Life after Fable

As you will know if you followed my blog during our first year together and Fable’s Facebook page, Guide dog Fable changed my life, but sadly our time together ended suddenly on 17th March 2022 when i had to make the heartbreaking decision to let my girl cross the rainbow bridge. She went to sleep peacefully in my arms and i have no doubt that i made the right decision for her. She got to do what she loved; working like the pro she was and enjoying her free runs right until the end. Adjusting to life without her hasn’t been easy, i miss her cheeky ways, cuddles, licks and guiding skills every minute of every day but in our last moments together i promised her i would keep living the life she showed me was possible. This new blog will i hope give you an insight of life after Fable and the legacy she has left which will last a lifetime….

It’s taken me a while to get to the point where I can wrote about this but I think it’s really important to talk about the challenges as well as the positives in life. Obviously fable was amazing and I miss those things a dog brings but she was also my mobility aid (a cute, funny, cheeky one but at the end of the day that was her job).

I had a mobility assessment yesterday and we did my usual route to work using my cane. What could be so difficult you’d think, I do it all the time? Just navigating a standard pavement amd a few roads takes a lot of concentration but yesterday a few additional challenges were thrown at me which are really nothing unusual on a journey to work but made it so much harder and made me realise what those of us with visual impairment have to cope with just getting to work…..

Yesterday was very sunny which reduces my useful vision dramatically. Firstly I noticed an unusual traffic queue for the time of day so I started worrying the traffic/pedestrian lights might not be working, how would I cross the busy road? Changes in the environment make such a difference amd yesterday there were roadworks to deal with. With fable I would have simply said “find the way” amd she would have found the best way through. With the cane I had to use it and my hearing to locate obstacles amd move forward almost meter by meter. It took so much concentration and time, I did it but felt overwhelmed and anxious.

We then did the busy high street on market day. Again a familiar walk but normally at 8am before work. Firstly it took ages to get through the stalls, people and bollards. Then the orientation and mobility specialist stopped me suddenly as I was about to hit my head on a market umbrella! There was so much to comcemtrate on I totally missed it. Guide dogs are trained to stop or avoid overhead obstacles so I bet with fable I wouldn’t have even been near it!

Talking things through so the mobility assessor could get a good understanding of my functional vision and my ability to risk assess my environment safely made me realise just how much my brain is doing to process information amd make judgements with mostly incomplete visual information, I rely on memory a lot so if you see me in a familiar environment you might not even realise I have a significant visual impairment but in unfamiliar places or if the familiar changes (roadworks, market stalls, lighting) this means that my brain is trying to piece together incomplete information in order to navigate my environment safely and effectively.

I was so exhausted at the end of the session and my summary was; can I get to work with my cane, yes, could I then focus on a full day at work and get home again, no!

For me a guide dog makes life easier and safer, reduces anxiety about new places and changes in my environment, minimises tiredness and means I can engage in work and social activities in the same way as everyone else..