November 18 - Esight

Finally, I can tell you more about Esight. Do you remember me writing about this in a post a couple of months ago?  Esight has designed a pair of goggles that has helped to increase visual acuity for some people. A representative from the company was in Edmonton and I made an appointment for a demonstration of the magnifying goggles. To cut to the chase, I have to add that the goggles didn’t work well for me but I am glad that I investigated the possibility of what they might be able to do.

Tara was our demonstration representative. First she explained what the goggles were like physically. There was a set of plastic frames with an elastic band around my head. The magnifying goggles would be attached to this. The goggles themselves were fairly heavy. There was a miniature camera, barely discernible, on the frame near the bridge of my nose. This magnified whatever I was to look at. There was also a control box which I manipulated with my hand. With this I could increase the magnification and change the contrast. I could also set the picture for a stable frame.

First Tara moved to the end of a long table – about 20 feet in length. She asked if I could see her. Lyle and I laughed a little at this. Of course I wouldn’t be able to see her from that distance! Then Tara held up some large black numbers printed on white paper. When I looked through the goggles, I was astounded to find that I could see some of these numbers. However, the trick to seeing was that I needed to hold my head quite still so that I stayed within the frame. Also, because I needed such strong magnification to focus on the number, I lost the peripheral part of the picture.

We then moved on to a page of large print held at closer quarters. I was able to make out some of the words but found myself guessing at the end of the word instead of actually reading the print. I found this exercise quite difficult. I noticed the weight of the goggles and again I needed to hold my head still and refrain from blinking. It seems that when I blinked, my head moved enough to lose the frame. Back to the hand held box  - this is when the button to freeze the frame came in handy.  However, the concentration I needed to exert for this was pretty intense.

After an hour, Tara and I both decided that at this time, the Esight goggles weren’t going to work well for me. Tara was quick to add that the goggles are still being improved upon and there may come a time in the future when the design might meet my vision needs.

Even though I didn’t come away with a successful experience in that Esight was going to help me see better, I’m glad that I tried this out.

There are three pictures with this post. The first is of me wearing the Esight goggles. The second shows me attempting to read a page of print.  This picture gives some idea of the thickness of the goggles. In the third picture I am standing at the end of the long table. While I couldn’t see the far end of the table using just my eyes, with the Esight goggles I could read the black numbers on the white paper.

Sue wearing Esight goggles

Sue reading a page of large print

Sue standing at the end of the table holding a page with print on it

For further information about these electronic glasses, go to www.esighteyewear.com

                                                                                      

November 11 - Blind or Sighted? Same or Different?

I have sometimes been asked what it feels like not being able to see. (Being very sensitive to political correctness of that question, I don’t think that anyone has asked me what it feels like to be partially sighted or blind.) Anyway, this week I was giving some thought to all this. What does it feel like to be blind or partially sighted? I came up with the following A to Z list of my feelings. On any given day, I might experience only one of these feelings or I might experience several. Of course this is a personal list and if others were making the list for me they might have a different perspective. What do you think?

Athletic. This is the way I would like to feel but in actual fact, I just enjoy walking and swimming. I think that I am in reasonable shape but I have had recent issues with my knee.  Are the years catching up?

Blessed. I feel very blessed to have a wonderful family and good friends.

Compassionate.  I often feel compassion for other people when I see them struggling with some aspect of their lives.

Daring. I once wrote a piece about the daring adventures of people who are blind or partially sighted. Some people accomplish amazing feats of daring and adventure. For me, daring and bravado can be on a much smaller scale.  I don’t need to climb mountains or run marathons. Sometimes crossing a busy road or walking alone into a crowded room can be a daring adventure in itself.

Exhilarated or Exuberant. My kids will be the first to tell you how excited I can be when something tickles my fancy.

Frustrated. Oh yes, the frustration builds when my technical  equipment – as  especially my computer – goes haywire.

Generous. I’m not always feeling generous but I like myself better when I am.

Happy. I feel happy most of the time.

Irritated. I feel irritated when someone fails to return a phone call or answer an email. I am left wondering how much time I should let elapse before I try again.

Just the same as most people – blind or sighted but with similar challenges and successes.

Kind. I try to be kind and most of the time I feel this way.

List oriented. I’ll bet that you never guessed this one! I am very fond of making lists.

Motivated. Occasionally I am asked to give a presentation as a motivational speaker. The interesting thing about this is that while I endeavour to motivate others, I end up feeling motivated myself.

Nostalgic. This year has been one for nostalgia. Our two grandchildren were born and more recently my mother passed away. All three events have seen me looking back and reliving some of the good times of past years.

Optimistic.  Generally speaking I tend to look on the bright side of things.

Passionate. When I am involved in a project I am invariably passionate about it. It’s really the only way to go.

Querulous. Why? Some days, I just feel in a bit of a prickly mood. No special reason - just a bit out of sorts.

Resigned. I am getting better at this.  When things are out of my control and there is nothing more I can do to rectify a situation, I try to   resign myself to that fact.

Sleepy. Is being sleepy a feeling? I’m not sure, but I do enjoy taking an occasional nap. This works well when we are travelling.  I can nearly always sleep on long car drives or flights.

Tolerant. Every year I make a new Year’s resolution to be more tolerant and hopefully some days during the year I live up to this resolve.

Up, down, all around. Do you know the rhyme of the Grand Old Duke of York?

He had ten thousand men.

He marched them up to the top of the hill and he marched them down again.

And when they’re up they’re up, and when they’re down they’re down, and when they’re only halfway up they’re neither up nor down.

Well, that’s me.  Mostly I’m up, but sometimes I’m down, and then there are the other times when I feel somewhere in between.

Visually Impaired. Yes, I know that we are encouraged to look on the positive half of the glass half full, but sometimes when I can’t see what I want or need to see, I don’t feel the glass half full of being partially sighted. I just feel the empty glass half of being visually impaired.

Weary. I feel this way sometimes when my “to do” list is too long for one day. Then I remind myself that tomorrow has another 24 hours in it and I can start all over again.

X-rated. I hope that the x-rated words that come to my mind when I am really angry aren’t ever expressed out loud.

Young. Maybe not physically young any more but young at heart is good too.

 Zest. No matter the other feelings, I always have a zest for life!

So, have you ever felt any of these same feelings? My next question is – are you blind or are you sighted? You see, I don’t think that it makes a huge difference. Whether we are blind or sighted, we are all just people. In some ways we are all the same and in other ways, we are just a little different.  If you are a list person like me, you might like to make up your own list. It’s an interesting exercise in self-reflection. 

November 4 - Visiting the Optometrist

It’s a good policy to visit your optometrist annually, and I try to do just that. It’s all part of taking care of the health of your eyes. Even though I know the condition that affects my sight, this doesn’t mean that I am exempt from other conditions - conditions such as macular degeneration, glaucoma or cataracts. A person can have more than one condition in the same eye.  Most of these can be detected when you visit your optometrist.

Most of the adults I speak with do take good care of their eyes, but did you know that it is also important for children to have their eyes checked? Last week I went with my daughter when she took their nine month old to the optometrist. I was curious to see what he would do. Obviously our granddaughter was too young to read the big E at the top of the chart.

The optometrist was excellent. He sat on the floor with Lexi and moved a small object back and forth to determine if her eyes were tracking together. Later he took a small light to look into her pupils and used lenses of varying strengths to look behind the eye. Lexi was fascinated by the light and the small toy that the optometrist held in his other hand. 

I told my Monday morning coffee group about the exam, saying I didn’t know that babies this young should have their eyes checked.  Cindy, one of the women in the group, said that her grandson had had eye surgery at the age of six months. I guess it’s never too early, and the good part is that the eye exam was covered by Alberta Health Care.