Ethna Taylor, 70, shares her experiences of sight loss, and how much she has benefited from the support provided by NESS. Having recently retired from her job as a shop assistant, Ethna woke up one morning in 2020 to find that she could not see anything out of her left eye.
Having experienced headaches and a sore neck, she was later diagnosed with giant cell arteritis, an inflammatory disease which often affects the arteries at the side of the head.
The condition sometimes results in a reduction in the blood supply to the eyes, leading to blurred vision or blindness. In Ethna’s case, only her left eye was affected by the disease, but she already had poor vision in her right eye caused by having a lazy eye.
As she tried to adjust to being partially sighted, she became increasingly anxious about leaving her house, only venturing outside with her husband or a close friend.
However, she regained her confidence with support from NESS’s Vision Rehabilitation specialist, who provided crucial support, guidance and training.
Ethna explains further, “I woke up one Saturday morning and I couldn’t see out of my left eye.
“It was really scary. When I first woke up, I thought I was still sleeping. I said to my husband, ‘I can’t see out of that eye’. He wiggled his fingers in front of me, but I couldn’t see them.
“My left eye used to be my good eye. My right eye is a lazy eye, which means I don’t see well out of it.
“My husband was working on the Monday (that day), so I had to travel to the eye clinic in Aberdeen myself on the bus. Having one eye not seeing at all and the other not seeing well, it was terrifying.”
Her condition resulted in Ethna losing aspects of her independence, such as being unable to drive, finding it difficult to judge distances, and bumping into people.
Things changed for Ethna in 2022, when her optician put her in touch with NESS. She was assigned a Vision Rehabilitation Specialist (or rehab worker), who helped her adapt her life to her sight loss.
She said: “If he hadn’t put me in touch with NESS, I would still be in the doldrums. I’m going out on my own now, but before I got in touch with NESS, I wouldn’t go out myself.
“I went out once a week with my friend, who always stood at my blind side, knowing that I’d bump into her. The only other time I went out was with my husband.”
As well as giving her tips around the house, such as using extra lighting and getting low vision magnifiers to help with reading, the rehab worker also taught her how to use a cane.
Ethna said: “When I first started learning, they gave me a small symbol cane. You use it when you go out to tell people to give you a bit of space, that you don’t see so well.
“But I would still bump into people, so we tried a few canes until I got the one I’ve got now, which is a long cane with a roller ball on the end.
“The rehab worker showed me how to use it, and I think this one is better because everybody can see it as I move it across in front of me.
“I felt when I was using the smaller symbol cane, people were ignoring it – folk walk about with their faces in their phones a lot.
“The rehab worker taught me to walk in the middle of the pavement, so that people coming out of shops don’t crash into me. It’s important that people give me a bit of space.
“Using the cane, I’m not apprehensive anymore, I’m confident going out and on the bus.”
The rehabilitation worker also noticed that while she was crossing the road, Ethna was having trouble hearing traffic, and suggested she have her ears tested.
As a result, she now wears hearing aids, which have also had a positive impact on her daily life. She now regularly visits the gym and goes swimming.
She said: “People with sight loss really need to know about NESS. If it wasn’t for NESS, I don’t know where I would be. I wouldn’t be going out on my own.
“NESS gave me the tools and the confidence, and a great rehab worker. I say to anyone with sight loss: find someone that you like, that you get on with, and go from there.”
Ethna’s story show how scary and bewildering it can be to lose your sight. With the right emotional support, along with learning practical strategies Ethna has been able to adapt and get used to her new situation.
Thank you to Ethna for sharing your story with us.
