Trouble with vision

After my Mom had her first stroke, she had trouble reading. It got better, then worse again.

We took her for analysis, and the problem was identified as "tracking". Her eyes would not work together to follow the words. We tried putting a patch over one eye, but nothing really worked. It was quite sad, as my Mother loved to read.

The year before her stroke I would check out books at the library for her, and she would sit and read for a good part of the day. She really enjoyed some Christian historical series which I had found. I couldn't get her to go to the library herself, but boy did she love it when I went for her. I realize now it was probably too difficult for her to walk that much, and she might have had trouble even finding the books she wanted. She would never admit it at the time. I suspect she had memory and cognitive problems then, that she was hiding.

Anyway, back to the vision.

Recently, I noticed she would close one eye to look at me, or the TV. She would actually close what we have considered her "good" eye. I am quite certain she is having trouble focusing, and is closing the eye she can best control, as a way to be able to see more clearly.

Also, she is having some depth perception problems, as when she does try to feed herself (which is not often) she has great difficulty "stabbing" the food - often hitting the plate just behind the piece of food she is aiming for.

No wonder she doesn't try to feed herself more. How frustrating it must be.

I am glad I can take care of her and feed her. When she was in the nursing home, they had 1 person as a "feeder" for about 5 or 6 people at a table. Then, probably if you didn't eat, they would just give you a can of Ensure.

Yuk.