I’ve spent the last two weeks doing all things Christmas with some vision therapy thrown in the mix. I’ve mastered doing my exercises in the car and have had to resort to doing them at night several times, which I hate, but I’m glad I’ve gotten it done!
Dr. Dan has instructed me to start trying to use both eyes together in everyday life for at least 10 minutes each day. I have been working on it and am noticing that if I really focus on an object, my eyes naturally straighten. I’m working on being more intentional with where I look and then engaging both eyes.
It is super tiring so I don’t last long, but I am definitely becoming more aware which is fantastic.
Here is our annual, ridiculous family Christmas picture. We take one every year and put them all up on the wall as part of our Christmas Decor. It is so fun to see how we change over the years! You can see a few in the background from the past. This picture is full of the people that I love.
How Did My Appointment Go?
Today I had to work hard to get a picture with my eye acting lazy which is the opposite of what I normally experience. I know that in normal conversation my eye consistently wanders, but it’s hard to capture it in a selfie. You can see it more clearly in the family picture above.
Left Eye Focus 
Simultaneous Focus 
Right Eye Focus
Binovi Touch Board
Today we jumped in on the touch board, like usual, and I was pretty slow, averaging at about 60 touches per minute on my right eye and closer to 70 with my left eye.
Dr. Dan added a paper with random letters in rows and columns to the very middle of the board. While the board was lighting up and I was trying to push the buttons, I had to simultaneously read letters off of the papers. While he was telling me stories. AHHHH! My brain went into overload. Did I mention that I was on a balance board the whole time? It was pretty intense, but kind of fun. I enjoy a challenge.
VTS4
Today we did three rounds of 5 minutes each on the VTS4.
Round 1 was just the basic ring with vibrate on. I am able to easily see if the ring is coming out of the screen or going behind the screen, but only if I am tapping the screen and able to physically engage. At first, the ring seems flat, but the second I tap the screen with my finger, my eyes engage and the ring pops out towards me or jumps behind the screen into the “fish tank” as I call it. I am working on keeping the image 3D without touching. I get occasional flickers so I know it is coming.
Round 2 was a ring with a dog inside. We did the same thing as before but it is easier with the dog.
For round 3 Dr. Dan introduced a new therapy. We have attempted it several times, but I have never come close so we just turn it back to the ring. But today I was able to do it, sort of. The screen has a little red button in the middle and then an animal above, below, and to each side of the bottom. My job was to click on the animal that appeared to be closest to me.
It was so crazy because I knew which one was closest, but they all also looked flat. I wasn’t guessing because I could get it right most times. I had to spend about 20-30 seconds each time to figure it out. Dr. Dan said that my brain is figuring it out. I’m not all the way there, but I am getting closer.
3D Anaglyph
I have tried to watch 3D anaglyph movies on youtube through out this process with no success. Today when I put on the glasses the screen divided in half. Half looked blue, the other half red. Dr. Dan almost turned it off, deciding that I wasn’t ready for it, but I wanted to keep trying to mix the red and blue together.
He suggested getting closer so I put my face right up to the screen and slowly backed away.
The colors started switching sides. They weren’t mixing, but I was seeing both colors in big splotches throughout the screen. The splotches got smaller and after 2-3 minutes of nothing, I saw it.
The branches on the trees became so 3D! It looked like I was in a forest that just went on forever. The leaves had a deeper color and I wasn’t seeing any red or blue, it was all combined. It looked like all the leaves and branches had been outlined with a black pen, such sharp definition!
It was so cool and just amazing, naturally, I started to cry. Right in the office. Luckily the lights were off and I was wearing glasses, until 1 minute later and I started talking about how my eyes were watering from straining so hard. haha I should have just fessed up, but it is SO hard to know how to explain it when I experience stereopsis.
I don’t know why it makes me emotional.
VR
I only had a few minutes left for VR so I did a quick round of “tappy birds” and did horribly because my brain was so exhausted.
All day today I’ve felt muddled. My brain is slow and I feel like I can’t talk. I’m getting used to this feeling.
Today I scheduled out my next 10 appointments and I decided to go out on a limb. I decided that for the next eight weeks I am going weekly instead of every other week. There are so many times that I am crazy busy with life and I’m not able to dedicate myself to therapy. Summer break, December, etc.
January and February in Idaho are FREEZING and lame and boring and I hate them. But I do have plenty of time and motivation so I am going to go all in on vision therapy for two months. I am hoping to make some big jumps in my progress!
Homework
- OKN Stripes- I’m supposed to use my Left, then Right, then both for 1-2 minutes each.
- 3D Anaglyph Videos- With the red lens on my left eye, I will watch various youtube videos an do what it takes to see 3D.
- Brock String- Open Periphery and try to see double with the beads before and after the one I’m concentrating on. Use red/blue glasses to help give feedback. Make the X happen somewhere besides at a bead.
- Gem Vectogram- Tap with a pencil, and add balance
- Virtual Reality
Click here to read about my next appointment!