President Obama and Janni Lehrer-Stein

Janni Lehrer-Stein was just 26 when she was diagnosed with a degenerative eye disease and told she was going to be blind within six months. The doctor who gave her the news told her “But don’t worry, people like you are usually hit and killed by a bus long before they go completely blind.”

At the time she was recently married, had just graduated law school and landed her dream job with the government in Washington DC, litigating workplace discrimination. The news about her eyesight stopped her in her tracks.

But not for long. If you ever met Janni you would know that nothing stops her for long.

I was fortunate enough to hear Janni talk at a Foundation Fighting Blindness event in the San Francisco Bay Area last weekend. I was part of a panel discussion on new approaches to treating vision loss, including the research that CIRM is funding.

Janni didn’t talk about stem cells, instead she focused on the importance of the patient advocate voice, community, and their determination. She said one of the most important things anyone battling a life-threatening or life-changing disease or disorder needs to remember is that it’s not about disability, it’s about capability. It’s about what you can do rather than what you cannot.

Janni laid out her “manifesto” for things she says will help you keep that thought uppermost in your mind.

1) Show up. It’s that simple and that important. You have to show up. You have to get educated, you have to learn all you can about your condition so you know what you can do and what you can’t do. You have to share that information with others. You have to be there for others. Don’t just show up for yourself. Show up for others who can’t be there.

2) Share this information. Janni talked about a website called My Retina Tracker which is helping drive research into the causes of retinal diseases like retinitis pigmentosa and macular degeneration, and hopefully will lead to treatments and even cures. She says the more people work together, the more we combine our resources, the more effective we can be.

3) Support the researchers. Janni says while raising awareness is important, raising money is just as important. Without money there can be no research, and without research no treatments or cures. Janni says it doesn’t matter how you do it – a charity walk, a Go Fund me campaign, petitioning your state or federal elected representatives to urge them to fund research – everything counts, every dollar helps.

4) Remember you are part of a wider community. Janni says no one ever won a battle on their own; it takes a lot of people to fight and win the right to be treated equally. And it takes a lot of effort to stop those rights from being rolled back.

Janni hasn’t let losing her sight hold her back. In 2011, she was appointed by President Obama, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate, to the National Council on Disability where she served two terms advising the President and Congress on national disability policy.

Now she has returned home to the San Francisco Bay Area, but she is no less determined to make a difference and no less determined to fight for the rights of patients and patient advocates.

In an article on Medium she shares her feelings about being a patient advocate:

“The America that I so deeply respect is one that embraces, values and respects the contributions of us all. My America includes every one of us, regardless of our gender, race, age or disability. Our America is a place where, regardless of whether we are sighted or blind, we have the same opportunities, for which we are equally considered. Our America includes every one of us who wishes to make the world a more peaceful, responsible, and inclusive environment that is tolerant of all differences and abilities, physical or otherwise. To me, those differences make our lives richer, give our contributions more meaning, and lead to a brighter future for the next generation.”