In this episode of the Vets First Podcast, hosts Dr. Levi Sowers and Brandon Rea interview Loretta Phillips, an Army Veteran from Lancaster, South Carolina. Loretta suffers from visual impairment due to complications from diabetes that progressed due to depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. During this conversation, Loretta talks about the patient perspective of dealing with visual loss as a Veteran and shares her journey in getting treatment for her developing issues.

Loretta joined the Army in 1989, where she spent most of her time in Germany amid the Cold War conflict. She obtained the rank of Sergeant in less than three years and served seven in total. After she came back to the United States, she had a daughter. However, four months later, she experienced vision loss during work. Throughout the episode, Loretta describes her diagnosis and the troubles she overcame to get treatment, having to resort to civilian doctors over government health workers at the time. Then, she describes an instance where she almost lost sight completely and how treatment for it damaged her eyes and consequently her eyesight.

Later in the episode, Loretta talks about what life is like with loss of sight and, more specifically, how the Blind Rehabilitation Center with the VA, helped her learn the skills to survive and live with vision loss. Then, she talks about joining the Blind Veterans Association and gives advice to Veterans experiencing visual loss. She encourages Veterans to reach out to the visual programs and discusses how it can be difficult accepting loss of vision. Finally, she talks about both the mental and physical sides of vision impairment and the importance of research for vision loss.

If you are a Veteran or you know a Veteran needing help with visual loss, contact the Visual Impairment Services Team coordinator at your nearest VA medical center or contact the Blind Rehabilitation Service Program by phone which can be found here. There are 13 Blind Rehabilitation Centers around the country, which can help with things like mobility, communication, and living with vision loss.

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