Prisms

Today was Sherry's second visit to the Foley Vision Center
She was scheduled for a sensory motor exam and she was more than a little apprehensive about it. I think she was afraid that they would tell her that there was nothing they could do for her. While we won't know for sure until next week, after the appointment, we all felt pretty good about the posibilities.

I resisted the temptation to post this entry as soon as we got home. I wanted to let a little time pass to digest what had happened. What seemed to have happened has us very encouraged. When we arrived at the clinic Jody and I helped Sherry navigate her way from the car to the clinic door. We held her hand and used verbal cues. We moved slowly as we usually do in unfamiliar territory.

The exam began with the vision therapist asking Sherry to walk around the room unassisted. After observing this for awhile, she put a pair of prisms on Sherry's face. Prisms are designed to bend light and "bring the world" into the brain in a different way (at least I think that is what the therapist said.) She had Sherry walk around the room again and then changed the degree of angle of the prisms. Sherry was asked to walk around the room again and again the degree of angle was changed. This happened several times and then Sherry (with prisms) was put through a few tests. At the end of the exam, Sherry was asked to find me in the room and walk toward me. She located me right away and walked to me faster than I have ever seen her walk, with a huge smile on her face. We repeated this several times. It seemed obvious that something was different. Sherry thought so too. The therapist told us that by changing the prism, we had been stimulating different areas of Sherry's brain.

At first I was very excited, but then I began to wonder if Sherry had just gotton used to the room and that was the reason she was getting about so well. As we left the clinic, the therapist followed us all the way out to the car to see if there was any "residual" effects from using the prisms. This is when I really started to get excited. Sherry followed me out to the car. There was nobody holding her hand or giving her directions. She was walking with confidence, at a faster pace than usual. It is hard to explain, but things were different, better. Everyone felt it. We know this is not a miracle, that Sherry's eyesight is not now suddenly restored. However, it was a very encouraging moment. Maybe there really are things we can do to help get her vision back, or at least improve her quality of life. We will know more when we consult with Dr. Foley next week.

I want to thank Jody for all her help, her observations were a big help during Sherry's appointment. I also want to extend a big thank you to my co-worker Lynne. I had not intended on going to this appointment with Sherry because of work. Lynne could tell how much I wanted to be there and talked me into going. Thank you Lynne.

enough for now,

I love my wife......tomorrow we move forward,

Dean