Click here to read about last week’s appointment.
How Did the Last Week Go?
I had a really exciting week! I wrote an article all about Optics Trainer (read it here) and in the process of researching about different VR headsets I realized that the Occulus Go that I’ve been using has some serious limitations.
I asked my husband for an Occulus Quest for Christmas (early) and he quickly found me one and got it for me. I spent the weekend getting Optics Trainer all set up and I was amazed. The games are SO much better on the Quest. There is a ton more depth and it is much more interactive.
I feel like I wasted a lot of time using the Occulus Go!
Then Monday I had a consult with Maryland Vision Therapy to get set up on Vivid Vision. I was able to try it for the first time last night and I was blown away. It is so great. Some of the games are really similar to the ones in Optics Trainer, but there were some new ones too.
After playing the same VR games for the last year and a half, I have to admit that it is SO nice to have some new ones.
I did a full hour of vision therapy in the morning including 30 minutes on Optics Trainer VR and then after my consult for Vivid Vision I did another 35 minutes on Vivid Vision last night. My brain died and I was so exhausted and couldn’t keep my eyes open.
I haven’t felt that exhausted by vision therapy in forever so I was so excited. This new type of virtual reality is going to be awesome.
How Did the Appointment Go?
Before surgery, my natural gaze included an extremely turned right eye, but when I tried to engage or focus, they would become straight. After surgery it is exactly the opposite. When I relax, my eyes are pretty straight, but as soon as I try, my eye turns in. I decided to start tracking my “trying” pictures so that I can track that progress.
Trying to use both eyes 
Relaxing
Today went so well. For the first time since I had surgery I actually felt optimistic instead of hopeless at the end of my appointment. I didn’t have any huge leaps and bounds successes, but there were hints and feelings of success that were enough to boost my spirits!
Marden Ball
I worked really hard on this exercise last week and it paid off, Dr. Dan took it to the next level today. I started with just looking forward, with open peripheral while the ball was swinging in a circle and just walked in and out, visualizing all that space.
It was going well so he added having me leave the circle that the ball created and reach and grab bean bags, then go back into the circle. This one is really helping me relax my eyes and keep them more steady.
After about 5-10 minutes I got tired and started seeing a ton of double so we moved on to the next item.
VTS4
Again, we started off strong, but I tired out by the end. Today I only did the stereopsis ring and Dr. Dan made it full size and used the shake feature, and I had to be reaching out and touching the screen the whole time in order to see the depth, but I saw it!
At first I could really see the depth. I could see it closer to me and then behind the screen and it was getting bigger and smaller. But then it lost the depth and only changed size. But it started looking more round, like a donut instead of a flat ring. I could feel my brain working and I really didn’t know what I was seeing, but I know that my brain was trying to work it out and learn.
It felt really good. Even though I kept saying the opposite, I was thinking it was in when it was out, I really felt like it was good.
Peripheral Stab
I was pretty burnt out, but we were only halfway through so I kept pushing through. The next activity was called peripheral stab. I looked forward at the whiteboard and tried to take it all in at once. We put something in each corner so that I could have something to look for. Then he held a tube at varying angles all around my peripheral and I had to stab a stick into the tube.
About halfway through, the tube popped and I suddenly saw it’s z-axis depth instead of just the horizontal and vertical directions and I was able to get the stick right in! I hadn’t realized that I was only seeing and thinking in two dimensions until that point.
I am amazed at how easily I forget to look for the z-axis, it is not natural for me at all. I will learn if I just keep practicing.
Quoit Vectogram
Zip. Zilch. Nada.
I literally saw nothing but a flat ring. I was way too burnt out, but that is how I want it to be!
Homework
- Marsden 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. Set balls outside of the circle and leave the circle and pick them up using only peripheral vision.
- Head Turns– Look in the Mirror and slowly turn head from side to side, stretching the eyes.
- Peripheral Stab– If I can’t get someone to hold the tube while I stab a stick inside, I can try using the Marsden ball and just tap it in the center. I can reposition it and move my own body to place it in different spots.
- VR– Spend 30-60 minutes daily on Vivid Vision.