Many people have asked me to continue my blog, so here is an update.
After the events described in this blog I stopped regular work on my eyes, as I didn't have the enthusiasm to devote to it several hours every day without any clear direction. Gradually my vision deteriorated a little bit. The stereopsis stayed, but it became somewhat weirder, somewhat more unfocused. I went for an evaluation at New York Eye and Ear. First of all, they prescribed me contact lenses as my right eye was a bit nearsighted. They gave me -1.75 for the right eye and also temporarily 0.50 for the left, normal, eye, just to help to recover the balance between the eyes. After a few weeks they still checked my vision and concluded that my right eye was "beyond training" and that I needed an operation for strabismus to recover. They also checked for fusion with a prism, to straighten the right eye, and -- indeed -- I was able to see a stereogram in this case. So they concluded that the strabismus operation was likely to be effective. I asked about the risks. The doctor (Christopher Seebruck, MD) said that the risk was comparable to that of being hit by a lightning; though, on the Internet I found out that even the chance of death from a strabismus operation was rather high, much higher than that of being hit by a lightning. But, anyway, in February, 2012, the congress of doctors told me that I needed an operation, and that I should make an appointment if/when I made this choice. For some reason they really stressed that I had some "pseudostrabismus", so that even after an operation, my eyes wouldn't be cosmetically 100% straight. This didn't really bother me that much; I was more worried that an operation could cause some irreparable damage; and, besides, after my own experiences of discovering stereopsis, I couldn't believe that my right eye was "beyond" training: after all, I saw 3D around me, and they tried to judge it by some tiny stereogram that, probably, required much higher stereoacuity. By the way, the doctors were not terribly interested in my story about acquiring binocular vision. Only one very old and experienced doctor, who at one point came to check my eyes, seemed to attach some credibility to my explanation. Also, they discussed it all with me on a very basic level: eye in the center, eye on the side, etc. At times I felt I knew more about stereopsis than they did.
In the meantime, I made an appointment with Dr. Kavner, a vision therapist recommended to me by somebody from Peter Grunwald's retreat. He made an initial evaluation and said that he should be able to make my eyes to converge at a relatively close distance --- I forgot, perhaps a foot --- after 20-30 sessions, if I remember correctly. He was not that interested in my own story either, but I didn't try to push it after the way it was received at NYEE. After that visit I didn't really have an opinion, but I did notice that my vision somewhat improved just after this 30-minute evaluation; and I wondered, how beneficial should be the actual therapy.
During the winter of 2011-2012 I went home to Russia and decided to get a third opinion. I went to "Eksimer", a top, fancy, dedicated vision clinic in St. Petersburg, and paid for a complete evaluation. I was evaluated by two doctors: one --- a very experienced opthalmologist with decades of experience; the other --- specifically an expert on strabismus. Now, recall that, in addition to strabismus, I had imperfect vision in my right eye: a lens for -1.75. The first thing they told me: I needed laser correction. That was the first step, and then they had to make the decision about strabismus operation. I mentioned the opinion I received in New York --- one by NYEE, the other by Dr. Kavner. Both opinions were dismissed; they said something like "We here [in St. Petersburg, Russia] know what we are doing; they don't know very much [there, in New York]". But wait... On top of that they offered me a 10% discount on laser correction if I did it TOMORROW. This was not an easy decision to make, but eventually I convinced myself to decline this option, as clearly they didn't have my best interest in mind. Furthermore, my mother argued that, should I have any issues, I'd have to travel back to Russia to see a doctor.
Back in New York, I still had to decided what to do. Eventually I decided to give vision therapy a try --- after all, I was promised some specific results after 20-30 sessions --- and, thus, not to risk going for an operation right away. I was also very curious about VT, and it was much more in line with my philosophy. Though, I admit, it was tempting to just go and schedule an operation, so that --- it seemed --- all my problems would go away in just a few weeks.
So I started vision therapy with Dr. Richard Kavner. This was in spring, 2012...
After the events described in this blog I stopped regular work on my eyes, as I didn't have the enthusiasm to devote to it several hours every day without any clear direction. Gradually my vision deteriorated a little bit. The stereopsis stayed, but it became somewhat weirder, somewhat more unfocused. I went for an evaluation at New York Eye and Ear. First of all, they prescribed me contact lenses as my right eye was a bit nearsighted. They gave me -1.75 for the right eye and also temporarily 0.50 for the left, normal, eye, just to help to recover the balance between the eyes. After a few weeks they still checked my vision and concluded that my right eye was "beyond training" and that I needed an operation for strabismus to recover. They also checked for fusion with a prism, to straighten the right eye, and -- indeed -- I was able to see a stereogram in this case. So they concluded that the strabismus operation was likely to be effective. I asked about the risks. The doctor (Christopher Seebruck, MD) said that the risk was comparable to that of being hit by a lightning; though, on the Internet I found out that even the chance of death from a strabismus operation was rather high, much higher than that of being hit by a lightning. But, anyway, in February, 2012, the congress of doctors told me that I needed an operation, and that I should make an appointment if/when I made this choice. For some reason they really stressed that I had some "pseudostrabismus", so that even after an operation, my eyes wouldn't be cosmetically 100% straight. This didn't really bother me that much; I was more worried that an operation could cause some irreparable damage; and, besides, after my own experiences of discovering stereopsis, I couldn't believe that my right eye was "beyond" training: after all, I saw 3D around me, and they tried to judge it by some tiny stereogram that, probably, required much higher stereoacuity. By the way, the doctors were not terribly interested in my story about acquiring binocular vision. Only one very old and experienced doctor, who at one point came to check my eyes, seemed to attach some credibility to my explanation. Also, they discussed it all with me on a very basic level: eye in the center, eye on the side, etc. At times I felt I knew more about stereopsis than they did.
In the meantime, I made an appointment with Dr. Kavner, a vision therapist recommended to me by somebody from Peter Grunwald's retreat. He made an initial evaluation and said that he should be able to make my eyes to converge at a relatively close distance --- I forgot, perhaps a foot --- after 20-30 sessions, if I remember correctly. He was not that interested in my own story either, but I didn't try to push it after the way it was received at NYEE. After that visit I didn't really have an opinion, but I did notice that my vision somewhat improved just after this 30-minute evaluation; and I wondered, how beneficial should be the actual therapy.
During the winter of 2011-2012 I went home to Russia and decided to get a third opinion. I went to "Eksimer", a top, fancy, dedicated vision clinic in St. Petersburg, and paid for a complete evaluation. I was evaluated by two doctors: one --- a very experienced opthalmologist with decades of experience; the other --- specifically an expert on strabismus. Now, recall that, in addition to strabismus, I had imperfect vision in my right eye: a lens for -1.75. The first thing they told me: I needed laser correction. That was the first step, and then they had to make the decision about strabismus operation. I mentioned the opinion I received in New York --- one by NYEE, the other by Dr. Kavner. Both opinions were dismissed; they said something like "We here [in St. Petersburg, Russia] know what we are doing; they don't know very much [there, in New York]". But wait... On top of that they offered me a 10% discount on laser correction if I did it TOMORROW. This was not an easy decision to make, but eventually I convinced myself to decline this option, as clearly they didn't have my best interest in mind. Furthermore, my mother argued that, should I have any issues, I'd have to travel back to Russia to see a doctor.
Back in New York, I still had to decided what to do. Eventually I decided to give vision therapy a try --- after all, I was promised some specific results after 20-30 sessions --- and, thus, not to risk going for an operation right away. I was also very curious about VT, and it was much more in line with my philosophy. Though, I admit, it was tempting to just go and schedule an operation, so that --- it seemed --- all my problems would go away in just a few weeks.
So I started vision therapy with Dr. Richard Kavner. This was in spring, 2012...
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