Loretta Vigilance and her son, Joel
“The mind is truly more perceptive than the eyes,” is a belief which holds true for radiologist Loretta Vigilance. Vigilance, a mother of four, analyses and interprets dozens of X-rays every week at the hospital where she is employed, and is also a dietary nutritionist, a lecturer, and interior decorator.
Her story would have been considered the average life of a Guyanese woman had she not defied the odds that were stacked against her. Vigilance is visually-impaired. Her masterfully designed pieces are breathtaking and thought-provoking, even more so when one considers her circumstances. Her now keen senses have allowed her to skilfully manoeuvre the dark world to which she has been relegated.
Over 60 years ago, Vigilance was born in Ithaca Village, West Bank Berbice. She grew up with five brothers and three sisters, and recalled how much fun she had, playing in the moonlight and enjoying the pleasures of life in the country. “We never went to parties and didn’t live a vulgar life. My mom was a school teacher and so all her children had to carry themselves in a dignified and mannerly fashion.”
Vigilance attended the government primary school and did well at her school-leaving exams. Back then, the examination was called the College of Preceptors (COP); she passed with six subjects, including scripture, which was a subject area that students were tested on in those days. “I went to the Scarda High School in New Amsterdam before going off to Berbice Collegiate to sit the GCE,” Vigilance related.
After completing school, her desire was to become a nurse, a life-long dream, but in those days the hospital would send out a letter indicating the period of enrolment.
Vigilance created this bag using toilet tissue rolls
Vigilance indicated that she may have missed the correspondence and another girl was sent in her place. In 1972, Guyana was hosting Carifesta and since her father was a carpenter/ contractor, he was tasked with constructing houses in South Ruimveldt for the delegates.
Vigilance journeyed to Georgetown with her father where she assisted him in time- keeping and managing the Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) books. During August of 1975, Vigilance sent an application to the nursing school and was accepted into the programme where she began training as a nurse. After completing her training, she began work. In 1991, the hospital sent Vigilance to study for the X-ray technician course. Of eight trainees, only five made the grade as technicians.
Vigilance returned to the hospital and in 1996, received a scholarship to read for an associate degree in radiography. Three years later, she was one of the four that became a radiographer after one person left the programme.
She returned to work and retired last year. However, Vigilance was asked to stay on a monthly contract in order to facilitate government certification of the institution and until her replacement is found. Her son has been conducting X-ray examinations and is eager to pursue his radiography studies at the University of Guyana. However, due to hiccups in the system, the university has not offered the course despite promises to restart every year.
Uncertain diagnosis
Vigilance said she was not born with her impairment but in 1997, started seeing a red halo around lights at night. “It never hurt or posed a problem to me, but my sister who was a tutor at the nursing school we would talk from time to time and she said, ‘Girl, you better go and check that thing out.’”
Vigilance visited several doctors who presented her with various diagnoses and one even treated her for uveitis. On the advice of her husband, Vigilance sought out the services of another doctor and was immediately told that her condition was glaucoma.
The doctor expressed surprise that the other doctors did not detect it earlier. After being treated for a while, the doctor finally told Vigilance that she was legally blind. Describing her annoyance at the prognosis, Vigilance said she was terribly upset and unwilling to accept the doctor’s opinion. “I just continued going along doing my own thing. I subsequently went to another doctor who told me that I still had 10 per cent sight left. He was so encouraging and told me if I could travel overseas, I would be able to check with a glaucoma specialist aboard.”
Up to then, Vigilance was still teaching the radiography class to students doing the foundation medical programme at the hospital and was also teaching people to do floral decorations.
However, in 2002, Vigilance’s sight began to deteriorate further and she recalled hitting a low point when she fell down a flight of stairs while shopping for flowers. “Everything started to go downhill. I do not like to talk about it, but you can’t imagine what it’s like to wake up and it’s still dark outside. I started to talk to God about it, and I didn’t want to go back to work, because everything was so dark,” an emotional Vigilance related.
However, her strong support team, including her husband, relatives and church family got her through the doldrums, and Vigilance showered praise upon them. “My creative ideas have been giving me the courage to go on. One of the other things that keep me going is that I do floral decorations for weddings and I feel wonderful when I can make people smile. I would see the designs in my mind and my husband would help me out with the colours so I can coordinate them,” she pointed out.
Shining light
Despite her disability, Vigilance divulged, her life has been blessed over the years and offered an example of just how blessed she has been. She detailed that a girl who she had “taught the ropes” was getting married in Canada and had sent her an invitation. After deciding that she would travel to Canada with her husband as guide, Vigilance was advised to secure the requisite visas. “In those days, the visa was sourced in Trinidad and sent through DHL, but as the time was drawing near and we didn’t see the visas coming back, we checked with Trinidad and they said they had sent them weeks before. So DHL had us checking back until the day before we were supposed to travel, then we received the visas and then we had to telephone the airlines and standby for two seats,” Vigilance recounted.
In the end, she secured the seats although she paid a hefty price and did not have any spending money left. “We didn’t even realise that Montreal was far away from the airport and you had to get there by plane,” Vigilance laughed. However, some years before, Vigilance had met a man in Essequibo who had begged her to accommodate his son and tutor him in literacy.
“He asked me to take care of his son and he would pay me. But I told him I don’t want his money and I took his son who was 16 and he couldn’t read nor write. We sent him to GITC and he did the mechanic course and he came out fine.” It so happened that the man heard about Vigilance’s plight and decided to pick her up at the airport, she then spend the night at his home, and he paid the Cnd$ 190 for the trip to Montreal the following day. “I got there in time to do the decoration at the church, which was what I really wanted to do and I met a woman named Annabel who inquired whether it was me who taught the bride to do such beautiful decorations. She decided she would carry me to see a doctor, and she telephoned the eye clinic and made an appointment.” Vigilance said the doctor was surprised that she was a radiographer and he sent her to a glaucoma specialist who arranged for her to undergo surgery. “ I didn’t have any money, but Annabel promised to pay for it. It was a young Ukrainian doctor and he said I had a 50/ 50 chance. He scheduled me for surgery the next Saturday, but we had only come for three weeks and we were wondering how much it would cost to extend our stay.” To her surprise, when Vigilance telephoned the airline, she was told that the ticket was valid for the entire year and on checking the passports, she discovered that she and her husband had received six-month stays.
“Annabel gave us her entire lower flat and made us comfortable. She worked four nights a week and her husband travelled a lot and her son, he lived in Toronto, so we were basically alone most of the time.” Vigilance underwent surgery on her eyes and although her eyesight did not improve, she believes that everything happens for a reason. “I can still see shadows and movement of objects, but everything is very blurry.” But Vigilance is not about to give up and is always seeking ways to help others and pass on all of the blessings she has received. She is about to start vegetarian classes to teach men and women how to prepare dishes to suit their lifestyles and ensure they have a balanced diet.
By Danielle CampbBell | Guyana Times International