Jan Can Still See Her Grandson
|
Jan, who lives in rural NSW was 67 years of age and had had diabetes all of her adult life.
She understood that with her diabetes she was at risk of developing visual complications.
With her home town having a population of approximately 150 residents, optometry services where quite limited in her immediate area.
Jan needed to drive one and a half hours to get her eyes examined. With the hardships her family was experiencing due to numerous droughts,
Jan often put off her 2 yearly eye examination. After discussions with her husband Murray, over a cup of tea one evening, Jan confessed it had been 11 years since her last eye appointment and over the past months she was experiencing difficulties with her vision. So Jan and Murray decided to take the long drive and visit an optometrist. At her appointment Jan was diagnosed with late stage diabetic retinopathy. Treatment could be administered to maintain what vision she had remaining, however it could not restore her lost vision. As difficult as this was with vision loss in her day to day lifestyle, what she finds most upsetting, is that her first grand child Max was born shortly after her diagnonsis. Every time Jan looks at Max it will always be through patchy and blurred vision. And this is what she is finding the most difficult to deal with. Knowing that her condition could have been avoided by participating in more regular eye examinations has made Jan a devoted spokesperson for preventable vision loss. |
