Thankfully, his glaucoma was diagnosed early and he underwent trabeculectomy surgery in both eyes to manage his intraocular pressure. For years, everything remained stable.
Then, in his 40s, everything suddenly changed: “I lost a lot of vision in my left eye out of the blue. I couldn't understand how the vision loss occurred since I was taking my drops.”
The unexpected loss brought a range of emotions - “Anxiety, frustration, anger... all sorts of emotions were experienced for the next decade.” Over the following three to four years, Badi underwent multiple surgeries and experienced further vision loss. The impact extended well beyond his eyesight.
“I became a wreck.”
Badi stopped playing sport, socialised less and found himself focused on what he had lost. As a father, he also worried about what the future might hold. “As a father, I was scared of not being able to provide for the family, possibly going blind means I won't get to see my son's achievements, play with him in sport, and travel with him... always focussed on what I couldn't do.”
One of the hardest parts of Badi’s experience was finding the right support for the emotional side of living with glaucoma. He says he felt he had to work through many of those challenges himself.
“Specialists don't talk about the mental health side of things, so they don't know what a patient is experiencing.”
Over time, however, Badi began to find a different way forward. “It took a lot of self help/reflection and positive reinforcement to change my mindset from being mentally unhealthy to focusing on the positives such as my right eye's vision was still strong and I could do most things I wanted.” He started playing tennis again, reconnected with friends and began focusing more on enjoying life.
“I'm no longer in denial - learning to accept it.”
Badi also found purpose in sharing his experience with others. He created a Spotify podcast, Glaucoma - A Patient’s Perspective, to raise awareness and provide information from a patient’s point of view.
“We get so much technical information that we don't even know what to do with it most of the time, so I'm hoping my podcast resonates with people from a patient perspective.”
He has also joined Glaucoma Australia’s Facebook community, where he says sharing experiences with others has been insightful and positive. “It allows me to continue to be kind to myself while helping others whenever possible with my experiences.”
For Badi, one of the most important lessons has been learning to focus on what he still can do. “It's important to acknowledge the loss of vision or how Glaucoma affects you, however, it's even more important to focus on what you can actually do.”
His advice to someone newly diagnosed is simple: reach out, ask questions, learn about the condition and seek support for the emotional as well as physical aspects of the journey.
“Reach out - this applies to many things.”
And perhaps most importantly, Badi says:
“No matter the limitations, we can always live with a condition if we put our mind to it.”
Have a glaucoma story to share? We'd love to hear from you: https://glaucomaaustralia.typeform.com/ShareYourStory
