Introducing our #WarriorOfTheWeek! Hear this warrior’s inspiring #VS story. ?
Spotlight on: Briana Reedy ? @briana_reedy
“My name is Briana Reedy & I’m 17 years old. I developed Visual Snow on June 15, 2018. My vision was overcome by tiny dots & designs, many floaters, & strong afterimages, known as Palinopsia. I felt very alone & confused. No one understood what I saw or felt. I went into a dark place, consumed by the fact that my vision wasn’t going back to “normal.” I went to countless doctors who said my eyes were perfect & even got an MRI of my brain which came back normal. Many times I broke down & just cried. I felt hopeless. I spent a lot of time googling my symptoms since I knew what I was experiencing was real. On YouTube, I discovered the VSI & knew I found my condition. But discovering it was only the beginning of my VS journey.
Having VS can be very hard, but it doesn’t define you. I used to live in fear that my symptoms could get worse over time. I used to let it control me every day. I still have days when I feel really sad, but I’ve come to embrace it all, even the hardships. I use my condition as motivation to push myself even harder to succeed & defy the limits I once thought I was constrained. When I’m w/ my friends & people I love, my laughter & joy is stronger than my VS. When I dance on the Poms team for school, I let the music take me away & out of the storm. Sometimes when I look at the night sky, I feel grateful I get to see a sky full of millions of stars, designs, & dots. It can be beautiful if you try to believe it. To anyone w/ VS, know you are stronger than you believe. We’ll get through this. I’ve learned to accept my condition & be proud I see the world completely differently than most people. Sometimes I even think it’s a gift. I’ve become a more empathic person & learned to love everyone a million times harder than before. I hope we can all find peace in our conditions & even find ourselves amidst this crazy storm. Thank you VS community.❤️”
