Good vision...Literally and figuratively

So, today was the eye Dr. Things went well. Dr. Hall had Dad do the visual field test, which is the one where they test your whole range of vision for each eye. You put your eye up next to the machine, and little wavy lines show up all around your field of vision, and when you see them, you push a little button. Well, just getting him situated in the chair so he could get close enough to the machine was the first challenge, then getting him to sit still and pay attention to the test long enough for it to get a reading was a bit of a struggle. He stopped the whole test because he forgot to "push" the button, and "held" the button down. That test showed some peripheral vision problems, (sort of like blank or empty spots), which is really not that surprising considering all his brain has gone through.

They also did the Optomap test, which takes a very detailed picture of the inside of your eye, including the retina and optic nerve, and all of the blood vessels. Kind of like what the Dr. would see when they dilated your eyes, but it is an actual image. This works out well because you can compare images year over year to catch any changes to the structure of the eye. Good news is that the structure of my Dad's eyes is the same. The Dr. also determined that his eyesight is just about the same as before.

So, the good news is his eyes work pretty well, which means that the vision problems he is having are processing problems. We knew he would have these, but we are able to check off a change in vision, and focus on the occupational therapy aspect of improving this. And I know that when he says he can't see something I am doing, that I just need to make him focus. We will be getting him some mild reader glasses, similar to the last ones he got in 2005...Unless we can find where the heck he put those.

He was tired tonight. The trips to the Dr. always tire him out, and he got to have a good visit with his friend Jack today when we got back. And this evening, close friends of the family Vince and Annie came by for a chat. My Mom and I stepped out to sit outside so they could visit. When I came back in to say goodnight to my Dad, I walked in on the tail end of the "grand plan" speech. I just love that speech. I could listen to it as many times as he wants to tell it. It makes my heart sing every time. It continues to evolve a little at a time. One of the new aspects of the speech, is he is asking peoples opinions of his plan, and he is asking for feedback on if he has missed anything. I just smile...:)

He was just about to have his shower. I trimmed his eyebrows (he had more hair there than on his head!), and that made him feel a little better. The nurses also told us that he has not had his sleeping pill for the past few nights. I am happy to hear that, I think it is because he does get tired, he is comfortable with where he is, and maybe the anti-depressant is working as well, which evens his emotions out a little and allows him to relax enough to sleep. Either way, it is good he is able to sleep on his own.

He is starting to try and roll his wheelchair on his own. In fact, when my Mom got there this afternoon, she went to his room and he wasn't there. She went over to see if he was in PT...No Dad...Took a look in the halls...Nothing. So she went to the nurses station to inquire. My Mom nearly had a heart attack when the nurse said "I thought he was with you." So, they start to look, and he had rolled down the hall and was checking out another patient's room...Not sure if he was trying to hone his "door-to-door inspirational speaker" skills or not, but he was out and about, roaming the halls. We might have to put a GPS on him if this keeps up.:)

Anyway, no news was good news at the eye Dr. It helps to better specify what we need to do to help him to keep improving.

Much love.