Nicholas James (1:17): Vision Therapy

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Vision Therapy

One of the therapies that Nicholas receives is vision. He was diagnosed with CVI which is Cortical Visual Impairment. Nicholas' eyes are perfectly normal but due to his hypoxic event (lack of oxygen to his brain when he coded) his brain was severely injured. Instead of a partial injury he suffered a severe global injury meaning his whole brain and brain stems were injured. CVI can be temporary or permanent. In Nicholas' case they think it will be permanent due to the severity of the injury. So his eyes are normal but the brain stems connecting his eyes to his brain cannot function properly. Therefore his brain cannot interpret what he sees giving Nicholas his lack of vision. As well as they could with Nicholas' condition, they have diagnosed that he can distinguish light and light changes (which is a huge blessing and miracle) He also tends to favor the color red (that's my boy!!!)
Nicholas' therapist Camille has helped us figure these things out. It was pretty amazing to see Nicholas looking at the different colors and very clearly favoring the red light. She uses a light box and puts different transparency colors on it.
We have been so blessed to have wonderful therapists and nurses who have become a part of our family. They not only love Nicholas but also our other children. Camille has put Brandon in charge of the vision therapy. Below are pictures of Camille showing Brandon everything he needs to do and know to help Nicholas. Those of you who know Brandon know he never sits still long enough to teach him very much. He sat and listened to everything Camille taught him. When Stephen and Megan got home, he proudly gave them instructions but also said that HE was Nicholas' vision helper.
We are so blessed that we have a wonderful therapist who took the time to show Brandon these things and are blessed that we have a super big brother in Brandon who wants to help his little brother learn and grow.

Instructing Brandon on the light box.

Camille was showing Brandon how to gently rub Nicholas' arm to help stimulate him before the exercises.

Now why doesn't he listen to me that well!!! We love you B!

1 comment:

Kathy White said...: So sweet. I miss that little mess! I loved playing with him. : ) Brandon is a sweetie.; July 6, 2009 at 5:54 PM

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The Broken Gift

In August of 2008, I felt led to begin writing a book about our journey with Nicholas. The purpose of the book was to be twofold: First, I felt a strong sense to intimately share with others our journey of faith. It was my desire that people who were facing tremendous “life storms” as I call them, to see that God is faithful in all circumstances. Secondly, and much more selfishly, I wanted to present Lisa with the ultimate gift, a book about her son.

I began praying that God would open the doors if that were to be His will. I shared this with only one person, Chris Lewis, and asked him to be in prayer with me. Before I gave God the chance to answer me, I had already begun writing. Five months later, I had written six full chapters. During the process, I would occasionally email Chris a copy for his input. Unfortunately, he was a bit too encouraging, and the process continued.

Chapters six and seven began to slow me down. I was beginning to feel that my writing had become more about me than anything else. Additionally, I was becoming concerned that the book was taking on the form of a journal. I knew from research that journal style books were not welcome in the tough world of book publishing.

Chris had a friend in publishing who agreed to read my manuscript and give me advice. His advice stopped me cold in my tracks. It was just as I had suspected, the manuscript was too much of a journal. Strangely though, I was relieved. I had become increasingly frustrated during my writing sessions and now I could just stop. No more writing.

A short time later, I decided that I would share with Lisa the fruits of my secret, double life as an author. I printed the manuscript off in its entirety and gave it to her to read. I had dreamed of presenting her with a paperback book with a picture of her son on it, but this would have to do.

Fast forward to today. The original intent of the book has not changed. I want people to see Jesus when they see our family. I want people to know there is hope. I want people to understand that God is bigger than our circumstances and brings us through them for a reason.

With that in mind, I decided that Nicholas’ blogsite is a great way to still get my “journal” out there, into the hands of people who may be touched by our story. Each week I will add a new chapter.

To read The Broken Gift, click on the chapters below.

Chapter 1 Code Blue
Chapter 2 Back to the Beginning
Chapter 3 New Relationships
Chapter 4 The Arrival
Chapter 5 Life Goes On
Chapter 6 Surgery