Hello all, I posted here before about my stroke experience and the impact of homonymous hemianopia. The loss of my driving licence was devastating as I am a wheelchair user having been born with a congenital condition. My chair does not fit in cars unless they are adapted so has had a huge impact on my independence and work. Worst thing was when asking ophthalmologist / neuropathologist/ stroke consultant all said nothing I could do - impact was permanent. I began looking at current research re this and made contact with researchers at Liverpool Uni who shared some helpful papers with me. A few months later they contacted me to say a new research project was starting was I interested? So, I have joined. It consists of two sessions at liverpool Uni doing tests and having MRIs and inbetween the two sessions doing a 30 minute Virtual Reality session for six weeks in your own home ( at your own convenience). There is evidence that doing the exercises with non stroke patients improved acuity and brain plasticity (as I understand it from reading the paper). The most important thing is that it has given me some hope that it may improve things and I will be able to reapply for my driving licence. I fully understand there are no guarantees and it may not improve or to the degree I need, but I think at least I will have given it my best effort and am doing something pro-active. The researcher is looking for more people with hemianopia to join the trial to make it statistically significant. If you have hemianopia and could join the trial please think about doing so - as maybe this will lead to a meaningful therapy to support people in the future. If you want more information please contact the researcher at Liverpool University - f.al-harshan@liverpool.ac.uk. His name is Fahad and he is really friendly. Thanks for reading.
There been a number of people who talk about their desire to drive and their hemianopia
@kgb I know driving’s not on goals but you might be interested in something that helps with you hemianopia?
@mccormack5.ed might be relevant to you ?
Can’t recall who the others were…
@Smurf13 really hope it brings on some improvement for you. Be interested to hear how you get on. Good luck.
Hi@smurf18 thank you for your post yes I might be interested in this I have Hemonopia too, do I contact the email above?
Hello - yes please just contact Hasan on the email. Thats great.
Hello, yes please just email Fahad (sorry not Hasan) on the email. Thats great.
Back from my 2nd session at Liverpool. It took some dedication to do the vr training 30 times in between visits. The trips to Liverpool were helped by staying overnight.
Multimillion dollar question. Has my visual field improved? Answer I think it’s slightly better. Tho it’s not a cure; like apps online it’s good to exercise.
Would I do it again? Yes Fahad was very helpful and the MRI was peaceful even while doing the tests while being scanned.
This morning I checked my visual field using Eyescream Visual Field Analyser; which is a free download. Compared to my earlier results it does show an improvement in sensitivity but generally the same pattern of impairment.
Summary, the tests back up what I think. Slight improvement. Based I believe in exercising via the vr app in a dedicated way. If considering helping with the research Fahad still has places.
Thanks for recommending participation in this research.