Fionnuala Murphy recently met with Tom Canavan from Finglas in Dublin, who attends NCBI’s Iona Centre. Tom told her about his experience of losing his sight and coming to terms with it, both practically and emotionally.
Tom, Canavan who turned 81 this year, has been married to Maureen for 61 years and living in the same house in Finglas for 52 years. He worked for Gateaux for 35 years, where he was the safety and security manager before he retired.
“I met Maureen in Lemons sweet factory, then had a brief stint as a footballer in Hull City but when that didn’t work out I came home and worked in Cadburys. I moved to Gateaux and stayed there until I retired.”
Tom has four children, the eldest of whom sadly passed away 12 years ago. It was then that Tom first noticed a change in his vision. “I started to get headaches after my son died in 1999. He died of cancer so I was convinced I had a brain tumour. I went to the Mater and they found that the pressure in my right eye was too high so they released it. After a second visit something went wrong and I lost the sight in my right eye due to nerve damage,” explains Tom, who turned 81 this year.
In recent years Tom was diagnosed with the dry form of a condition called age-related macular degeneration (AMD), for which there is currently no treatment (the wet form may be treated if caught early). The condition has left him with very little vision in his left eye. During a visit to a specialist for skin cancer, which was treated successfully, Tom noticed a poster about vision in the waiting room and asked the consultant to refer him to a specialist as he was having difficulty seeing with his left eye and it was then that AMD was diagnosed.
“People ask me what it’s like but it’s hard to explain. I can’t see my wife’s face as well as I could. Today the sun is shining and I’m looking out the window into the garden. I know there’s a swing set there but I can’t see it. I can’t mow the lawn any more so we have someone who comes in to look after the garden for us. But the main thing is the loss of independence and always having to ask other people for assistance. For example I dropped a knife in the kitchen this morning and I couldn’t find it so I had to ask my wife. Even though I have a small bit of sight in my left eye I can’t identify objects and I can’t read. I meet people I used to work with around Finglas but I don’t recognise them because I can’t see them. Now people are more aware of my sight problems so they will introduce themselves to me.”
One of the biggest impacts for Tom has been giving up driving and his beloved gardening. One of his son’s has organised for someone to tend to the garden for them but not being able to drive is an ongoing issue. “We used to drive to our son’s grave once a week. We got great consolation from being there and talking to him. But of course now I can’t drive any more and we’ve had to put plastic flowers on the grave since we can’t get there as often as we would like,” explains Tom.
In the midst of what seems like a sad story, Tom has found independence in other ways and what he calls in his own words “a new lease of life”. “My eye specialist told me about the NCBI but I didn’t want to know at first. I didn’t think they could offer me anything. Eventually I went, very reluctantly, to the Iona Centre, which is a day centre for adults with sight loss in Glasnevin.”
At the Iona Centre, Tom met other people going through the same thing and found it a relief not to have to explain his sight loss to anyone or to have to talk about it all the time. “There is a great camaraderie amongst us. There’s no need to talk about your eyes and how bad they are as everyone is going through something similar. We all know each other so well, we ask after our families and look out for one another if we miss a day. It’s a comfort zone for me and the staff are excellent. The Iona Centre has helped me to accept my disability. I would love for my sight to get better but that’s not going to happen. It’s something that could really get you down so I have to find ways around it and stay positive.”
Computer skills
One of the most important things Tom has learned at the Iona Centre is computer skills. He admits that, when he first walked into the computer room, by accident, he didn’t know why blind people would need computers. “But that was just the beginning,” he says. “I can now contact my children who live in Australia and New York and keep in touch with their children too. I am about to go online to email a friend in South Africa to tell her we are thinking of her at the moment, so the freedom it has given me is fantastic.” Tom uses software called Guide, which reads aloud everything that is on the computer screen and enables him to use the same applications as everyone else.
While he hasn’t had long cane training, Tom uses a symbol cane to let other people know that he has a vision impairment and may need assistance. “I went to visit the optometrist in NCBI and he asked me if I was using a cane. I wasn’t at the time and he suggested that a symbol cane would be a good idea. I have found it invaluable. I’m able to get to our local shop on my own and do a little bit of shopping. When people see me standing by a shelf they now ask if I need help, which is great. It’s the same when I’m crossing the road. I stood by the bus stop one day by accident, thinking it was the pedestrian crossing. The bus driver stopped and when we realised the mistake I had made he stopped the bus to get out and help me across the road.”
“I was so reluctant to go to the Iona Centre. Pride feels no pain. I could picture myself with a white stick and I didn’t want to be in that category. But it was the best decision I ever made.”