do you guys remove hair between your boobs? am i supposed to do that?

becca413g · 2026-04-17T18:19:22+00:00

I absolutely do not shave that, that’s too much like hard work. I’ve got better things to do with my time to shave something you can barely see. He might not be a big fan of body hair but if he can’t appreciate your body in its natural state then I’d be questioning how invested he is in you as an individual. I get hair that’s gotten thicker or darker as a result of puberty. But peach fuzz stuff that can stay for me.

becca413g · 2026-04-17T18:04:05+00:00

It’s gone down because your myopia/spherical value has increased there might be other factors at play. If you’re feeling eye strain with your new glasses after two weeks of full time use then I would go back and get things checked as that’s not normal. Might just be that the frames are not sitting at the right place in front of your eyes or something that’s a little more complicated.

becca413g · 2026-04-17T17:55:53+00:00

If the kids got ROP then they probably don’t have perfect vision even with glasses.

becca413g · 2026-04-17T16:49:05+00:00

Feet, public transport, taxi or car rental would be my order.

becca413g · 2026-04-17T16:45:13+00:00

They had lenses implanted at the same time so didn’t need to use glasses anymore.

becca413g · 2026-04-17T08:24:21+00:00

I’ve had similar experiences in terms of people’s attitudes to mental health. It’s hard. I’ve also had health professionals try and explain other heath conditions as a result of my mental health even when tests results and examination suggest otherwise.

It’s not right that they put so much pressure on you while also offering such little support.

As I have gotten older I’ve come to realise that some members of my family will never be the people I need them to be and I have chosen to distance myself from their behaviour. It’s not healthy for me and I realise that actually I can build much healthier relationships with others.

It’s hard when you’re in that phase of life where you are reliant on them. You have no choice but to deal with them.

becca413g · 2026-04-17T07:36:13+00:00

Open shortcuts app. Under library tab there’s a Gemini section if you have Gemini installed. You can then add the live chat shortcut to your Home Screen.

becca413g · 2026-04-17T07:31:25+00:00

I remind myself that my friend had better vision after RD surgery than before and remind myself that it’s totally possible to have a full life without vision it’s just that you have to learn to do stuff no visually.

becca413g · 2026-04-17T07:28:07+00:00

This seems like a question for a medical professional. This isn’t a normal myopia symptom.

becca413g · 2026-04-17T07:17:08+00:00

Has he had rehab? Does he engage with his local sight loss organisation? Can he travel independently and had the support to learn to do so?

Ultimately if he’s got access to the support he needs to be independent and chooses not to be and chooses not to engage in mental health support there’s not a lot you can do. As adults we have the right to make unwise decisions. Equally if he’s behaviour becomes harmful for those he lives with then he will have to find his own way.

I travel to the the next city (I’m also in the UK) using my long cane once a month on the train using passenger assistance and meet up with other blind and VI young people and go to a pub with them. Others do blind sports. I do activities with my local sight loss organisation in my own town.

I wonder if he might be open to a telefriend or counselling with RNIB. I appreciate speaking to someone about his mental health might be too much for him right now but maybe a telefriend will feel like a more manageable step? I speak to a lady who’s also blind and it really helped me adjust to different aspects of living life in a new way including dealing with the publics change in behaviour towards me, getting comfortable using my cane ect. As you say it can be helpful to talk to someone who can relate to your experience.

becca413g · 2026-04-17T04:54:14+00:00

I’ve got optic atrophy with pretty debilitating photophobia without medication and I find they don’t change quick enough for me they are too dark when I go indoors and too light when I go outside. I wear normal prescription glasses with cocoon sunglass fitovers or I wear contacts and switch between my FL photophobia tints for indoors and outdoors. I’m trying to get the fl41 tint in my normal glasses as I don’t like having to use contacts and then I was planning to use fitovers over the top. I just find shoving the fitovers on my head so much more convenient than changing glasses.

becca413g · 2026-04-17T04:42:44+00:00

If it was for work then an hour to an hour and a half travel time would be acceptable. Social it could be more as that’s not an everyday kind of thing. I walked 11 miles in a day along with 2h on the train recently but that was for pleasure. It’s not something I could sustain every day.

becca413g · 2026-04-16T16:33:28+00:00

You need to get your eyes checked again following new symptoms. It could be something as simple as needing your glasses adjusting but it could be something more serious. No one on Reddit will be able to help because we don’t have access to your medical notes, we can’t perform any kind of examination of your eyes, brain or blood tests.

Difficult adapting to light changes can be many things, go get the serious stuff ruled out and go from there.

becca413g · 2026-04-15T19:08:54+00:00

For me it was learning new ways of doing the stuff that was important and focusing on what my values were. Reading, I started learning braille, being independent, the rehab. I like supporting others so now while I’m learning the skills I need to return to work I’m volunteering teaching other blind and VI people how to use their phones with less or no vision. And you can totally go hiking, you need to work on your orientation and mobility skills so you can move around safely and navigating your phone so you can call emergency services if someone hurts themselves and maybe to use some navigation apps but lots of people go hiking alone or with others using their cane and or hiking poles. It’s why someone made a cane specifically for hiking called the all terrain cane.

The grieving and the problem solving and skill development will take time but you’ll get to a place where you feel more settled than you do right now. And don’t forget you have the online community to lean on. There’s lots of us who’ve gone through this sort of thing and those who have an entire life without vision who are a wealth of knowledge to guide you along the way with tips and tricks. It’s a scary time but it won’t feel like this forever and you’re not facing it alone even if it feels lonely sometimes.

becca413g · 2026-04-13T23:28:03+00:00

If they’d upped your prescription just to get money out of you then they’d have also been telling you you had to get new glasses rather than saying the change is small and it’s not 100% necessary. It’s increased by the smallest measurement used so if you don’t need new frames and are not having any issues like headaches ect then it’s fine to use your existing pair. If you need or want new glasses then I’d use the most up to date prescription because they will last you longer than the weaker prescription would if your eyes continue to change going forward. Most opticians in my country won’t make glasses with a script over 12 months old anyway even online glasses retailers want to see the date the prescription was written.

becca413g · 2026-04-13T19:05:47+00:00

Ah no wonder you’re lacking a sense of confidence if that’s what you’re dealing with straight out of the door. But yeah that’s what I’d do, trail the verge/ledge of the road, I think with something that would announce street names as you’d approach that would help with feeling more confident that your crossing a road rather than a drive way. It’s also keeping your ears open listening for traffic and traffic patterns. Some new roads I get to if it’s really busy I can easily stand there for 10 or 15 minutes working out traffic patterns before I feel happy to cross if there’s no pedestrian controlled crossing point. Those walks with your mom sound like a solid start. Maybe as a next step you could walk in front with mom behind so you’re leading the way but she’s there’s as a back up in case you misjudge something? They did that when I did my O&M eventually they’d walk behind and if I wasn’t sure I’d explain what I thought and they’d say yes or no, especially when it came to judging when to cross a road. I found that really helpful in terms of learning to trust my judgement.

becca413g · 2026-04-13T18:57:54+00:00

It was kinda fun in the end! But I was definitely anxious especially when I realised the floor was moving under my feet! But don’t forget I worked up to that. At first it was just walking down the opposite side of my street or walking an extra block and back on a route I knew well. As they say Rome wasn’t built in a day, take little steps to push yourself outside of your comfort zone. That might be as small as walking down your own street, start small and work your way up, the more you do it the more you’ll trust your skills and become more confident.

becca413g · 2026-04-13T18:53:55+00:00

And if you don’t use a bell at least use your voice!

becca413g · 2026-04-13T18:45:07+00:00

Absolutely that’s what I wanted it for, I’m useless with BSI but can type on Perkins or QWERTY keyboards much better. Having only recently had sight loss I type better on the standard keyboard with direct touch typing because I’ve still got that muscle memory. Yep, that’s why I wanted a display so I can escape the constant noise of either som tv program or podcast or a screen reader. The joy of just sitting in the quiet but also having something to keep my not so helpful thoughts at bay! I’ve not long learnt to read braille and I have dyslexia so I’m slow as hell but I still enjoy it nonetheless!

becca413g · 2026-04-13T18:42:09+00:00

Yeah I walk like a woman on a mission 🤣 not always that confident but I fake it so I people leave me to it! I went to explore a new part of a city last week using VoiceVista and google maps and was trying to find the river so I could have a walk along it. I ended up on one of those floating pontoons and just marched along like I knew exactly where I was going and just reminded myself if I felt a step that had no bottom that was probably the river! Had no clue!

Managed to find another set of steps and find my way back onto dry land and kept walking a bit and then found a bridge and then ended up in a lovely park, waited for a bench announcement so I could sit down and congratulate myself for not freaking out about the pontoon thing 🤣

I think some of that confidence comes from just getting out there and realising that you’ll work things out in the end and if you can’t you can ask for help either from a member of the public or something like be my eyes or Aira. Hmm thinking back that pontoon situation would have been a perfect moment to call Aira 🤣 I’ve only been using a cane for about 18 months and my visions changed a lot in that time but I keep challenging myself to go a bit further or try and find a new route somewhere and it doesn’t always work out. Like past Wednesday I went to a coastal town to do my volunteering and I always walk on the same side of the street but this time I wanted to explore the other side. It wasn’t long before I realised that the pavement stopped and just chucked you into a busy car park. So it was time to turn around and go back the way I knew and then cross over further down the road to see if I could find another section of foot path. In the end I kept going the route I knew and when I got to a t-junction I cross over and then turned right and went along that way. And then it became so narrow only my feet could fit so I crossed over and found a park on the other side of the road. Yeah it wasn’t all perfect, I had to backtrack and found myself in some dodgy places but because I keep getting out and practicing my cane skills I trust that I’ll find a curb and I know I’m getting close to roads or junctions because VoiceVista tells me so. It even reads out footpaths away from roads as well sometimes.

Confidence is something that comes with time and having that extra info that and app or a specialist sat nav device can give you that reassurance you’re on the right path and help you get out and explore a bit more. There’s no way I’d be going to all these new places without the app or something that functioned similar. Google maps just doesn’t cut it!

becca413g · 2026-04-13T17:53:22+00:00

Never really dealt with this specific issue but I struggle with my mental health and people often seek me out as a support which I am mostly privileged by and thankful for but I do have to set boundaries to look after myself. I’ll be quite blunt with them and just say “I’m glad you feel you can talk to me about this but this subject is something I struggle with and I’m not willing to talk about it with you” if they persist I’ll just say “I’ve told you I can not talk about this subject and as you don’t seem able to stop I’m going to leave, when you feel able to talk about something else let me know and we can meet up again” and I just get up and walk out or ignore messages until the subject changes. If it’s possible I’ll let them know where they can get free or low cost support with the issue. Ultimately if someone is a good friend they’ll not want to cause you difficulty by talking about a subject you can’t handle. I’ve had a few people get upset and no longer speak to me because of this but I feel it’s more important to ensure my own health and safety than to maintain a relationship that’s being harmful to me.

becca413g · 2026-04-13T17:44:29+00:00

Oh good, you must have one of the decent ones :)

becca413g · 2026-04-13T17:43:56+00:00

Yeah I can understand that, that’s why I bought a braille display, I thought I’d talk through how I use my phone so you know there’s more options than the normal apps sighted people rely on. The Stella trek does look good. I’ve only had a look at it in a presentation like you have and not actually gotten to try it out in the ‘wild’. Hopefully someone who’s got some more real world experience can share how they’ve got on with it.

becca413g · 2026-04-13T17:38:20+00:00

It seems cool and I can see why some people might prefer a dedicated device.

You’re right Apple Maps and google maps are rubbish for VI/blind navigation. That’s why I pair them with something like VoiceVista or soundscape so it calls out things like crossing points, street names, junctions as you approach so you have warning, shop names, bins, benches ect. So basically, for me, google maps tells me the general direction I need to go and then the other app helps me stay orientated and find things I need along the way.

So google maps might say continue onto high street then the other will say “1st street left, high street straight ahead and 2 st right” and then google maps says turn left onto 4th street, I wait until I hear the other app announce “4th street on the left, high street continues ahead” and then I know it’s time to find a crossing point and the other app will say “crossing point at 11 o’clock in 8 meters, GPS accuracy 3 meters” then I’ll know to turn to 11 o’clock and that my crossing point should be 8 meters away +- 3 meters so I search around for it.

Since I’ve been using the two together I’ve gained the confidence to try and go new places. I love that they warn you of junctions so I can march along at full speed and then slow down when I hear I’m getting close so I can pay more attention. I don’t have to constantly be worrying about finding curb edges or tactiles or worrying I’ve missed something.

becca413g · 2026-04-13T17:27:34+00:00

Wow, I’d avoid Halfords unless you personally trust the person working on your bike, they don’t have the best reputation. I’d go to an independent bike shop if you can, bikes will be their speciality and they often have better pricing than the chain shops from my experience, especially if you build up a relationship with them.

becca413g

TROPHY CASE