Click here to read about last week’s appointment.
I had 2 ½ weeks between the last two appointments and it was too long! I start loosing motivation after about 10 days and need the boost that I get at each appointment.
It has been a busy two weeks, I’ll just stick with the highlights.
My favorite was a two day couples trip with my husband to Logan, UT. We spent a ton of time hiking in the gorgeous Logan Canyon where colors were starting to change. The picture below shows us in the Wind Caves looking across the canyon to The China Wall, which is the hike we decided to do the next day. Both were amazing. The views were excellent.
I can’t imagine how it could be any more beautiful, but I know that somehow it will be once I have stereopsis. For now, I can just love and appreciate the world exactly as I see it.
That tiny little spec with her arms up in the top right quadrant of the picture is me on The China Wall. It was huge!
This was more of a low-light, but I started running with our new puppy and I tripped over him and face planted on the pavement. I recognized that I wasn’t opening my peripheral at all and had been doing the opposite, kind of like tunnel vision. I’ve been working really hard on keeping the peripheral open so that I don’t trip over my enormous dog again, because that hurt! So far it’s working and it keeps me distracted from how exhausted I feel trying to run.
We had our family pictures taken last week for the first time since I got started on this journey. I have so much more awareness about the appearance of my eyes now. I expertly stood on the left side and tilted my head just so to make my lazy eye less visible…the exact opposite of what I did in this picture. LOL. I’m excited to see how they turned out, hopefully I don’t try to reject every single one like I usually do. My eyes are definitely more aligned now so that should help as well.
There was one picture where I decided to try to look with both eyes and straighten them and our photographer, my good friend, happened to look at that one and say “
How Did the Appointment Go?
Hoop Overlap
I tried a new activity today! Hooray!! I am always excited to start something new because I feel like it will help produce new changes.
This activity involved my holding two circle pipe cleaners close to my eyes, like glasses. I am supposed to open my peripheral so that I can see both full circles at the same time. I could almost do it, but it will take some work.
The next step is trying to see them overlap, like a Venn diagram. This naturally happens when both eyes work together. Since each eye has a different view, the combined view is the crossing of the rings. I told him that I was the one with the advantage here. My eyes see reality (two separate rings) and his eyes see something else (two intersecting rings).
He just laughed and shook his head, and we moved on. Sometimes I like be funny, to mix things up…but maybe only I think I’m funny.
VTS4
We only spent about five minutes on the big TV today. I got some great feedback and was able to tell where the ring was, and that it changed in size. Tapping the screen is so important during this part, it makes a huge difference.
I can feel my eyes locking in on the screen and I see a change visually. The ring looks just thinner or fatter at first, but then as I start to tap I can see that it goes in front of or behind my finger. It’s kind of like the whole screen moves back.
Each time I go I am more sure of what I see. Instead of guessing or feeling lost in what the screen is showing, it’s as if my brain is finally able to actually see what it is supposed to…a little. I’m sure there is still plenty of room for improvements.
Vectogram
I’ve been having some success at home with my vectograph (apparently it’s actually called a vectogram, I still don’t get the difference). My logical brain is letting loose a little and allowing things to look different than I logically know they are in reality. I see the ring float and as I tap the front or the back of the cards, my finger looks like it’s going through the ring sometimes. I haven’t been able to achieve that without my prism glasses yet.
In the office I couldn’t get anything. I didn’t understand and was getting frustrated. After about 3-4 minutes of nothing, I realized that the cards were upside down and apparently they don’t work both ways. I turned them the other way and presto! I could see the ring floating around! It was such an exciting moment and it really made me see that I am progressing. There was a huge difference.
Virtual Reality
The Optics Trainer program worked well on virtual reality today and I decided to purchase the at-home prescription so that Dr. Dan can adjust the prism to help me be able to see the 3D aspects of the program. We will slowly decrease the prism strength over time as I learn to use both eyes. I’m hoping that working on it at home brings some big success over the next two weeks!
Homework
Dr. Dan keeps adding homework, but not taking any away. I don’t have time for it all so I try to do virtual reality and gem every day and the others 3-4 times each week. I didn’t tell him that, but a girl’s got to do what a girl’s got to do!
- OKN Stripes – Continue 1-2 minutes daily with both eyes together
- Pola Mirror – Wear Polarized glasses and look into a mirror. Focus on getting both eyes working so that both sides appear clear. Add in head movements to stimulate the VOR Vestibular Ocular Reflex.
- VR Occulus GO- 30 minutes, each day. Use the new Optics Trainer app.
- Gem Vectograph – Hold at A and tap the center, trying to see the 3D, then hold at 1 and try to see the 3D. Do this with and without my prism glasses on. Add on balancing on one foot during the exercises.
- Yoked Prism- Keep stretching my brain with different activities with the yoked prism. Try juggling or playing Kubb outside while wearing them. Change the direction of the prism 2 times each day.
- Hide and Seek Eye Stretches
- Hoop Overlap – Start by trying to see both hoops. Once I can see both hoops try to make them overlap in the middle.
Read about my next appointment here.