no labour cost. We are a more economical couple around home.
Life in Eureka 