the eyes have it

This may not seem like much to those that wake up each morning with their children and remind them to take out the trash, stop by the bank or to pick up their socks.  Or to those of you that need a gentle reminder to pay a bill, call your mother or pick up the dry cleaning but Michael wakes each morning with virtually no memory of the day before.  Our morning begins with a review of the previous day and continues throughout the day reminding Michael of not the memory lost but of the memory he can’t find. 

Today, typical of most mornings he had no idea it was Tuesday when he awoke.  Once we established it was Tuesday, Fat and Super Tuesday, February 5th, I asked Mike what he did yesterday and if he had visitors.  He said “um, yeah.  Danny came over.  pause…and Karl came over. ”  I prodded ”Anyone else?”  he answered, ” No….oh, yeah Amanda came over.”   In my best Borat impersonation I said “high five” as we both slapped hands mid-air.   Although Danny has been to the hospital and has been to the house, for some reason, Mike has never been able to remember those visits until today.  The connection for making memory is there and if Mike can continue to make that connection it will get better with time and practice.

I’ve noticed recently that Mike will close the right or left eye when trying to read or write.  When I ask about it, he says that it helps him focus.  It doesn’t matter how I try to get to the source of the problem, he has not been able to articulate what he sees if he doesn’t close one eye.  The damage to Mike’s brain has had serious impact on so many aspects of his life and his ability to function normally but to him, the physical and visual differences are most pronounced. 

Many issues led to the appointment this afternoon with Dr.Snyder -a Neuro Opthalmologist in Fairfax – balance, closing one eye, difficulty in perceiving spatial relationships, and sensitivity to light.   It seems that when the back of Mike’s head was injured, he damaged the left optic muscle.  As a result, he has a leftward attention shift, left and right eyes are now asymmetrical which without a doubt is causing double-vision and affecting spatial, balance and the inability to focus with both eyes open.  Good news – this may not be permanent and may heal with time. 

For now, he will wear a patch through the day switching every two hours to the other eye.  He’ll continue this for two months then back for another evaluation.  It could take a year before we know if the injury is permanent but he believes it is possible for the muscle to heal on it’s own in time.  

xxoo