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Life Brought Into Focus

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By JASON GEARY, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 9, 2008

WESTCHASE - With ingenuity, a can-do attitude and the love of her children, Stacey Pettinato overcame sudden blindness to continue living a full life.

The 34-year-old West Park Village resident, mother of two daughters, personal trainer and massage therapist lost her vision about 11 years ago following complications from diabetes while pregnant with her first daughter.

"It wasn't a planned pregnancy," Pettinato said.

"As a diabetic before you get pregnant, you're supposed to get your eyes checked and your kidneys checked ... none of that happened prior to me getting pregnant. About four months into my pregnancy, my vision started to get blurry."
Pettinato said her doctor explained her vision could be corrected if she terminated her pregnancy.

"It just wasn't in my heart," she said. "I didn't feel like that was the right choice for me. I've always had a strong faith in God. I just really felt at that moment that it just wasn't in my heart. I didn't even feel like it was a choice."
Pettinato lost her sight by the time her daughter Courtney, 11, was born. She is totally blind in one eye and in the other, depending on the light, she sometimes can see vague shapes.

She said the gift of her new daughter saved her life by helping her to focus on her health and treat her diabetes more seriously.

"I was young at the time," she said. "I wasn't taking the best care of myself. Had she not come into my life at that point then I probably would have continued on that path. She saved my life."

After years of adjusting to being blind and managing diabetes, Pettinato said she is beginning to share her story.

"I feel like now that I'm ready to talk about how that transformation happened and what it was like to move forward," she said.

She spoke in November to the Newcomers of Northwest Hillsborough about the challenges of being blind and learning how to work as a team with her guide dogs - 10-year-old Discovery and 2-year-old Bravo, both Hungarian vizslas.

"The ladies were just overcome and taken with her positive attitude," said Pauline Lynch, chairwoman of community service for the women's group.

Growing up in New Hampshire, Pettinato, one of three sisters, enjoyed playing sports and dirt bike riding. Moving to Florida in 1989, she spent time working as a paralegal but now works as a personal trainer and massage therapist.

She also has a 6-year-old daughter, Hannah.

Pettinato's younger sister, Jennifer Gillum, said she respects how her sister has overcome her blindness to raise two daughters and become a dedicated mother who is "very generous, loving, and smart."

"All little sisters look up to their big sisters as though they were heroes, but she truly is," said Gillum, 29.

She recalled how her sister began devising ways to accomplish everyday tasks, such as styling her hair or putting on makeup.

"She beat me at pool not too long ago," Gillum said. "She goes bowling ... There isn't anything that she would say, 'I can't do that because I'm blind.'"

Gillum said her sister's characteristic optimism helped her deal with the challenges.

"I think there were low points for her but because she is and always has been a positive, strong person, she was able to overcome these things with time," Gillum said.
Pettinato said being a new mother also helped with handling her blindness.

"I can say it was a challenge to adjust to both of those things ... but at the same time, having that little baby gave me the strength to just move forward every day," she said.

"You have to adjust. You have to learn how to function. This little girl is counting on you. You have to move forward."

Pettinato, who is separated from her husband, has found new ways to clean her house or cook meals as well as take on new responsibilities such as bathing an infant and changing her diapers.

To sort, fold and put away laundry, she memorizes a piece of clothing's texture, stitching and size. Since she can't spot clean her home, she methodically cleans each room on a regular basis.

Such methods mean something that takes a person with sight a few minutes to finish could take her 20 minutes to complete.

"I've learned how to cope," Pettinato said. "I do things differently - probably more than most moms do - but still the end result is the same. You just have to learn how to get along without the vision. Just do it differently. I'm a very resourceful person."
Pettinato said the most painful part of not having her sight is that she isn't able to see her daughters' faces.

She said she is grateful for having grown so close to her daughters.

"We talk about everything," she said. "We have this incredible bond. I think that's a blessing and exceptional."

Reporter Jason Geary can be reached at (813) 865-1505 or jgeary@tampatrib.com.

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