Vision II

While Damien was in the trauma unit, the ophthalmology staff said that we could determine if Damien's occipital lobe was functioning by placing electrodes over the back skull area to measure any electrochemical activity. They were very busy and that test was not performed in the trauma unit. During the HBOT in Ft Lauderdale, we asked who should we ask to perform such a test? Dr Neubauer suggested we see a neuro-ophthalmologist once we returned home.

We brought Damien home in March of 2000. I checked the files and found only one neuro-ophthalmologist in San Antonio. We called, informed the office what we were seeking and made an appointment. At that time, we had 2 full time caregivers. I had not learned how to transfer Damien nor how to get rid of the Foley (the bag that collected urine). It required two to get Damien on the exam table.  Therefore, when we entered the exam room there was 4 of us: myself, Damien and the two  CNAs (Certified Nursing Assistant) and Damien's tank of a wheelchair. Twas a bit close  in the room. They placed Damien on the exam table and put the wheelchair in the hall.

Before the physician came in, his Physician's Assistant came up behind me and whispered in my ear "Why is he here? What can we do for him? I told her what we wanted. The physician entered the room and made a comment about having so many people in the room. I introduced Damien's caregivers and told him we wanted to determine if Damien's occipital lobe was functioning. That it seemed that Damien watched TV but had not started to track with his eyes. The doctor looked at Damien's eyes a bit then said " There is nothing wrong with his optic nerve. It is fine from his eyes to the brain - but I have no idea what the brain is doing." He did not mention testing the occipital lobe. He made some other statements but the one I remember most was: "Look, he has a brainstem injury. Go home and learn to live with it."

I just grinned and asked the CNAs to put Damien back in the wheelchair, went to the desk and paid the bill. I told the CNAs that this will be the only time we visit that doctor. Later he sent a letter to Damien's family doctor. In it he basically called me a lair about Damien watching TV and being a naive and overprotective parent.

A few months later, a neuro-ophthalmologist at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, FL performed the test. They put a vast array of electrodes on Damien's scalp and recorded the brainwaves. The test did not indicate any serious malfunctions with the occipital lobe. We then took Damien to an ophthalmologist in Weston, FL. A very good doctor. He did some visual tests with Damien (he spun a black and white striped cylinder before Damien to observe eye movement as Damien tracked the images). He prescribed prism lenses that Damien wore 15 minutes at a time several times a day. The device was a rigid black frame with lenses thick on one side and thin on the other. The lenses could be rotated. We followed that regimen for the next 3 years. The doctor noted several small changes with Damien's vision within that time. It was obvious that Damien did watch TV and had started tracking us as we moved around the end of his bed.

Networking is very important.  Damien was receiving PT at Crallè Physical Therapy (http://raycralle.com/) in Del Ray Beach, FL when Ray Crallè told us about a great eye doctor in Guildford, CT- Dr. William Padulla. Ray had had many discussions and interactions with Dr Padulla and encouraged us to get in contact with him.