On TikTok, 26-year-old Shaina Soliva or famously known as “Blind Pilipina” shared her journey after she became legally blind in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“In the middle of lockdown, I was already having bad migraines, but I did not really connect it with my blurred vision. I will just have it for a couple of hours, sleep or just rest tapos wala na. Even without any medicine, mawawala lang siya,” she told The Philippine STAR.
Since there was a health emergency, Shaina, who also has an autoimmune disease, decided not to visit a doctor in the hospital as she was afraid of contracting the COVID-19 virus.
“One day, my best friend asked me what color of the shirt she was wearing ‘cause she knows I’m already struggling with my vision. I said, ‘You’re wearing color green.’ Then she said, ‘No, I’m wearing color yellow.’ And that’s it. That’s the time that she decided for me, because I didn’t want to go to the doctor,” she recalled.
After consulting with an eye specialist, she was shocked by her diagnosis.
“We found out that I have open-angle glaucoma. It’s a progressive type of eye disease and if there’s already damage done, it cannot be reversed anymore. Especially if you already lost vision,” Shaina revealed.
She added that she didn’t immediately grasp the status of her health condition. She then listened to her doctor on the treatments and next steps.
“There is a surgery. That’s possible but still, there’s no 100% guarantee if may matitira or may mase-save. I really wanna do it and I told my doctors that I don’t want to be the person who will wonder five years from now if sana nagpa-surgery ako. I already lost a lot so what more can I lose, ‘di ba?” she noted.
Shaina bravely undergone her first eye surgery in September 2021. Followed by her second procedure in February 2022.
“The first operation, we only did it with my right eye and then the follow-up was the week after because natanggal ‘yung stitch noong first operation, so we had to do it again and it was okay. The pressure went down to less than 20, which was very good, ‘yun naman ‘yung goal,” Shaina said.
Adding, “Umokay siya, I can see better, more light is coming in. But again, it’s a progressive disease so continue ‘yung pag-decline ng vision. Right now, my right eye is totally blind. It’s been four years since my very first surgery. I can’t see with my right eye anymore but with my left, I have probably less than 60% of vision left.”
After recovering from different eye operations, Shaina decided to become a content creator to educate internet users on her eye condition.
“My situation can 100% be prevented. I want to share this with you guys to remind you that there is a big difference between an optometrist and an ophthalmologist. Optical shops are not the same with eye clinics. I really, really don’t want another person to go through whatever hell I went through this past couple of years. So if I can help in preventing that visual impairment or blindness happen to another person, I would really do so,” she stressed in an uploaded TikTok video.
When asked about her message to fellow PWDs, Shaina said, “Keep going. There is light after blindness. Not because we have a disability now or we have a visual impairment, life should stop.”
