Reader Stories

Share your personal stories to help inspire, motivate and enlighten and I'll post them here!

From Lei ....

I used to be annoyed, or amused actually at people wearing sunglasses inside at shopping centres. Then in August 2012 I was diagnosed with Open Angled Chronic Glaucoma and my extreme sensitivity to light and glare made sense. And I sometimes became one of those annoying, amusing people that wore their sunglasses inside. Not often, but some places have HUGE skylights. I generally try to walk right beside the shop, so as not to walk into the light, but it's it's not avoidable, I'll whip the sunnies on. I'm also the girl that wears sunnies on the overcast days, people look thinking 'But it's not sunny' and their right. But there is so much glare. Almost as bad as direct sunlight.

I also used to find it funny that people would wear gloves inside, or in the warmer months. But in October 2014 a persistent pain in my right thumb saw me have a Bone Scan. Bright red spots lit up both my entire hands. Arthritis. Not RA like you. But both my hands and wrists are riddled with it. I found that strange because at that point I was only symptomatic in that right thumb. Right now though almost two years later, it's my right thumb, right little finger, left thumb and left index fingers, and both wrists. Struggling. 

I work within the Court Process office of a VERY busy Police Command. I'm handling charge folders for crooks each and every day, picking them up, moving them around, sorting through mountains of paperwork for each of them. Each new niggling pain reminds me that this condition is here to stay. I too now wear gloves to keep my joints a little warmer.

I won't look at anyone out of the ordinary anymore, because maybe they just have a story to tell that I don't know about.

We all have to walk through some darkness to get to the sunlight. I just happen to walk through mine with prescription sunglasses on, lol.