Life through a BLURRY lens

 

BLURRY VISION - Over the last few months this has been my view. I am 54 years old with Cataracts in both eyes. My right eye can see only movement, and my left eye sees everything through a blurry lens, much like the picture above.  I thought it might be an idea to write my thoughts about this, so that when I get my operations and I have my vision back, I remember what it was like to be almost blind. 

As you can see I am writing in big with a white font on a black background. This is the only way I can see what I'm writing and even then it is not clear - it's blurry. Over the last few months I have adapted to this way of seeing and I have some amazing friends who support me and laugh with me through this process. But what is it like to see the world through a blurry lens? Is the world ready for someone with any visual impairment? 

For most people having a cataract is a straight forward thing. Many get them in later life,  often not realising they are there until the optician spots them during an eye test. Then the next course of action is surgery to remove the old lens and pop a new one in - easy. This is not the case for me. I have cataracts which are thick and growing fast.

So what about the world around me? Is it ready for anyone with a visual impairment? The easy answer is no the world is not. Shops and services think they are, but they are not. An example of this is the self-service checkout at the post office. Today I went to buy 1 stamp, so I thought I'd use the machine instead of queuing. This proved impossible as the machine is a white background with small black writing. I had to cancel the whole operation as I nearly bought 7 stamps instead of 1. Another fun occasion with screens happened at the eye hospital. Imagine going for your eye appointment to the eye outpatients department to find the way they call you to be seen is via a screen with occasional nurses coming out to yell a name or two. I found this hilarious, but if I had been there alone, I would've found it really difficult.

I guess the hardest places for me are walking the pavements and going shopping. Let's start with pavements. Since not being able to drive, I walk everywhere. To be honest I am enjoying the walk, but there are always obstacles wherever I go - and they are usually big with 4 wheels - CARS. Cars and vans parked on the pavement. It's a real problem as I can't see vehicles coming towards me and so if a car is parked on the pavement I have to go into the road to pass it. My street is really bad for this. But it's not only me that would struggle with this it's those in wheel chairs or those with prams. It's a real problem. What about shops? Shops are a nightmare. I can never find anything, and people are coming at me so quick I don't have time to react. Sometimes I find myself stopping and standing until people go past so I don't bump into them as they are a blur and I can't tell if they are coming towards me or walking away from me at times! 

Enough about the bad stuff, let's think about the good stuff. As a Christian I know that God is in control. I know that Jesus is with me and that no matter what I can trust in him. Like I've already said, I have some amazing friends who look out for me and we laugh together often about my situation. I know that this is not going to be forever and so I have that hope that my operations will happen soon and I will be back to seeing again. Over the last few months instead of reading I have done a lot of listening. I listen to my bible on the way to work each day, and it has been a real blessing to me. Likewise I listen to worship music on the way home from work. I have a blessed life - with or without my sight.