Click here to read about my last appointment.
How did the Last 2 Weeks Go?
The last few weeks have gone really well. I was able to get the prescription glasses from my first optometrist and use them for the special “temporal occlusion” he wanted to try. I only lasted about 30 minutes the first day, but I was able to increase my time wearing them until I was able to get 4-5 hours by the end of the week.
We had a big family reunion and between packing for it, enjoying it, and unpacking, I missed 6 days of vision therapy home exercises. I also missed out on a ton of sleep because I was enjoying every possible second of time with some of my favorite people. By yesterday, I could just feel my right eye wandering and I struggled so much to bring it back in. I was super nervous about regressing, but I actually did okay, thank goodness.
How did the Appointment Go?
Today my appointment went really well. I feel like Dr. Dan is pulling all the tricks out of his hat to help me prepare for surgery so that I can have success and gain the fusion and stereopsis that I am hoping for. Now I just need to do my part and do my home exercises!
Near- Forced Right Eye 
Near- Forced Together 
Near- Relaxed 
Distant- Forced Right Eye 
Distant- Forced Together 
Distant- Relaxed
Stab and Say
I haven’t done exercises with the stab and say in such a long time so it was a nice change of pace to work on it today.
It seems that with all vision therapy activities, Dr. Dan starts me at a super simple, basic level and then slowly complicates things until it is extremely challenging. Because I am going two weeks between appointments, he took me through all the stages of the exercise in about 5 minutes so that I would know how to progress as I master each stage.
Stage 1: Alternate hands and point to each letter. Try to engage both eyes and see the space and touch the letter right in the middle.
Stage 2: Add on tapping each foot in front with the opposite hand.
Stage 3: Add on saying each letter while I touch it.
Stage 4: Instead of saying each letter, say a word that begins with that letter.
Stage 5: Choose a category, animals, foods, colors, etc, and name a word in the category that begins with the letter I’m pointing to.
Stage 6: Technically, he didn’t tell me this, but I’ve been in VT long enough to know that the next stage is to add the metronome.
If I were to do this with just my “good” eye, it would be easy and I could probably do stage 6 with just a little practice. But trying to concentrate on using both eyes to direct my finger to the exact middle of the letter is a difficult task on its own without adding everything else. This is a fantastic challenge for me to try to learn to multitask while using both eyes.
VTS4 Stereopsis Ring and Multiple Choice Vergence
Today I was within normal ranges for most of the activities, but Dr. Dan repeatedly reminded me that the goal is to see the depth, not just score high.
As he moves the stereopsis ring from base in to base out and back again there is an illusion of the ring floating towards and away from me. Within a pretty small range I can really see the ring floating and can see the space in all it’s glory. I call it, “for real stereopsis.” Once the ring gets really close to me or really far (when the base out or base in is increased by too much), it just back closer to the TV. I can still answer if it is in front of or behind the screen and it doesn’t go double, but I’m not seeing it for real.
So the current goal is to increase the space where I can see for real. I am getting better with each appointment and I am improving ranges at near and at far.
Fresnel Prism
I brought in the prescription glasses that finally arrived and he really doctored them up. He put a 8 diopter prism over the right side and added tape to the outsides of the glasses. I thought I was going to hate them, but when I put them on I was able to see so much better!
I walked around the office and I could see so much more easily with stereopsis. It was seriously so cool. Usually, I can’t enjoy it as much because I have to strain so hard to straighten my eyes, but with the prism doing that part of the work, I could relax more easily and just see. It was awesome!
The prism shifts the images over so that the image is in front of my eye that drifts out, making it easier for my brain to fuse the images together. check out the triple eye picture I can get thanks to the prism.
Red/Green Games
I was able to do another new activity today that got me super excited. I tried to start out last year with red/green games before starting vision therapy and they were just too hard. I couldn’t line anything up vertically or horizontally so it was so so challenging.
Today was the first time in several months that I tried again and I was so excited that I was so much closer. I feel like the vertical shift is gone and that the objects are more lined up. There is still a slight horizontal shift, but I can almost make it go away when I’m using all of my tricks for seeing with both eyes simultaneously.
Today, Dr. Dan gave me a red and green overlay to put over the screen of an iPad, but I could put it over anything. The iPad is nice because I can play a game or watch a YouTube video and try to keep everything aligned. I’m thinking about trying it with reading as well.
I spent about 15 minutes watching a YouTube video of changing landscape photographs. It was perfect because every single one has a horizon line that I was trying to line up on both sides. At first I was seeing a black section in the middle on the side I was looking at with my weaker eye. I was trying so hard and would get it to go away for a nanosecond, but then Dr. Dan walked in with my new crazy glasses and I was able to do a little better.
I think these glasses are going to be great!
For the last few minutes of my appointment I was struggling so much! Dr. Dan was trying to ask me questions and I wasn’t answering and struggled with listening. He had to repeat himself and asked if I was okay a few times.
“No, I am not okay. My brain is freaking out right now.” It’s all good though, it means I was working extra hard!
Homework
- Stab and Say- Tap each letter in order, alternating pointer fingers while saying the name of the letter. While the right hand taps, move the left foot forward and tap. Increase difficulty when ready by naming a word that starts with that letter or naming words from a specific category while pointing.
- Fusion Circle: Work with the Fusion Circle exercises from Dr. Cook’s Lecture.
- Optics Trainer Virtual Reality
- Red/Green Screen Games- Use the red/green overlay on top of an iPad to watch a YouTube video or play a game while wearing red/green glasses. Keep both eyes engaged and try to make the picture from both sides line up.