Click here to read about last week’s appointment.
How Did the Last Two Weeks Go?
Last week I was able to go on a super fun vacation with my family to St. George, Utah. The weather was amazing, the views were breathtaking, and the company was so fun!
I made an adjustment to my glasses when I realized that I hadn’t been wearing them because the tape was too far over and just bugging me so much. I had a tip from a VT from instagram to put it on both sides and wear them all the time and I listened. I wore them at least 75% percent of the time between the last two appointments so I felt pretty good about it.
One-side Binasal Occlusion 
Centered Binasal Occulusion
I was able to spend a lot of time practicing my peripheral vision during all of our driving since I was the passenger. I was able to get fusion with the cars in front of us a few times which was exciting.
I could tell it was working because the double went away, everything went blurry, and my head started to hurt. I was trying to feel that diverging feeling from pre-surgery and the double images would slowly move further apart until they snapped into place. I definitely can’t do it on command and was only able to accomplish it 5-10 times during the week, but it felt good!
How Did the Appointment Go?
The appointment went fine today. With each appointment I am reminded of how far I have regressed. All week long I start thinking that I am doing awesome, and then I show up to my appointment and Dr. Dan pushes me to my limits and watches my moves and corrects me and I realize that I have a looooong way to go.
I’m just grateful to have him there to keep me moving forward and pushing in the right direction. I feel like all the exercises I am working on are so basic, which is hard to not feel bored by, but I didn’t come this far to quit now!
Gem on the Balance Board
We started out with me on the balance board looking at the gem. I was feeling very off balance today, both physically and visually. After a minute or two I was able to find my balance on the board, but I kept feeling like the gem was too far over and I was having a difficult time staying focused on the gem.
He would slide it from base in to base out and I wasn’t seeing any shift forward or back. Dr. Dan made a few adjustments that helped me “see” the ring float more.
- Instead of holding the Gem about 10-12 inches away from my face he moved it closer, within 4-6 inches. My eyes seem to be more aligned up close.
- He removed the post-it note from the center and touched it with his thumb instead. This gave me a 3D object to compare to the ring and I started seeing the ring float back.
- Then he started asking me a million questions and kept me talking. I don’t know why this works, probably because I stop thinking so much about what I’m seeing and relax.
I still wasn’t having earth shattering success, but it was so much better and I could feel my brain working.
Marsden Ball Circles
Next, Dr. Dan moved his Marsden ball up so that it was floating about 1 foot above my head. He started swinging it in a circle in the air and then asked me to try to visualize the space. I really tried, but my brain just wasn’t going there. I kept getting distracted and moving my eyes all over the place.
It felt pretty frustrating.
Then he had me walk in and out of the imaginary cylinder/cone that the swinging ball was making. This was all done when I was supposedly looking straight forward, not at the ball. I was then supposed to keep imagining the ball, even when it was out of view.
It was a struggle, I am going to be practicing this one this week and I have a lot of room to grow and learn so hopefully I come back next week as an expert.
Eye Streches
Dr. Dan moved a pen near and far, left and right, then up and down asking about what I was seeing and encouraging me to keep my vision open. I was able to get some fusion within about 6 inches of my face which was exciting. Even though I’m supposed to keep my focus in the distance, it was so nice to finally have some form of success. Just a relief that it is all still in there somewhere.
There is so much work to be done with my eye stretches and eye movements. Things are getting better, but when I move my eyes to the sides it hurts and I get this weird dizzy, nauseous, confused feeling in my brain. My ranges are increasing slowly which is fantastic.
OKN Stripes
My eyes were doing awesome with OKN today and I graduated from that exercise, at least for now. Hallelujah! On the last go around I was doing it for like 6 months straight. Yay for my eyes learning faster the second time around.
VR Prep
I am going to be starting Vivid Vision next week with another clinic that will be working with Dr. Dan so we spent some time discussing how that will all work. I am grateful for so much professionals that are willing to help me!
Homework
- Ball Swing– Hang a ball from the ceiling and swing it in a circular pattern. Try to see the space that it is occupying and step in and out of the imaginary cylinder that it is outlining. Don’t look at the ball and keep peripheral wide open.
- Eye Stretches– Keep everything super basic. Start with each eye separate, then do both together, tracking a pencil or fingers right, left, up, down, in and out while keeping my peripheral open.
- Red/Green Mix– While wearing the red/green glasses, look at a large white area and try to see the colors mixing. Use Dr. Cook’s methods for opening peripheral vision. Also try marching and moving closer and further away and tossing a bean bag.
- VR- Keep focusing on peripheral awareness and keeping both eyes engaged.