Through a Glass, Darkly

Neil's Summer Beard

Since March of 2009 (two months after the accident) Neil has been wearing some kind of prism lens attached to his glasses.  Because his vision was changing relatively rapidly, the lenses were made of stick-on vinyl with fresnel prism lines running through them.  The eye doctor could easily change them out for a new prescription when needed.  We knew his glasses were an old correction as he had been wearing contacts most recently, but that was the least of our worries.  Correcting the damage to optic nerves and muscles was the more pressing issue.  You can enlarge the picture above by clicking on it and see the prisms.

For the last several months his vision hasn't changed.  As you can imagine, little sticky vinyl pieces can become worn and scratched in a short period of time.  Combine that with the tiny prism lines across his field of vision and you can understand how hard it might be to see much of anything.

A Visit to Dr. Vicci

A couple of weeks ago, at our trip to the eye doctor, the decision was made to get Neil some glasses with the prism ground into the lenses and a correct prescription.  Great news for Neil's current visual problems, but it does mean we accept that his progress has come to a bit of a stand-still.  He'll continue with his exercises, and some time down the road he may have some surgery.  I'm still hoping for improvement without the surgery.  In the mean time...

...he looks good and he can finally see!  It's like a whole new world for him.