May 23, 2012-Volume 69: What Else Should I Be, All Apologies

The Adventures of the Blind/Low Vision/Visually Impaired (BLOVI) Girl-Volume 69: What Else Should I Be, All Apologies

Recently I decided that I may have acted badly during the months of January through April. Lots of stressful stuff was happening and I was, at times, not handling things well. So the universe gave me some signs and one night, rather late, I started writing apology e-mails.  What got me there and what I learned is the focus of this blog.  But first………….

My WTF of the week is the commercials that are really porn-oriented. And by this I mean they are filled with overt sexual overtones.  The KY ads are just plain stupid and it worries me that the implication is that couples need all these aids to make time for sex.  There is a thing called skill. My guess is that men who are not getting much come up with these gems. Then there are the commercials that are filled with sexual innuendo. My favorite of the moment is the Liquid Plummer Double Penetration commercial. Please tell me you have seen this one where the two buff men pose on either side of a woman and there is a line that says something about a long snake penetrating deeply. The narrator has a deep Barry White voice and there is some sexy music (the type you may put on for an evening of fun at home) in the background.  OMG these ad men are watching too much adult programming. Or maybe I am wrong and women are coming up with these commercials (doubtful).

This week I can’t get enough of memory foam mattresses.  While shopping for a mattress for my daughter, I was tempted to try out the memory foam mattresses. Soon I was lying on every memory foam mattress there was.  Like Goldilocks I had to try them all and decide if it was too soft or too hard or just right. I decided the firm Temperpedic memory foam is the best mattress ever. When I tried it out it automatically conformed to my body. I did not want to get up, ever and I thought how do people get out of bed every day if this is the bed on which they are sleeping. I would be in the bed floating on a foamy cushion of total comfort as much as possible.  It reminded me how inferior my current mattress is and how could I have wasted so much of my life sleeping on a bed without this memory foam. I was blown away by the cost, however which quickly ended my hopes and dreams for being able to sleep on the memory foam mattress. Basically, they are the price of a used car or a really nice vacation. So I developed a theory of why people with money are successful and can be even more successful, it is because they can afford a memory foam mattress and are getting the benefits of much better sleep. With quality sleep, they are more energetic and their minds are sharper and process things more efficiently and they are generally in a better mood. The rest of us mere mortals don’t stand a chance, unless we can finance one of these mattresses and pay on it for years to ensure a quality sleep experience.  One day, one day, it will be mine.

So the universe recently gave me a few signs that maybe I was not being my best self the first quarter of the year. I had a string of events pile up that were out of my control and as a result was under a great deal of stress. Sometimes, I do well under stress and sometimes I hit the wall. At some point I must have hit the wall because I noticed I was holding onto a lot of anger and negative energy. I have done the work to get that all cleared out and am in a better place. But in looking back, which I admit to not doing so much, I realized I may have been a difficult person with which to engage. Let’s just say I was being a little bitchy at times. So, one night it came upon me that there were a handful of people that had disappeared from my life and I decided the bitchy thing may have been the reason why. I felt a need to apologize so I began writing apology e-mails.  I felt lighter and better when I did this and I hoped I had mended some bridges.

Interestingly enough, only one of the people to whom I apologized actually had a problem with something I did. The rest were surprised that I felt the need to apologize and said I had done nothing to hurt or offend them and did not need to apologize. This was news to me. Maybe I can hold things back and fake it better than I thought; maybe I am not so bitchy after all. The act of sending the apologies, whether they needed to be said or not, was the important thing to me. What I realized is that I really do not want to do anything to offend or hurt people in any way. And I strive to be a good person. I work on forgiveness all the time and I think I hope that others can forgive me and also be honest enough to tell me when I have done something to upset them. This open communication is important and I don’t think you can have authentic relationships without it.

So, in the final analysis I come back to my desire to live authentically and to have authentic relationships with people who also live authentically. It is a theme that keeps repeating and getting more important as I get older. I am learning I have little tolerance for BS or drama, even though it sometimes lands in my lap. I have learned to try and self-monitor, admit when I am angry or sad or resentful and own those feelings and most importantly, have enough respect for people and friendships so as to not damage them by my behavior.  And if I can do that, and apologize when I need or (or even when I don’t) I am doing right by myself.

Keep Moving Forward,

Beth (BLOVI) Medlock

May 9, 2012-Volume 68: An Ode to my Ped E Cab

The Adventures of the Blind/Low Vision/Visually Impaired (BLOVI) Girl- Volume 68: An Ode to my Ped E Cab

This week I am dispensing with my normal blog format to gush over my new Ped E Cab Electric Tricycle. But next week get ready for a blog about me waking up in the middle of the night sending out apology letters to tons of people. But back to the Ped E Cab.  Her name is Polly Persephone the Pink Ped E Cab. Polly was Sadie’s choice, Persephone was mine. She is hot pink and I have included pictures to show how magnificent she is.  Note the awesome details.  The front lights look kike an owl and butterflies. The side reflectors are the yin and yang symbol and there are cool wave like swirls under the front seat. She was made in Southern California so that makes her rad.

Polly Persephone is not only stylish and cool, she is practical and green. She has a rechargeable battery that can go 25 to 30 miles on one charge. She can obtain speeds of 15 to 20 miles per hour. She is the size of a regular tricycle, so I can ride on the street or on the sidewalks. And it can be pedaled so it is classified as a bike. No need for insurance or a pesky license. As you can see it has a moped look so it has a cool horn, turn signals, brake lights and head and tail lights so that you could ride at night (which I won’t be doing.  I also bought a canopy so we can ride it rain or shine. And the back seat has a seatbelt and lifts up for storage so I can go grocery shopping or make a Target run. No more days where I am jonesing for chocolate and can’t get a fix.

Thus far the Ped E Cab is a big hit. We have been stopped many times so people can ask us what it is, what it does and where can they get one. We get lots of waves and thumbs ups and have heard people calling out “that is cool”, which makes us feel like rock stars. I have a plan to do the first episode of Pimp my Trike. I want to make it super flashy with silver streamers and cool decals, but my child is anti-stickers. Go figure, I want the glitz and she wants it simple. When did she become sticker aversive? I think I can at least get the streamers on without much protest.  

The main thing the Ped E Cab has given me is more independence and freedom. I took my child to school, and we went to the grocery store, to eat at a restaurant and to get mani/pedis. Just she and I, without a driver, and that freedom was priceless. In addition she loves to ride in the cab seat, throwing up her hands and yelling “faster mommy, faster”. She is definitely my child.  And it makes me feel sassy and young. The other day I wore pigtails while riding it, sporting my helmet with flowers and pink straps.

I am starting a Ped E Cab revolution. Everyone should get one who lives in town. We could have Ped E cab rides and rallies and a Ped E Cab accoutrements swap. A girl can dream. For now, I am on my Ped E cab every day, feeling free and taking in the sights. If you see me or us, give us a shout out!

Keep Moving Forward,

Beth (BLOVI) Medlock

May 2, 2012-Volume 67: Is Freedom just another word for nothing left to lose?

The Adventures of the Blind/Low Vision/Visually Impaired (BLOI) Girl: Volume 67: Is Freedom just another word for nothing left to lose?

I am a stable, organized person who is responsible and somewhat of a risk taker. Lately, I have been wondering, however, if I am free in the sense of being able to let go, have a good time, and do things I want to do, not just what I have to do. At times I envy those that can just go out during the week, or take a vacation, or buy something extravagant, or drive a car. Not because those things would make me happy, but it is those things that would make me feel more free. The concept of feeling free is the focus of this blog. But first…………

My WTF of the week is the fact that I received the absolute meanest, most vicious e-mail ever from a person I do not know and have only spoken to twice in a professional matter.  I have to put some of the quotes so you can get a sense of the level of nastiness. Please note I did not correct spelling or grammatical errors.  “I guess some people think everything is owed to them and appreciate nothing. I cant imagine what you teach people through life by design. I can only hope its not through example”. Another good one-“It seems in that circle they have come to expect that sort of behavior from you. Always the agressor, yet always the victim.” And the best one- “What a sad person you must be”. There were lots more than just these nuggets. At first my reaction was shock, and then I cried. But by the third time I read it I realized it was absurd to get upset at a clearly angry individual who knows nothing of me but could take the time and energy to write the e-mail. All I have to say is that I forgive you and sometimes medication is a good thing.

This week I can’t get enough of the OWN channel (otherwise known as the Oprah Winfrey Network). I watched OWN for the first time this past Sunday, as I do not watch much TV (well other than Mad Men and Bravo). Luckily I was watching Super Soul Sunday and they had some awesome shows. She was interviewing Deepak Chopra in India and he was just throwing out one awesome quote after another. They had a great show on Bishop TD jakes and of course a Tony Robbins Lifeclass. At night I watched the Oprah in India special. Everything I watched was so compelling and relevant to what I do. The LifeClass series is awesome. The free advice and wisdom is just being thrown out every minute. On one show one of her experts said, about relationships. “when you see crazy coming, cross the street”. I am totally using that one in coaching. I could easily become a fan of the channel and I do think everyone should check it out, especially the Lifeclass series and the Master Class series. Really good stuff.

As a single mom and a business owner I have lots of responsibilities and not a lot of time. In addition, because I cannot drive, it limits where I can go and when. So at times I feel trapped, in my house or in my circumstance. Part of getting some freedom was getting the motorized tricycle.   That gives me the freedom to go places when I just feel like it. But I was also thinking about how to get a sense of freedom in the midst of obligations. A friend told me that freedom is all in your mind. I think part of freedom is having the ability to choose or as I tell my clients to be in a place of choice. This means recognizing what is in your control and not in your control. So freedom means recognizing what you can control, looking at options and taking action. And that is what I try to do, so in that I am free. Freedom also means feeling you have the right and ability to be, act and do. That means seeing possibilities and that they are open and available to me, basically the belief that “I can do that or try that”.  And in that I am free. Freedom also means having a sense of fun and joy. For me this means that I can go out and dance and sing sometimes. Right now I am not doing those things, so I have decided tis start dancing again and maybe singing because this makes me feel happy and creative, and in that I feel free. Madonna says “only when I'm dancing do I feel this free” and I think there is truth to that.

So, when I really thought about freedom and what it means, I realized that I am free. Maybe I thought freedom meant having no responsibilities, or having everything available and in your control. But that is not freedom. And freedom probably means different things to different people. So I think when we feel overwhelmed, or constrained or even stuck I think we should consider what makes us feel free and to first free our minds. “Free your mind and the rest will follow”, Salt and Pepper sing. And they are right. Being free in your mind, being open to possibility, being able to see yourself in new roles and ways of being and doing, and being in a place of choice, even amongst obligation, makes us free.

Keep Moving Forward,

Beth (BLOVI) Medlok

April 25, 2012-Volume 66: Is it possible to create something new when you are getting old: Middle Age and Good Ideas

The Adventures of the Blind/Low Vision/Visually Impaired (BLOVI) Girl- Volume 66: Is it possible to create something new when you are getting old: Middle Age and Good Ideas

I have lots of great ideas in my head, or at least I think they are great. I have ideas on how to improve existing things and start new things. I have ideas about how to bring organizations together in collaboration and ideas to start some truly unique programs as well as businesses. And I think I have the energy to help implement new ideas. But the bigger issue is gaining momentum through things I do not have; money, power and influence. So in this blog I muse about creating new things in the second phase of my life.  But first………………..

My WTF of the week is the fact that my sinuses are already out of control because of the crazy pollen and weather fluctuations. My allergies and sinus problems usually don't begin until later in the year; as it gets hotter, I have more problems. But this year I started in March.  I did not develop allergies until about 10 years ago, which was 11 years after moving to Columbia.  I am convinced that everyone who lives or moves here will eventually have allergies. I have had people even visit me for a few days that say they are stopped up or blowing their nose the whole time they are here, but have no problems where they live. So Columbia is not only famously hot but famously allergy producing. I am naming it Famously Snot. It is a telling thing when you continually pray for rain to wash pollen away. Thank goodness I have a rain dance.

This week I can’t get enough of the TED website. As you may have noticed, I am mentioning things I saw on TED frequently. That is because I watch two or three Ted talks a day. I find them completely fascinating and inspiring. Lately I am watching videos on DNA and genetics and human lineage and also on social relationships and global health and economics. I feel really informed after watching a TED video, much like I feel after watching the Kahn Academy. And TED has led me to new books or research articles. Most importantly it inspires me to learn and explore or try out new ideas.  I have been watching the TED prize winners and really want to bring a model that Dave Eggers won the TED prize for in 2008 to Columbia.  It is TED that has led me to start thinking about all the things I wish I could implement or study.

This leads me to the focus of the blog. Are innovative ideas and the energy to implement them reserved for the young?  I was reading a Malcolm Glad well book and he had a chapter on late bloomers; those that are most creative and produce their best work in middle age or later.  I am not sure if I am one of these. I have always had a mind filled with ideas and in my earlier years would get up in the middle of the night to write things down and come up with new models and theories, none of which ever went anywhere. In my 20’s I was a good starter, but could never see things through. I had no patience.  Then there came the years of working 60 hours a week growing a business when there was only time to create what I was paid for. Then came the fog years of pregnancy and having an infant and toddler.  Then came a change in career and then came the accident.  Through the years of work and worry and sometimes, chaos, my mind had some ideas in it, but was mostly filled with getting through the day. 

In the last few months something has shifted and my brain is awash in new thoughts and ideas. Maybe it is because I have space for them or created space for them. Maybe it is because things have been more stable in my home life. Maybe it is because I have more energy. Maybe it is because I stopped the outward creative expression of dance and music and have again turned inward to the work of my brain, a scary but always interesting place.  Whatever the case, my brain is awake and active and has a need for me to feed it with new information. So lots of reading nonfiction and research is taking place. I am connecting pieces I know with the new things I learn to crate a web of interconnections. I feel compelled not so much to write, but to do.  The program I have latched onto is the one Dave Eggers won the TED prize for in 2008, Once Upon a School and I want to bring that model to Columbia. After watching him talk about the model I thought, we need that here.  In short it is a tutoring center housed in a retail space that has a storefront that is typically something really cool.  In San Francisco they have a pirate store and in Brooklyn it is a Superhero store. Tutoring takes place at the site and the tutors and mentors also go into the schools. Some of the focus has been on writing and creative expression, but it can be broader. I have an idea for the storefront that would combine artistic and creative expression into the tutoring aspect.  I can actually visualize the whole thing in my head.  It is not the first time I have visualized a program or project that I think is really cool and impactful, but it is the first time I have had the balls to think that maybe I can make this happen. And the change is that I am older and wiser. I have more patience to see things through and more understanding of the huge role relationships and marketing play when selling something new. What I lack is money to do it myself.  But the model in other cities has been run by volunteers and the money has come from the retail part. What I also lack is influence. But, being rooted here these 21 years means I do know many people and some of those people have money, power and influence.

For me, it is possible to have new and creative and great ideas in middle age and have the energy to do them. It is possible because, in middle age, I better understand the world and how it works, have patience, and have the confidence and courage to believe I can change the world. I think 20 years ago I could have never created an idea or project and stewarded it through to its fruition and done it well. It is never too late to try something new, take risks or go out on a limb. Remember, your tree is now deeply rooted.

Keep Moving Forward,

Beth (BLOVI) Medlock

April 13, 2012-Volume 65: Trying to be Connected in a Sighted, but Disconnected World

The Adventures of the (Blind/Low Vision/visually Impaired (BLOVI) Girl-Volume 65: Trying to be Connected in a Sighted, but Disconnected World

Recently two things I read and saw caused me to think about how I interact with people differently now that I am visually impaired, and how that acting differently makes me different. First, after reading some literature on the importance of reading people through facial expressions and the importance of searching someone’s eyes, I began  reflecting on how I miss cues because I cannot see facial expression and how that impairs me in social interactions when I want to connect. The second thing that really got me thinking is a TED lecture I saw on how we are becoming more disconnected because of social media and texting and how younger people do not know how to have a conversation. Because I text very slowly and do not have a smart phone and only really use Facebook sparingly, my preference is to pick up the phone and call people and have conversations. I am becoming aware that this is not the norm and I cannot imagine what it would be like if I relied on texting and e-mailing. My general reflections about connectedness and communication and doing so as a visually impaired person in a very visually driven world, is the focus of this blog.  But first……………………….

My WTF of the week is the fact my computer had the unfortunate experience of contracting a Trojan virus. The whole thing started when it began shutting certain programs down, and eventually it would not let me on the internet. I made problems worse by shutting down and restarting my computer about 20 times, winch I am sure the virus really enjoyed. On the third day I took it to Staples and the guy said that it looked like a Trojan virus. To which I said, “That was not the type of Trojan I wanted to be dealing with”. For some reason he did not think this was funny. Much chaos happened with my computer at Staples because there were two techs who failed to communicate when they handed off my computer so I had to step in and communicate for them when what should have taken one day took three. After they had it three days and still did not have my computer back running what it needed at the start up, I rescued it and had a friend come over who fixed it in 5 minutes. The good thing is that I now have all of my data backed up on a massive external hard drive and very powerful anti-virus software, which I should have had in the first place to protect my computer. Why didn't they call the virus protection Trojan-that would have made more sense.

This week I can’t get enough of my new hot pink electric tricycle Ped E Cab.   Now that it is getting hotter, I can’t just run everywhere and I also need to cut down on using drivers. I also needed something I could tote my daughter around on safely as she seems to have a problem with walking, or riding in the jogging stroller, or riding a bike. So I went on the Internet looking at all these cool quadricycles and adult trikes. I also went to Outspokin on Devine and they hooked me up with a trike and Trek Tag a Long to try.  Given I could not go over 8 miles an hour without tipping it and my daughter refused to ride the tag along this tanked quickly. Brian at Outspokin and me both researched other options. There are dual pedal quads that look like golf carts and recumbent tandems and of course the Scandinavian Mobii where it is a bike with a carrier thing with two wheels in the front and you can put two kids in it. It looks way cool. Problem is all these new alternative forms of transport, especially the ones with the rechargeable motors, are outrageously expensive. In the end I went looking for used transport and on EBay found my Monarch Ped E Cab. It was a floor model and is being shipped to me already assembled. I am psyched that I have something that will enhance my independence, look cool, and is safe and environmentally friendly. And of course I am going to trick it out with silver streamers, a disco ball and cool decals. You will see us coming (so you don’t run us over). A big thanks also to Outspokin for all their help.

As the ways we communicate have changed over the past two years, the ways I communicate have also changed, but in the opposite way. In a sense I am going against the grain. I do not really like to text because it is time consuming and I do not have the time to read what is going on in the Facebook world. I don’t have a smart phone because I cannot see one, so I also do not have access to the web at my fingertips. And I love it. Reducing the flood if information has made my life easier and at the same time my visual impairment has also forced me to pick up the phone and talk to people more. My preference and primary form of communication is through conversation. As I have moved more to phone conversations I find that sometimes it takes a while to get people conditioned to calling me back instead of trying to communicate via texting. But I notice that some do eventually start picking up the phone to communicate. At first I thought that not having the ability or time to text and e-mail and use social media left me in the cold. But, actually the opposite has occurred. If I care enough about you to want to know you or know what is going on in your world I, eventually, will pick up the phone. Because of this I not only know who my friends are, but my friendships have deepened because I am really connecting with people.  Those who use text or e-mail as a primary means of communication in building or maintaining relationships must be at a loss in really being able to connect.

At the same time the visual impairment has left me unable to read people because I can’t see facial expressions. It means I get no feedback about how people are reacting to what I say or if they are even making eye contact and attending. I can’t read if people are being sincere or authentic or sarcastic because that is often shown in the face and not in the tone of voice. I do not know when someone is looking at me or gesturing from a distance. It has made me aware of how much communication is done via eye contact and nods or other small gestures and signs in the face, all of which I can no longer see.   If I am with someone and meet or see a person I have to rely on the friend to describe a reaction, or tell me if someone was looking at me or seemed engaged or even annoyed (I do have a somewhat sarcastic sense of humor). I think the inability to see facial expression hurts me in social interaction, facilitation and especially in trying to meet new people. And I am not sure how to get around it. My heightened sense of hearing and other senses don’t really assist me in this task. My strategy now is to just smile a lot and seem approachable and listen as much as I can to tone and inflection of the voice, and my brain’s new ability to try and fill in the gaps in faces. I think about how much I wish I could hold someone’s gaze and understand what they are feeling. I wonder, in this new age of communication where we are disconnected, if we are not teaching our kids how to have a conversation, then we are also not teaching them how to read non-verbal behavior. How can you read people if you can’t see them or even if you are with them you are looking down at your phone? The loss of the ability to have conversations and all that it entails will create a society that is just about being heard or people knowing what you are doing, instead of knowing each other. And that is a sad thing.  

Keep Moving Forward,

Beth (BLOVI) Medlock

March 28, 2012-Volume 64: What I Can See and How I Can Fool You

The Adventures of the Blind/Low Vision/Visually Impaired (BLOVI) Girl-Volume 64: What I Can See and How I Can Fool You

It has been just over 20 months since my accident and I still get questions about my eyes healing or my vision improving or even what I can see.  The truth is my vision has been the same since the blood cleared out of my eyes in October of 2010, but my brain has been reorganizing itself to its new visual field and therefore I appear as if I see better. The second part of what I see has to do with the way people treat me as a differently abled person, I am treated differently, and not in a good way and that I can see very clearly. These subjects are the focus of this blog. But first…………………..

This week my WTF is the loss of all my important documents.  I recently discovered, after making a trip to my lock box to retrieve my passport and my daughter’s birth certificate, that I no longer had a lock box. After some digging it was found the ex closed the box in November 2010 during the custody battle. I did not know this, I was only told he was taking his items out of the box and he gave ne his key. At the time of closing someone has to watch you take all the items out of the box and the bank assured me it had been emptied. So the million dollar question is where are items like my passport, my will, my daughter’s social security card and birth certificate, etc. The story has changed many times as to what happened.  The end result is that all those items have disappeared.  So I now have two options, to file a police report that the items were stolen or to do nothing and go through the agonizing process of restoring all these items. The passport process alone could do me in.  All I know is this sucks!!!!!

This week I can’t get enough of the return of Mad Men, my absolute most favorite show on TV. So even though the premiere dragged a little I was more focused on the set decoration and clothes. Lately I have been fixated on a royal blue/teal color and a reddish orange and gray as a color scheme to redo my den and bedroom. I have been trying to visualize it in my head. And then, there it was all over the place on Mad Men.  Tons of orange walls and blue walls and blue and red-orange couches mixed with with gray taupe and it so worked. I would like to transport Don Drapers’ living room, sans the white carpet, into my house. I love everything about the rooms on Mad Men; the lamps the artwork—I want it all. Also I am requesting Megan Draper’s entire wardrobe. She wore this awesome black dress at the surprise party that I would totally rock. I even liked Peggy's black dress with the white center piping. That show inspires me. I am ready to take on a few room redo’s. And it is going to be bright and mod.

Speaking of bright, my visual impairment has caused me to want brighter colors around me because I can see them better. My visual acuity has not changed, still 20/800 in the left eye and 20/400 in the right eye. I still have little central vision and your head is still mostly missing if I look directly ay you, I have just learned where to look to make eye contact. And my brain is filling in the gaps with what it thinks should be there, not just with color bands and flashes, even though I still see some yellow. The color bleeding when I would look from a colored wall to a white surface is also gone. I still can’t recognize anyone from a short distance, but I am getting better at voice recognition. I also navigate better because once I have walked or run a path my brain is making a visual spatial map of it so I can remember where there is a step or a turn. My balance is better. At first it felt as if I were walking sideways but now I feel no different than I did as a sighted person and I am just the same clumsy me I was before. My other senses have continued to sharpen, especially my hearing. I use my hearing all the time to gage  the distance of cars when I am crossing streets and I can find a small pill that has dropped on the floor not because I immediately see it, but because I can approximate where it fell by the sound. I think it’s like the echolocation of a bat. Because of these things, to most people it appears as though I am a sighted person.

I still need technology to help me work and read. My next project is a big LED TV because I found that when looking at them in a store at some distance I could make out more of what was going on and that was great. I really need it before True Blood comes back on. I have also found I need to have a bigger screen when I navigate the web because there us so much content it is hard to find all the buttons and catch all the pop-ups when you are zoomed up. So my plan is to begin using my TV as my monitor, which I am figuring out how to do as inexpensively as possible.  I have magnification glasses where I can read 14 font and sometimes 12 but these often fail me at meetings or when trying to read documents or a menu at a dark restaurant. There are new portable magnification units that could help but they cost tons of money. What I have learned is that the technology is available, but it is super expensive. The portable reader is over 1200 dollars.  In fact, many of the aids for those that are blind or low vision seem unnecessarily expensive. I was lucky to get the equipment I needed from the Commission for the Blind, but as technology gets better and I figure out my needs there is no mechanism to upgrade unless it is out of pocket. I am not sure how low vision people can afford what they really need and could be useful. My guess is that they don’t have access to these things. And that is sad.

What I also see is how I am treated differently because I am differently abled. Some behaviors are subtle, some less so. Since I have been visually impaired people that don’t know me sometimes assume I am less smart than I really am. In some ways I feel smarter or maybe more resourceful, but I have been talked down to more often than I ever was when I was sighted. The other thing is that I have had more people try to take advantage of me. What I will say is usually someone can only pull that crap once. I am thankful I am assertive. I have also realized that there is some discrimination against the visually impaired and blind. Many companies with which I have dealt say they have no way to send me things electronically so I end up filling out paper documents under my camera which takes twice the time. There are also situations where you have to pick something up in person, which is not as easy for someone that does not drive. And don’t even get me started on ADA compliance, which is a joke. Then there are the subtle ways things have changed. It takes the form of people assuming you cannot do certain things, people not realizing you are relying on them to be someplace and get back home, or people just avoiding you in general. As I have written about before, these things have been disappointing, but I am beginning to understand they are part of the new world in which I live. Having a disability is the same as having other baggage. And some people are worried they may have to help carry the load. This in my case is really not true.

I will not talk about all the things I miss about having sight, because I don’t find that productive. I will say my attitude is and probably will remain positive. And I have every hope and faith that stem cells will allow we to regain my sight in less than 10 years.  And at my age, the years are flying by.

Keep Moving Forward,

Beth (BLOVI) Medlock

March 21, 2012-Volume 63: A Cat Tale

The Adventures of the Blind/Low Vision/Visually Impaired (BLOVI) Girl-Volume 63: A Cat Tale

This blog is about my cat Brunhilda (Bruni) and her ability to repeatedly defy death in her almost 18 years of existence. Maybe it is strange to write about a pet, but she is a part of the family and recently, when I thought it was the end, I realized how much life would be different without her. And when she went blind suddenly, I realized how hard it was to watch and how hard it must have been for people to see me after my accident. In a strange way, she is kind of a cat version of me. So, her eventful life is the focus of this blog.  But first………………………

My WTF of the week is the fact that people are cheating on trivia night. I recently attended a trivia night that was also a charity event.  The median age of our team, Half J/Half G (which stood for half Jews, half Gentiles) exceeded the other groups by at least 15 years. Let’s just say I could have been the mom of many of the trivia players. But was the group with the most wisdom and collective knowledge winning. No, we were not even close. Some of the groups of youngsters were kicking our butts and seemed to know answers to questions that there was no way they could have known. I was thinking maybe it’s because they are in college and just remember more. After feeling humiliated and a little stupid, one of the Jews made the rounds around the establishment and came back to proclaim that most of the tables were cheating by using their smart phones to Google stuff.  We were not. We were honorably using our collective brainpower. We even had a librarian in our group and they tend to know lots of trivia stuff. Alas, we are no match for twenty-something’s with smart phones.  This week I am out for another trivia night, and instead of trying to win I will feel good about myself because am coming up with answers without cheating. And I can live with myself. Although, if there is a cash prize, I could change my mind.

This week I can’t get enough of taking a “chick-cation”. It is like the man-cation, but for women and is sometimes known as the girlfriend getaway (but I dislike that term). Our chick-cation destination is Costa Rica for its combination of beaches and adventure activities like zip lining and rafting (which I am sure are totally safe for the visually impaired).  We picked Costa Rica because it is also a popular man-cation destination and the women going are all single.  When looking at hotels and reviews I found myself shying away from those in which the reviews used the words family, children or kid. Single moms do not want to go on a vacation and stay in a place where there are kids.  I prefer an adult oriented resort (not like in a Hedonism way, just no kids).  I am beginning my bathing suit readiness plan now.

I have a mostly black with white markings American shorthair named Brunhilda. I saw Brunhilda be born in a drawer in June of 1994. About two weeks after she was born her litter mates started dying. She was the only cat who survived past three weeks, at which time her mom stopped feeding her and I took over. I fed her formula in a baby bottle and put bits of food into her mouth until she was strong enough to get to food. I wiped her to stimulate her using the bathroom just like her mom would have and then I taught her how to use the litter box.

At 6 weeks old she was accidently stepped on by my boyfriend at the time. She was rushed to the ER and had a collapsed lung. They told me she had a 50/50 shot at surviving and hospitalized her and told me to call in the morning. I stayed up all night (mostly giving my boyfriend hell) and at 8am found out she had survived. 

When Bruni was two she started running a fever and would not leave my side. When she was laying on me I noticed there was white pus coming out of her, so I brought her to the vet. They misdiagnosed her and sent ne home, but I just knew they were wrong, so I came back in and said their diagnosis made no sense. They said the only other thing it could be was a uterine infection, but that could never happen in a spayed cat. Well, even though she had been there two years, what they did not seem to put together was that she had not been spayed because I was a poor graduate student and she was an indoor cat. So she was rushed into surgery to have her uterus removed, which the vet showed me in a jar and said “another two days and she would have been dead”.

Then at 3 Bruni choked on a chicken bone. I had eaten chicken for dinner and placed some bones at the bottom of the trash and went to take a bath. When I came out she had knocked over the trash can and was eating and choking on a bone. I started throwing on my clothes and shoes to take her to the ER but then realized I should try to get it out of her throat or perform the Heimlich maneuver, which I did and somehow managed to get it out.

Bruni has tried to escape the house hundreds of times. She is not at all convinced she is an indoor pet. And she has made it out a handful of times. But for some reason she never gets lost. One night I did not realize she had slipped past me and gotten out and when I returned home a few hours later she was sitting on the stoop with a look of “where the hell have you been, let me back in the house”. One time she got in the attic space at my current house, which has a door off a hallway. Again she slipped past me (this seems to be a theme) and walked into a part of the attic where the floor boards are spaced widely apart and could not figure out how to get back out. I was looking up the number for animal control and calling friends while trying to coax her out afraid that she was going to fall through the cracks. Again she got our unscathed-another crisis averted.

Up until she was 15, Bruni was convinced she was an attack cat and did not care much for anyone but me. She would get this look on her face when anyone other than me tried to pet her of “you are not my mommy, do not touch me” and she would bait them by acting as if it was OK and suddenly begin biting really hard. She also attacked my niece, who still has a scar, when she and my sister came into the house when I was not there.

Bruni has mellowed in her old age. She did not really want anything to do with my daughter until a few years ago. I think at first she thought “this little thing smells funny and makes too much noise”, but now she loves her. She also lets people she knows pet her without retaliating. For the past year or so Bruni has had kidney disease, which means I have had to try and shoot pills down her throat. My cunning cat held the pills in her mouth and later spit them out in corners because she knew I could not see them. She also drinks water out of your glass, which is annoying as she often tips them over.

Last week in the middle of the night Bruni tried to jump on the bed and missed and hit a side table. I woke up and found she was trying to walk but could not use her back legs and kept flopping over. Thinking she had broken her back or possibly was dying from kidney failure, I called my sister and we went to the ER. I was completely panicked and realized that even though I knew we at best had a year or two left, I was not at all ready for her to die. I cried all the way to the animal hospital. What we found out was that Bruni was completely blind and was also suffering from compression of the spine and arthritis, all common in older cats. The theory was she went blind, had a jump and miss ad tweaked her already problematic spine. Some of her drunk like walking was due to sensory deprivation because of the blindness. The next day her vet called me to say he feared the blindness was caused by an antibiotic she was on for her kidneys and it had only happened twice in his forty years of practice and should have not happened in the low dose she was on. He also told me it was permanent. For two days I had to carry my cat to get food and water and watch her walk into walls and struggle to keep her balance and it just broke my heart. I thought about how I must have seemed to others when I came home from the hospital almost totally blind and having to be led around. It must have been hard for others to watch. I don’t think I appreciated that until I saw my cat struggling.

After two days Bruni, in another miracle recovery, regained her sight and began acting like her usual self.  We still have to deal with the kidney’s failing, but she can see and get around and seems to be happy. Bruni has overcome so many crazy situations. She is a survivor. And so is her mom. I know losing her will change me. But for right now I am enjoying her company and doing everything I can to prolong her life.

Keep Moving Forward,

Beth (BLOVI) Medlock