How Did The Last Week Go?
This week has flown by! I can’t believe it’s already time for another appointment.
I have done really well with my home exercises and I have had a few big successes that I’m excited about.
I combined two activities together, the mirror overlap and the red/green mix and I had a lot of success.
I taped two pieces of paper to the wall, one in front of me and one to the side. While facing one, I held a mirror up to my nose at an angle so that I could see the paper to the side through the mirror.
Then I tried to make the papers overlap, visually. I’ve been working on this activity for over a month now. I’ve tried just doing it with objects in the room, but this week I wore red/green glasses and tried to get the “luster” color that you get when you mix the red and green.
It totally worked! I can do it really well when my left (stronger) eye is looking at the actual paper and my right (weaker) eye is seeing the mirror image. By the end of the week I was able to do it both ways though.
Now my brain is spinning with other possibilities. I’m learning that I have to make things believable to coax my brain into seeing these illusions. I am going to draw pictures on each one and see if I can get them to mix!
I finally got set up on Vivid Vision and was able to do it for the first time in several weeks, this morning. HIPPA can be such a pain, right? I transferred my subscription to my current office so that Dr. Dan can supervise me directly.
My brain is SO tired now.
How Did the Appointment Go?
My appointment went really well today! I was having an “on” day and felt like I learned so much in our 1 hour therapy session.
My eyes don’t seem as misaligned vertically which I am so excited about, there is still a turn in, but nothing too drastic. Definitely not visible to the naked eye!
I am SO burnt out tonight though. After an hour of Vivid Vision and then an hour of super intense in-office therapy, my brain hurts. I can’t seem to form verbal sentences and I can’t hold my eyes still without wanting to throw up.
Yoked Prism
After chatting about Vivid Vision and any adjustments that we need to make, Dr. Dan handed me the yoked prism glasses and I stood up and tried to walk.
I was instantly hit by a wall of nausea, dizziness and disorientation. I was so wobbly and couldn’t even come close to walking along the line on the floor.
Then I suddenly remembered to open up my peripheral vision and it was like someone turned on a light switch, the change was so sudden!
I instantly was able to see the whole room, the dizziness and nausea disappeared and I was able to walk along the line. After about 10 seconds, I forgot and started going back to tunnel vision and the symptoms came back, but I re-opened my peripheral and, just like magic, I could walk.
Dr. Dan switched the direction of the prism and I kept on going. It was so cool to see the difference so automatically from using the yoked prisms with and without peripheral.
Read more about other activities I have used with a yoked prism here.
Gem Vectograph
Next, he pulled out the mini trampoline and the gem vectograph. I bounced gently while trying to see the gem float in front of and behind of the plastic card. It felt pretty normal, bouncing definitely helps. My brain loves movement, it helps so much!
Dr. Dan had me spin in a circle and then try to get the depth right away when I got back to the GEM. It was okay, but something I will be practicing this week for sure.
Peripheral Stickies
Next, we moved to the whiteboard. I had to look forward towards the center at a magnet and Dr. Dan put sticky notes around in my peripheral. I held a pen and pointed it at the magnet and then slowly “drive” it to the exact center of the post-its in my periphery.
It was really hard at first. It felt like it would just disappear from my peripheral as soon as the pen got close. I was actually getting the pen pretty close to the center, I just wasn’t seeing it super clearly.
Dr. Dan suggested looking for the post-its opposite of the one I was “driving the pen” to and it started to click. I was feeling my peripheral open, the same feeling that I had during the yoked prisms.
I wasn’t forcing it, but relaxing and it just started clicking. I think that my eyes were coordinating and more straight while I was doing it.
VTS4
Next we did VTS4 while I balanced on a balance board. It was going super well. I really felt the ring leaving the screen today and it felt so real! I am noticing more and more that the balance board is my key to success, every time I do exercises on the board I can see the depth so much better!
It is time to invest in a balance board! I found this one on Amazon that looks so cool! It has an anti-slip surface that looks like it would massage at the same time!
First, I’m going to try to build one though, you can’t beat free, right?
One tip that Dr. Dan gave me was to engage the peripheral close to me when I’m trying to look in the distance. For example, when I’m driving and looking at the road, keep the steering wheel in my peripheral.
Wow.
It worked my brain over and I have been applying this to pretty much everything, keeping my hands in view while watching the computer screen, etc. If I’m looking far away, I’m also searching my peripheral for something near. I don’t know what it does, but it is definitely doing something. I feel like I can see the depth better and it is making me sick so I know that is a good thing. I’m excited to have a way to get my therapy in during normal life.
Homework?
- Vivid Vision
- Peripheral Stickies– Try to see all the stickies at once. After I can see them consistently, move them farther out, or get closer.
- Mirror Overlap with Red/Green Glasses and with two different objects.
- Gem- Look for space and do 360 rotations and try to maintain depth.
- Head Turns- Right/Left 20X, Up/Down 20X
- Prism Glasses- Wear them every other day