Fiona's mindset, and Dr Jacinta talks microchips

00:11S1

On Vision Australia Radio, you're listening to the Seeing Eye Dogs Show with me, your host Harriet Moffat. Today I've got two guests on the show for you. The first is Fiona Dimmock, who is part of the Vision Australia Client Reference group. We're going to be talking a little bit about her life, her story with low vision and some of the things that she gets up to and about your mindset when you're going through a transition, such as losing your sight or growing up without sight. Then I'm going to be joined by Dr Jacinta Millard from Senior Dogs Vet team, talking about microchips and their importance for you and your dog safety. Thank you for listening and I hope you enjoy my interviews with Fiona and Doctor Jacinta. Hi, Fiona. Thank you for joining me on the show today.

00:57S2

Thank you for having me.

00:58S1

So, can we start off by you just introducing yourself? Who are you? What do you do?

01:04S2

So I'm Fiona Demark. I have been legally blind since I was born, and I have a deteriorating eye condition that has left me with probably now about 10% of sight, maybe a little bit more. A little bit less hard to judge. And I work as a keynote speaker and inspirational coach and also work for the Victorian Department of Transport and Planning. So super busy.

01:32S1

I suppose that that is like a quite a few hats for one person to wear.

01:36S2

Yes.

01:36S1

So what do you do in the Department of Transport and Planning?

01:40S2

I work in my business as usual. Job is in accessible transport and accessible parking permits. The additional role that I do, which is, I guess an extra hat, is that I am the staff disability employee resource group chairperson. So I help make sure that staff that work for the department are supported in their accessibility and workplace needs for disabilities as well.

02:09S1

Could you tell us about your vision and your journey with being diagnosed, and then how that's affected your life?

02:16S2

It was actually a really interesting process in that, I'm the youngest of three sisters. My eldest sister has the same diagnosis. My little sister doesn't. And then I have the the condition as well. And there's about a 6 or 7 year age gap in between each of us as well. So I think, you know, by the time my parents had me, they were like, oh, elder sister has it middle sister. No. You know, oh, whoops. It sort of happened again because I was born in a time frame that, you know, they really hadn't worked out well. I went through several wrong diagnosis. So I've got rod cone dystrophy. So they thought it was R.P., they thought it was various other bits and pieces. And where I grew up was out in outback New South Wales so far western New South Wales. Adelaide was our closest capital city that had any kind of specialist, sort of, you know, eye doctors. 

And so they'd sort of taken my sister off and sort of. Yeah, okay, look, let's go once every 6 to 12 months and get her checked up. And then they started to do the same thing with me. But, um, yeah, it wasn't until quite a long time afterwards that we sort of, I think I was probably 18 or 19 by the time my sister actually got the diagnosis, because she sort of pursued it a bit further and went, this is not really matching up. And then I sort of again followed along in her footsteps and went, oh, okay. Yep. The same thing. Cool. At least we know what it's called now. So I guess the advantage of growing up in a place that was really isolated was that you really had to be resilient and work out your coping mechanisms and be adaptable because the services just weren't there. 

So there's, you know, only the option of mainstream schooling. There wasn't even really like I was given a support teacher, sort of, maybe only for senior high school. It was very much of a be resilient and work it out. And then as I sort of had that deteriorating eyesight loss, as I got older, it was easier to adapt. So off I went to Sydney to do university and then, you know, did all the things that everybody else does and get married, settle down, have children, blah, blah, blah. And, you know, all of that is kind of big decisions in the sense that when it came to having kids, because my condition is genetic, well, do we pass it on? Do we not pass it on? How much? You know, how do how do we research this? In essence, all of it kind of went out the window in the end because my now ex-husband wasn't able to have children. So we ended up using a donor program. So the whole lot just ended up being a total mystery in the end. 

So it was a total, total sort of genetic package of let's hope and and see what happens. And it turned out that neither of my daughters, who are now 18 and 20, have an eyesight condition. So that turned out to be sort of a bit of a bonus for them. But their lives then were made different and potentially better by the fact that they were able to experience disability and something different in those different ways of thinking. And I guess they learnt adaptability through me needing to be adaptable with the things that I taught them as a mum as well. So yeah, so travelled after, after I got divorced from my first husband, I travelled to Melbourne and I've set my life up here and have husband number two who is absolutely amazing and, you know, happy life.

05:47S1

It's quite it sounds like it's really been quite the journey then from pretty much the central Australia to now living in the city. Parent career. Uni. A lot of those things. I think there'd be a lot of misconception around some members of the public on what you can and can't do in that small town environment. Did you find that, you know, growing up? Did you find that people were either not aware that you had kind of a, you know, eyesight condition or were surprised that the things that you were doing?

06:18S2

Yeah, I think a lot of people didn't realise because it's not something that's obvious from looking at me, unless, you know, it was at night time when you see me sort of stumbling around with the night blindness kind of stuff as I was growing up, and something that never really impacted me a great deal in terms of mobility until I was much older. Having said that, though, it is definitely, you know, once people do, oh, well, you know, what does that mean? And, you know, I even had a media members of my family sort of saying to me, oh, you know, we don't understand why you're worrying so much about school and blah, blah, blah. And I said, because school gives me the options, I'll go to university, I'll go and have a career. You can't do that. You've got a disability. Like you'll just be on Centrelink, can't get a job. And I'm like, you, you, you just watch me. It was the catalyst for me. Probably pushing myself harder was those people's poor attitudes. 

But and you know, not to say that it's always been an easy journey. Like I paint it and go, oh, you know, I'm pretty positive it's not always like that. And even today, when I've got a really positive attitude about my disability and really embrace it because it is who I am, and it has taught me different ways of being and given me the the gift of being able to use that to help other people. There are days when I wake up and just go, oh, like, this is a bit hard today. So it's it's not always, not always been an easy journey. But I like to sort of think about it as that, that gradual acceptance and then going, okay, well, the things that you can't change, how can you live with them and make the best out of them? And that's what I've chosen to do.

07:55S1

So outside of the many work roles that you that the many, many work roles that you do. Do you have any hobbies and interests? Especially ones that you know might be surprising to people.

08:09S2

I have one that is very surprising to most people, actually, in that I do pole dancing, which is something that a lot of people sort of oh, that's interesting. So it's some more, I think more from a fitness perspective. Like I always sort of wanted to do some kind of dancing, and I figured pole dancing was a really good option because it looked really challenging. And second of all, it meant that I didn't have to rely on a partner, and I also only have to rely on me because obviously the pole always stays in the same place. So then if I move, then presumably I know where the pole is. And so therefore it's one less thing to have to worry about, sort of, you know, an extra moving part. So, yeah, like I've been doing that for a couple of years now. And look, I really love it because it is a challenge. It's like it's not something where you just go, oh, just learn the moves. And then I'm all good. It's like, no, well, there's there's a lot of fitness that's involved in it and there's a lot of other stuff.

09:08S1

And for people who aren't aware it, pole dancing, it's it's not I think growing up you kind of see things in the media about pole dancing, and it tends to be... 

09:18S2

I'm not a stripper at the nightclub. No.

09:20S1

It's a really hard, very cold based activity, isn't it?

09:25S2

It is. Yeah. And, you know, it's it's essentially it's like, I guess, you know, vertical gymnastics. Really. So you're using, you know, there are a lot of things that probably contrast in between gymnastics and pole dancing. And I'd probably have a gymnast that is going, oh my gosh, how do you compare? But it's pole yourself. And then using your core to stabilise and lift. Yeah. Which is something I'd be very bad at because I have no core strength.

S1

So I think one of the questions that I have to ask, because this is this thing I don't show, um, kind of is a little bit around, um, whether you have a dog and we because we've had have because we've already had this conversation. I know the answer. Why would you make a personal choice to not have a single dog or a dog out of any sort?

10:16S2

Look, I've considered it several times, and the older sister who has the same condition does have a dog. Right. And and has had various ones over the last 20 years or so. And so I've watched her experience, and I just kind of feel that for me personally, although there's times where I think, oh my gosh, it would be amazing to have one because I think it would be really useful at times. At other times, I just don't think I have the lifestyle that would really support it in the sense that, you know, I do an office space job, I work from home a lot of the time now. You know, like, I mean, I do active things, but then there's a lot of times when the dog, I think it would be just sitting around going, can we go and play? I'm bored. 

So I think, you know, probably I work too much and don't have enough time that I could actually utilise the dog to its best skills. And to be bluntly honest, I'm probably more of a cat person than a dog person. And so, yeah, just look, I've had a pet dog before, but to have a dog as a constant companion...

11:23S1

Doesn't do it for you.

11:24S2

It just doesn't tick my box. No.

11:26S1

Well, I thought it was a I thought it was a good question to ask because we do, you know, a lot of the a lot of people that I speak to on the show are asking out of handlers. And I think it's really interesting, especially with the just kind of the personal preference of not liking dogs that it's... a good thing to highlight, I suppose that for people, even lots of active people and, you know, there are lots of handlers that do desk based jobs and that's, you know, perfectly fine for them. That it is a very interesting personal choice to make, either to apply for one or to not apply for one. So thank you for sharing your input on that one. And, and I guess for anyone who's thinking kind of do these things with or without us seeing, I know it's very much, it's a personal choice, which is I think, yeah, interesting.

12:10S2

And it's not necessarily a thing that is stuck in concrete in the sense that, you know, in another five, ten, 20 years time. My perspective on that might be completely different. And I might be, you know what? I really do need one because my lifestyle might change or something inside my brain might just decide, oh, now's the right time. But for me, right now, it's just not.

12:34S1

Yeah. And maybe at some point, you know, we can get a cat and a big enough harness with a long handle who's completely motivated. Uh, that feels. I feel like the motivation levels of a cat is probably the, I think the kicker of it. Really?

12:48S2

Um, yeah. It either wants to sleep and and, you know, unless you can have treats that you're invested. Nation that it knows it's going to get.

12:56S1

Then exactly. And then, you know, for like a laser pointer and a went past that we like completely off, you know, like you're like, oh yeah.

13:06S2

Yeah. You really do want to go in front of that bus, don't you? Yeah.

13:09S1

There, there are, there are certain animals that, uh, can be better trained than others, I believe. I think miniature horses, apparently pretty good. Yeah, I've seen one.

13:17S2

I went to an expo and I seen one, and I thought, oh, my gosh, that is so different.

13:23S1

It's different. But apparently, you know, apparently they are actually a quite good guide. And they lost like the lifespan of one is quite long because they live longer than dogs do, which is...

13:34S2

But the bizarre way my brain thinks though, as I'm thinking, if dog poops are a problem to clean up afterwards, imagine what a horse poop would be like. 

13:44S1

Yeah, I think you probably have to use some sort of like toileting harness for that, you know, like, um, like those carriage horses that I have in the city, which, you know, bizarre. Well, so people, I guess, um, do get diagnosed at different stages with  bilateral vision and especially like you think you said, your vision is kind of changed throughout your life. It's, yeah, progressive. Is that the word? So for you as someone who has, I guess, gone through that and you've said, like you've been able to kind of, I guess, shift it to be a quite positive thing, how, you know, from a personal point of view. Have you found that you've been able to, I guess, embrace some of the challenges and do some of the amazing things that you've done?

14:32S2

I think it's just really focusing on the things that you can do instead of having that attitude of, I can't do this and I can't do that, and I can't do all the things. It's like, okay, well, I maybe can't do it the same as somebody else can, but can I still do that? And sometimes the answer is yes. You just have to think of a different way. And then maybe the answer is, okay, well, realistically, no you can't. But is there something else that's similar to that that I can do that's going to tick my box? Or do I find that source of passion and entertainment and whatever else it is through some other method? And so I think just and being being kind to yourself through that process and going, you know what the reality is? This is where I'm at. Not everyone can do everything. 

And instead of thinking it's it's a terrible, bad sort of situation to actually go, well, you know what? Like there's other people that can't do this for other reasons. And just because I can't do it doesn't mean that it's the end of the world. It just means that maybe I've got opportunities to be strong. Other things that I haven't yet considered. And so, um, you know, working out what those, those unique gifts are and focusing on them, and they're probably things that maybe other people can't do because they don't have low vision. So, you know, you might be absolutely magnificent at playing a musical instrument because your attunement to sound and audio is, is at a better frequency than somebody who relies on their visuals. 

And so, you know, there's all sorts of different ways of, of reframing things. And I think it's about actually stopping and taking that second to breathe and say, you know what? Like, okay, maybe I can't do it the same as somebody else, but what can I make? How can I make this work for myself? What what do I need to look at inside of me that will get me to that solution?

16:30S1

It's. Yeah, that's a really interesting point. Especially, you know, like I said, kind of there are things that you can look at and then there are other like if that's not the it's if that's not the, I guess, specific either way, whether it's hobby or task that you can't do, there's always going to be something different. And everyone's strengths, regardless of whether it's due to, uh, like being blind or low vision or having a disability. Everyone's different. So it's a really interesting thing to think about that, like reframing and sitting and pausing.

16:59S2

And I think we're very, very quick to blame our disability for all the things in life that go wrong. And it's like, okay, yeah, well, maybe it does impact upon some of those things because, yeah, of course it's difficult at times. I'm not saying it's not. But having said that, it's like, yeah, but there's all these other factors that also come into that. And one of the biggest factors I think, is the knowledge that you are in control of the situation outcome just based upon, you know, the way you think about it and the way you choose to behave with whatever you know that outcome is because the same thing can happen to somebody else and they can be totally happy, and you can have the same thing happen and be totally grumpy or vice versa. Like it's all a matter of perspective sometimes.

17:49S1

And sometimes if you do have that, you know, you have your grumpy moments and you're feeling a bit, uh, gloomy about things, and you can take a take a minute and wake up tomorrow, the next day feeling a bit better about this.

18:01S3

And, you know, and that's perfectly okay. Like feeling grumpy or angry or stressed or sad or, you know, like you're missing something. I mean, that's perfectly normal. And if we didn't have those moments where we reflect and we think, you know, today's not all that great, we wouldn't understand when tomorrow is fabulous and something amazing has happened, we wouldn't know that. That was amazing. If amazing was all all day, every day. Yeah. Because then we wouldn't get to appreciate the really good stuff if we didn't understand that. That is only reflected sometimes against things that are more difficult.

18:39S1

I guess, as well, t's a little bit like, you know, you don't get the extraordinary without the ordinary.

18:43S2

Yeah. Mm.

18:46S1

Very cool. It's it's been really good to chat with you and, interesting to hear about a lot of these ways that we can kind of think and frame these things and, and like I said, just the amount of amount of different opportunities you can take if you, I guess, put your mind to it and want to if that's your choice. Is there anything else that you would like to share or talk about, or any bits of advice that you would potentially give to someone? I guess maybe even in the same situation that you had, I guess maybe back when you were younger, for example?

19:16S2

I think that the answer is that you're not the only one. Like sometimes you get so caught up in especially I know I did, because in some aspects I thought I was the only one because I was the only person of my age bracket in my town that had the same situation happening, like the only other blind people that I knew were old people. And I'm like, that's not me. So I think to realize that you're not the only one, that there are an amazing amount of supports and resources out there, and it's just a matter of tapping into those at whatever level you can. And sometimes we've got a bigger capacity to do so than others. 

But, yeah, to just just be kind to yourself and, and know that, you know, that there are things that will help you along the way. And, you know, there's maybe not a magical cure. And if there was, maybe we wouldn't want to take it anyway. It's more about just being at peace with what where you're at and and just take it day by day. Baby steps.

20:19S1

Well, thank you so much for joining me on the show.

20:21S2

Thank you for having me. It was a pleasure.

20:29S1

You've been listening to the Seeing Eye Dogs Show on Vision Australia Radio. I hope you enjoyed my interview with Fiona. If you'd like to find out more about Fiona, you can give her a Google and head to her website. 

Now I'm going to be passing the baton on to Doctor Jacinta, talking to her about microchips for your animals. I think that's mostly dogs and cats. So obviously we're going to be talking a little bit about the safety of microchips and how you can make sure that yours is updated to keep the safety of your animals. Thank you for listening, and I hope you enjoy this interview with Doctor Jacinta. So we're just going to start off talking a bit about microchip. So what is a microchip?

21:06S3

Yeah. So a microchip is an implant that is implanted into a pet a dog or a cat generally. So it's about the size of a grain of rice. And it stores data, uh, data about the dog, data about the dog's owner. And it's a unique identifying number for that specific dog or cat.

21:27S1

So what information is actually included in that microchip? Like is there any kind of G.P.S. type tracking in a microchip for anyone that's kind of safety conscious thinking? Hmm. Is this how they find me?

21:39S3

No. Um, unfortunately, they cannot track, uh, microchips via GPS, yet they do have AirTags now, though, that you can get, which does do that. But anyway, a microchip doesn't have a GPS in it, so it stores all the information about that individual dog. So its colour, its sex, any other unique markings? Obviously its unique microchip number, it's date of birth, and then it will also store all of the owner's details that it's registered under. So contact information address, everything name phone number and then also a secondary contact detail in case they can't get onto the owner that's registered with it.

22:16S1

So where where in a dog is a microchip inserted.

22:20S3

So the microchip is inserted into the back of the neck between the shoulder blades of the dog. Um, it is inserted there initially and can stay there at the start, but it can also often migrate in the subcutaneous tissue. So when the dog is older and comes back in to get scanned, it might not be found in that same location. It might be found down near the legs or under the chest, something like that.

22:44S1

If you can't fold it, is there a chance that it's fallen out? And what should you or an owner do?

22:51S3

Yeah. If you can't find it, um, there is a chance it's fallen out. Obviously, when we implant it, we take all necessary precautions to make sure that it's there and it's not moving. We're scan it again multiple times, but it can also become faulty and then just not read. So if we're scanning and we can't find a microchip, it might have come out somehow. Or it might just be a faulty microchip that's not reading. Um, if you can not find it at all, uh, you can re implant with a new microchip and reregister. Um, but it is illegal to remove microchips. So if you, if it's already microchipped and someone comes to you and says, take it out, I want a new one put in, you can't do that. If you can find it, it's illegal.

23:35S1

So yeah, that's kind of handy information. Not that I'd ever considered doing that, but I guess it's kind of good to know that if your dog goes missing, someone can't just say, okay, then take this out. I'm going to put in a fresh one.

23:46S3

Yes, yes, you need to know.

23:49S1

So how does a microchip help reunite lost dogs and other animals to their owners?

23:54S3

Yeah. So each microchip, um, is registered on a database. Either a national database of Australia or some states have their own state database that will be registered with, um. And then so what it allows, uh, any clinic or anyone like a shelter, anything with a microchip scanner to do is look up that microchip number and find out where it's registered, and then look up the number on the database and find all the details so they can call the owner and say, we've got your dog or your cat. We found them. They're here. Um, and reunite them, I guess. So it's very handy.

24:26S1

How can you check that your animal is microchipped and that the information is up to date?

24:31S3

Yeah. So next time you're in at your vet, um, with your animal, just get them to scan it and ask them if they can check the details are up to date. Um, if they're not, it's always handy just to call, um, the registry that it's registered with and update your details as regularly as possible. So any time that you move or change phone numbers, um, if you have their microchip number written down, you can just call the registry and say, this is my dog. It's this microchip number. Can we make sure the details are up to date? And it's really handy because it's really, really helpful. There's nothing more frustrating than getting a dog come into a clinic. It's scanned with a microchip, and then we can't actually get onto the owner because the details aren't up to date.

25:14S1

And and I suppose kind of the, um, the good thing actually, now, as well as I believe that you can actually search them up a lot of the time, like your with your details. And I think a lot of the, the, the microchip providers seem to have like their. Databases. I actually could look up mine and then change it online for free, which is quite kind of. Yeah.

25:34S3

A lot of those have the, um, have that option available now, which is really easy because previously you had to do it over the phone. Um, whereas now you can make your own account online and just do it on the internet, which is a lot like a lot more easier for a lot of owners.

25:49S1

It's a lot easier to know that they haven't spelt your name wrong.

25:52S3

That's true. You can put it in your cell so you know it's your own typo if it comes up incorrect next time, that's me. Yeah.

26:01S1

So. So why is it so important that animals are microchipped and that the information is up to date?

26:06S3

Yeah, it's just a part of responsible pet ownership. I guess we need to make sure that, um, animals are properly looked after. That there is always someone responsible for them. So if they're turning up at a shelter or anything like that, we know they have an owner, a responsible home that they're from. And it also helps ensure that,  I guess the population is well in control. That sort of thing really helps with everything. Like having a unique identifying number for each animal, helps in disease outbreaks, helps in, you know,  responsible breeding, that sort of thing as well. Just making sure for traceability purposes, like every animal is accounted for and every animal has someone that's responsible for them.

26:53S1

I guess. Definitely worth noting too. It's that thing of like, if you think that your dog is safe because they've got the collar with your number and stuff on it, if that dog actually goes missing, then the chances of them potentially bolting their collar is actually reasonably high, I guess. And that is probably one of the one of the good things about the microchip.

27:10S4

Absolutely, yeah. A lot of times dogs will go missing and they will slip their collar somehow. Um, and even though the number was on the collar, like, it's never often found with the dog. So this is a really handy way of ensuring that if they do lose other forms of identification, we've always got a way of finding out if the owners are where they've come from, that sort of thing as well.

27:32S1

Awesome. Well, thank you so much for joining me on the show.

27:34S4

No worries. Thanks for having me, Harriet.

27:42S1

You've been listening to the Seeing Eye Dogs Show on Vision Australia Radio. I hope you enjoyed my interviews with Fiona Demark and with Doctor Jacinta. If you'd like to find out more about Fiona and her journey and her story, you can head to her website or give her a Google. And if you'd like to find out more about seeing eye dogs, the work we do, or how you can help, head to our website at visionaustralia-dot-org. Thank you for listening to this week's show on Virgin Australia Radio. Don't forget to tune in! Same time next week for another episode of the Seeing Eye Dogs Show.