Brenda's Story.

At 91 years of age, Brenda is a disability advocate, volunteer and she established a much-loved local lawn bowls group. All these achievements came after she lost her vision, which at the time was a very difficult period. This is Brenda’s story on how she got through some of the darkest days.

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Episode Transcript

S1 (00:07):
It all happened so fast. It almost seemed surreal, seemed unbelievable.
I think you just go on living your life to
the fullest you can. It might seem hard at first,
but you just keep saying, Okay, I'm going to do

(00:27):
it all differently, but I'm going to do it.

S2 (00:33):
The onset of vision loss can be frightening, devastating and
is certainly life changing. Brenda is living well with severe
vision loss. She's 90 years old and lives in rural Victoria.
In her own time, she accessed a range of services
that enabled her to still do the things she enjoyed

(00:53):
before losing her vision. This is her story.

S3 (01:02):
Can you tell me the nature of your eye condition?

S1 (01:06):
Yes, well, I talked the 60 year old's had a
bit of a degeneration. It's related and I was coping
with that story while we were up in Queensland when
I had a son, Russell, such which was due to
retinopathy and some sort of brain behind the eyes.

S3 (01:30):
And how did that affect you? How did it make
you feel?

S1 (01:34):
Well, we're actually playing in the bowls tournament occasionally and
quite suddenly I couldn't see the other end of the green,
so we left consulted an optometrist who sent me to
an ophthalmologist and he shook his head and said, I

(01:56):
think you're in very grave trouble. It all happened so
fast it almost seemed surreal. It seemed unbelievable. I don't
think I was unduly upset with rather more stunned than
anything else. It seemed to take a little while to
sink in, and I had and I had them with me.

(02:18):
And he, of course, was itself thanks and said, We'll
get over this. We'll get rid of this. I felt
pretty lost at home because I couldn't do things that
I've always done. And there was also a strange, almost

(02:39):
denial because subconsciously I knew I was thinking, Oh, when
I can see it again, I'll do this or when
my shot gets better again, I'll do this and of course,
test the mental defense. But anyway, I began to realize
that my life had changed dramatically. And one of the

(03:02):
very strange things that happened was I was seeing things
that weren't there. For instance, I said, there's a cup
coffee table, and it wasn't. And apparently this is a
particular sort of syndrome that can occur in some people.
It goes away after a while. But do you see

(03:23):
things that don't do not like, kill me if you
find brain connection trying to make sense of the current situation?
But anyway, I didn't quite know what to do. And
local GP said it was a very active case manager

(03:43):
and patient her and she came to the house and
the first thing she did was put tactile watch on
the stove in the washing machine. A few things like that.
And that was almost like a door opening. And she
said to me, Well, you know, you will never read
again and you will probably not see television for much longer.

(04:08):
And you need to think about what you're going to
do with this life. So I did. What do you
think of that it? And also, you only have one
life to live. So it's going to do it differently.
But that's not to say I wasn't sad. One of

(04:29):
the worst things for me was I couldn't read music
or always play the piano. Music is a huge part
of my life and not being able to read music
and not being able to play the piano classical piano
is probably one of the worst things that happened.

S3 (04:49):
And were you depressed at any point where days you
just didn't want

S1 (04:53):
to go out? Not depressed or sad? I think I
was sad about not being able to enjoy like I
had been very, very and I did watch it and
I felt sad about. Losing my was that I was still,

(05:14):
I think, a little bit resilient. If they go on,
they don't laugh is what it is. And I learned
at a pretty early age that some things can't be changed.
And I guess it's good, though it makes it that
you cannot change.

S3 (05:33):
What things have you enjoyed in a different way or
possibly more than before?

S1 (05:40):
Well, I still garden. Obviously, I need help with some things.
I still play the piano better than classical music plays.
All of the stuff. I have a lot of fun
working at it. The other thing I've always been very
involved in sport, and I'm going to go to a

(06:01):
new school here in the Bay Area and had heard
that there was a blind boys association and we were
able to track Rose down. And I thought of wonder
if any of the vision impaired people nearby who like
to play bowls, so use the usual rural networks. And

(06:24):
of course they were. So I set up a blind
ball this group in so and we all had a
wonderful time. So they were some of the things, and
I was introduced to the Vision Australia Library, which was
bringing on the voracious reader or listener to books. And

(06:44):
then I got a guide dog and that gave me
my last back. You can do anything when you go
to dog. I go for holidays in queens and I
fly up there along the Gold Coast, me through the airports,
on our Australians and buses and all sorts of things.

S3 (07:02):
So what other kind of government support did you receive?

S1 (07:08):
Virgin Australia has been absolutely wonderful. My aged care is
Government Support Fund, which works just as the NDIS works
for people with a disability that my age care things
for older Australians and can apply for an assessment. And

(07:29):
this is done by professional people that in turn, becomes
a financial package. And then once you've been assessed and
approved and it's means tested, by the way, in which
case manager I get home care of the only person

(07:50):
who's known as a can. I also have a lady
takes me shopping because although you can do most things
when you can't see, it's pretty hard to know what's
on the supermarket shelves. They have a lot of amazing
stuff out there. One of the best liquid label, BPA

(08:11):
is individual and only cost a couple of dollars, but
you can fill a cup of tea or coffee or
being in Iraq, and you won't spoil it. That's a
fantastic way to get it. I have it talking macarons. Wonderful.
I also got a wonderful magnifier which also read stuff

(08:32):
to me. That's amazing. There are so many things, actually
every packages tailored for the individual.

S3 (08:41):
And did you use to drive what happened when you
stopped driving and how do you get about now?

S1 (08:48):
Well, this is always a problem in the country, particularly
in England, because we have minimal public transport facilities, especially
after paying so much, you can get a taxicab, which
is enormously helpful. And I also like to be part
of my make package to have a sector used for transport,

S3 (09:13):
and the dog probably drags you for a walk occasionally.
I would think

S1 (09:18):
every day when you have a dog, I certainly keep
you up to scratch.

S3 (09:25):
Is it hard to find people to talk to in
a rural area to get emotional support because you're all
hard as nails out there?

S1 (09:36):
Emotional support comes from your family, from your friends. Some
drop off and can't give it to you, but most
of them do. I think you just go on living
your life to the fullest you can. It's not hard
at first, but you have to always remember you only

(09:56):
have one life to live, so you see every opportunity
and every means you run yourself into the ground, but
you just keep saying, Okay, I'm going to do it
all differently, but I'm going to do it.

S3 (10:14):
What advice would you give to someone who's recently been
diagnosed with an eye condition?

S1 (10:20):
To seek the best professional help, certainly to contact in
this trial, but also to make local inquiries to try
and get in touch with other people in the area
who have vision impairment and find out about their experience.

(10:40):
All right, happening to services and generally getting some support.
But in saying this, it is also extremely important that
they retain the interest in the activities they had before
they suffered vision loss. You must stay in touch with

(11:00):
the world community.

S2 (11:07):
If you or a loved one are experiencing vision loss
and would like to know about the range of options
on offer to you, please call 1800 eight four seven
four six six. Well, visit Vision Australia dot org.