Low Vision: Let's share about coping day to day

Or even how YOU would have managed attending without your wife's accompanying you!

I would have chosen to not go to funeral or reception if my wife was not going with me. The funeral was for the spouse of a friend of hers that I did not know well. If the funeral was for a good friend or relative and Charlotte was not available, I would consider taking Uber and using my white cane. If I had to fly, I would only go if I could find someone to go with me, as I find airports the absolute worst places to navigate due to glare from large windows making it hard to read signs and gate numbers.

I would love to talk about coping with daily living and low vision. I have dry AMD in both eyes and wet in left, have had injections in left for a year and a half. I’m at a 6-7 week interval. I’m working on getting more high contrast items in my environment. I have a lot of prism in my glasses and that seems to help. What I wonder about, is how people cut their nails. Is there some special fingernail cutting device that helps?

Member Spotlights feature interviews with fellow Mayo Clinic Connect members. It's an opportunity to learn more about members you’ve connected with and some you haven’t met yet.

I know many of you in the Eye Conditions support group have exchanged posts with Don, so I thought you'd like to see today's featured Spotlight:
– Everything is as it should be: Meet @dsh33782 https://connect.mayoclinic.org/blog/about-connect/newsfeed-post/everything-is-as-it-should-be-meet-dsh33782/

Find out what Don does in his free time, what brings him to Connect, and other fun facts.

Hi Everyone
I started this discussion about living with low vision back in 2019. I'm still fighting glaucoma with multiple eye drops every day and visits to optamologist every 3 months.
I'd like to start more discussion by members who have some of the same challenges I have including the following:
1. Difficulty recognizing who other people are unless they come face to face or speak so I can recognize their voice.
2. Difficulty with glare. I always wear a hat to limit light. Airports are the worst with large windows preventing me from reading gate numbers and signs.
3. Difficulty reading documents. I have to have bright light shining on document to read it. I always carry a pen light in addition to cell phone, and I have a gooseneck lamp at my desk I can focus on documents.
4. Walking in unfamiliar territory is dangerous as I can't clearly see curbs or other obsticles. I'm always holding my wife Charlotte's hand when we walk anywhere. I do have a white walking stick I learned to use from Florida Lighthouse for the Blind, but I don't like to use it unless I have to.

I'd like to meet others with some of these same vision challenges, and hear how they cope with them.

I listen to a audio books.

mikaylar
I love audiobooks. We go to the YMCA gym almost everyday and I listen while doing bike and treadmill.
I like mistries by Grisham and Baldacci. But I don't like Grisham's book Framed. It is a collection of very sad stories where people are wrongly convicted by over zelous lawyers.
Don

I'm interested in joining the group. My mother had dry macular degeneration and eventually lost most vision in her late 80's. I have been diagnosed with dry macular as well. I have no symptoms but like to stay current on the issue so I can try to be prepared for what is to come. My mother's senior facility had a low vision group which she participated in and I did a lot of little things around her house to help her adjust to the failing vision. It wasn't until my mother developed vascular dementia that many of her fellow residents became aware of how much of her vision was gone.

Due to multiple retinal detachments I was unable to read and told not to even try to focus on anything for several months. I was still working and had to get my wife to read my emails to I could respond to them. I was left with residual issues and find my depth perception is almost nonexistent and have a particularly difficult time seeing in dim light. So, it helps to have as much natural light as possible, augmented by indoor lights. When reading having a bright light helps a great deal and allows me to see things I would otherwise need magnified.

Cindi
I've been fighting glaucoma for the past 30 years and have lost central vision in left eye and half of the field in the right eye. Having low vision is challenging and frustrating because you appear normal to others so they don't understand the problems. When my wife Charlotte and I walk anywhere we always hold hands because I can easily trip on steps or other obsticles I don't see. When we go to group dinners at church, Charlotte will tell me who is at the table because I can't recognize the faces from across the table. It is frustrating to be in a group and not know who is who.
The good news is that there are helpful sources available. My optimologist referred me to the Florida Lighthouse for the Blind which was very helpful. They gave me a white walking stick and trained me on how to use if I have to go somewhere alone such as an airport where the glare is terrible. They also provided references for goose neck lamp and pin lights to help with reading as I now need a lot of bright light to read anything. I'd be happy to answer questions you may have about the low vision?
Don