Of course humour was a way of dealing with my problem. Madeline is a Golden Retriever and we joked that we would put a harness on her and go out together on the bus. She would love sitting under the table at cafes and restaurants. When we move I would have a white cane to take on walks and the tapping of the cane would keep the snakes away as I wouldn’t be able to see them.
A couple of days after I lost the vision in my second eye, we had a school arts performance to go to. Peter was away and the girls said it was ok not to go but I decided to make an effort and get there. We caught a taxi and went to the Chinese Restaurant near the theatre for dinner where the girls read the menu to me and ordered our meal and we had a chat about what was happening. They didn’t realise how serious this was going to be until I knocked over my glass of water on the table. The lighting in the restaurant was fairly dim and I didn’t see it. They helped me pay the bill and escorted me to the theatre. Once inside we sat with some of our neighbours who obviously missed their calling as comedians and threatened to move tables while I was in the toilet. Someone needed to come with me to the toilet, as I could not see which door was the ladies’ and which was the gents. During the next few months I walked into the gents a few times.
Cooking had also become a problem. I am not a very good cook and reading recipe books was no longer an option. Peter had always cooked for us as he was good at it and loved creating great meals but he was away a couple of nights a week. As I was unable to drive to pick up takeaway and had enough of the home delivery options we had to find a way to allow me to create something interesting for us to eat. The girls started reading recipes to me. This worked if someone was home when it was time to start preparing dinner. We found a way around this by having the recipe written out for me in very large print. The girls and Peter also wrote out phone numbers or account numbers and the credit card number, so that I could pay bills and order things over the phone. I was able to order some flowers for a sick aunt in Perth using this technique and was very proud of myself for being a little independent. My family were very discreet when dishes weren’t quite clean and put them back to be done again. They would alert me to the socks left fluttering on the line after the washing had been brought in.
One day when I went outside to hang out the washing I misjudged the step outside the laundry door. I fell down and luckily just missed knocking my head on the concrete step. I was lying there in my pyjamas, prone across the ground and I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry so did both. I was home alone and lay there for a while before trying to get up and assess the damage. Within seconds of my phone call, my neighbour Annie was there and stayed with me for a couple of hours to make sure I was ok. This event was a bit of a shock as we all thought I had been doing ok.
This was a very difficult time for all of us. Peter had to do all the driving and he was back and forwards to Majors Creek to meet with the builder and council etc. He had to fit this in with work and all my doctor’s appointments. In normal times I would make those trips. He was extremely worried about what was going on with my eyes.
The girls were amazing in helping out and doing extra things that they didn’t plan on doing. During the school holidays we caught buses everywhere and they had to check timetables and make sure we were on the right buses. The day they came with me to Dr Kate’s surgery we spent most of the day catching buses to get there and back. They were great and didn’t complain too much.
I also had to give up my job. The day I went into the Museum to hand in my uniform and keys was a very emotional day and another change to add to all the changes I was making at the time.
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