Category: Sue’s New Page

Not every day is 24 hours of dealing with issues related to your vision. Sue may be an exception in that she needs to maintain a high level of stimulation and activity.   She does get bored so she’s found ways to deal with that…of course!

SSDD

Sue was first referred to a stem cell clinical trial in August 2015.    It is now 1 year and 3 months that she has been waiting…often impatiently she admits.   When she wrote this page, she’d pulled everything out of her DBT ‘bag of tricks’ – distress tolerance and opposite to emotion skills, refuting and reframing thoughts.  Did they work?  She then tried thought stopping and describes what that is and how it works.

Stop!

We are betting that you’ve seen the movie ‘The Wizard of Oz’ and remember that at the end of the movie she clicks her heels together 3 times and she is returned to her ‘real’ life.  How many times have you wished that you could return to your life before AMD?  If only it was that easy.  What do you do instead?

Summer of My Discontent

Sue continues to wait for word that the clinical trial that she expects to be in has started.  It’s hard not to worry that her vision continues to decline.   Instead of giving in to that worry, she’s continues to practice the skills that she teaches: distraction and mindfulness meditation.

Waiting for the Go

 

This Thursday in the US is Thanksgiving Day which many people consider to be the beginning of the holiday season. For some people, the holidays are not times of joy and happiness.  Sue talks about some of the myths that may behind some of the reasons and she offers some ideas to combat…

The Holiday Blues

I gave Sue some ideas for topics (yes, you could call them assignments ::smile::).  The previous page was her way of getting to the subject of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).  In a few days, she’ll talk about ‘the holiday blues’.  About SAD, there’s research that shows that for some people, sitting in front of a ‘light box’ with a bulb that simulates normal sunlight will help them deal with SAD.  However, even though the warnings about blue light are controversial, there is no use tempting fate so those with retinal disorders and those trying to prevent them should NOT use the ‘light boxes’ that you see recommended.  So, what now? Maybe the best advice is for us to go to a sunny place!

I Vote for Tahiti

 

For those of us in the North Hemisphere, this is the time of year when the amount of darkness increases.  With that increase, we know that some animals will go into hibernation.  And some people seem to do the same.  Sue talks about the historical & cultural significance of hibernation and introduces Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).  This is the first page of several where she addresses SAD and how some treatments relate to AMD.

Time to Hibernate

It was Sue’s birthday on July 17th.  It’s normal for us to look back in our lives and Sue is no exception.  In this page, she reviews what vision care and blindness were like in 1953 the year we were both born.   Read how she comes to the conclusion that “All in all, this is the best time yet in history to be going blind.”

Yes, Virginia

Sue is used to being productive and being effective in whatever she sets out to do.  That was before her vision worsened.  She has struggled with coming up with a ‘new normal’ which right now means that if she has 5 reports to write and she gets one done, that is…

Good Enough

Sue is honest with us.  She admits that she’s messy, that there are times when she belittles herself for things that she hasn’t done or hasn’t done right.  She points out that we wouldn’t talk to our worst enemy the way we sometimes talk to ourselves.  How do we change that…

Stinkin’ Thinkin’