Linda’s story
LINDA (not her real name) is in her 70s and has diabetic retinopathy, caused by high blood sugar levels which have damaged her retina or the back of her eye.
She said: “I’ve had detached retinas for many years and numerous operations to try and repair them but without success. “Every minute of my life is affected by my sight loss. Life is problematic the minute I get out of bed. Linda had found it “very difficult giving up work; it was a big step. My job involved a lot of travelling and I tried reducing my hours but, in the end, I couldn’t do it.”
She said: “The North Wales Society of the Blind has been of immense help to me. “I had always known about the Society’s centre in Stryd Fawr, Bangor but had never been in. “I’d never thought it was for me. I used to walk on the other side of the road when I had some vision and I never thought it would be anywhere that I would use or want to use. “Somehow there was that feeling that I was admitting defeat in a way if I was forced to use the Society, but that is totally untrue. “I am very impressed with the Society and I really mean that. Everybody at the Society is very helpful, not just Nick who is my main contact but Steven, of course, who I have known for years and Bethan and Dafydd. I can’t give them enough praise for their efforts.
Linda’s main difficulty was asking for help for the first time.
She said: “I thought I was on my own for quite a long time. “I couldn’t have managed without the Society’s help. It’s as simple as that.”
Linda had a bad fall a few years ago and suffered double fractures to her back and hip.
She said: “Since then I have been terrified of falling over. Anything, steps that I don’t know about or any obstacle unknown to me really puts a lot of fear in me because I can’t risk another fracture. “Of course, the eyesight problem makes the fractures ever more likely, so I have to be terribly careful which makes me a bit frightened of doing the unknown or being in unfamiliar places. “I have got a walking pole which is invaluable which I take every time on walks.”
Linda is grateful for an intervention by the Society’s technical officer Nick Thomas for helping her with her diabetes.
She said: “I’ve got type 1 diabetes and some years ago a sensor became available which measures blood sugar. “Before these sensors, you had to prick your finger and put your blood on a strip in a device to tell you what the blood sugar was. “It was problematic and difficult when you were in company, for example, or maybe out walking and didn’t have the measuring device with you. “Now, with Nick’s help, I have a sensor with me all the time and measure it against my arm and ‘ping’ – it tells me what my blood sugar is – it’s so easy.”
The sensor was fitted at a hospital.
They need a smart phone to read them.
Linda said: “I turned to Nick for advice and he picked it up straight away what my problem was. “He helped me to fit an app on my mobile phone which automatically recorded the blood sugar when it was put against my arm. “It is literally and absolutely live-saving. Nick grasped the situation straight away and fitted this app; and it has never moved from this phone. I daren’t lose it.”
“Nick’s position at the North Wales Society of the Blind is absolutely indispensable and the net result is – that I get my blood sugar measured regularly.”
Linda said: “I’ll have a go at anything – usually without success – I’m certainly game! I’m quite good at growing vegetables – that’s my interest. Linda’s advice to anybody in her position is: “Don’t give up. It’s very, very easy to fall into the temptation to give up. “You’ve got to continue to pursue what you want to do - albeit in a different way.”
