I walked Italy with my guide dog

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January 2008
By Susan Crandell / Prevention Magazine

She was 16 when doctors discovered a brain tumor near her optic nerve. The surgery to remove it saved Alysa Chadow’s life but stole her sight. For the past
30-plus years, she has been able to see the world only in blurry shades of gray, but Chadow never let that dampen her spirit.

 ”I’m a survivor,” she says.
And she’s proven it, moving from New York to California, becoming a teacher (she works with teens at a school for the blind), living on her own. “I was
brought up to pursue the things that interested me,” she says. “And sometimes to do so means I have to take a chance.”Chadow always wanted to travel, and Italy was high on her list. “But if I was going to explore Europe, it wasn’t going to be from a bus,” she says. “I needed
to get up close to the land.” With only her guide dog, Patsy, as her companion, she signed up for a hiking tour of Tuscany. “Having her made my dream possible,”
says Chadow, who was more concerned about Patsy’s arthritis than she was about keeping pace with the group. “It turned out that Patsy’s worst problem was
we fed her too much Italian food,” she laughs.

“Walking through the vineyards, smelling the rain-laden air was an unforgettable experience,” she adds. “I felt such a sense of accomplishment that I did
what any able-bodied person could do, that my disability is no excuse for not living my life.” Since the trip, she has taken piano lessons and karate classes
and is learning to read Braille music. Chadow did retire Patsy, but she plans to head to Norway this summer with Ellen, her new guide dog–as soon as she
breaks in her walking shoes.

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