I was diagnosed with a “giant-sized” Acoustic Neuroma in 1997. After my 3rd surgery to remove the tumor, I was left with left sided facial paralysis. I was unable to blink and my eye was extremely dry. To alleviate the dryness, I began using a nighttime lubricant in my eye, even during the day, which made it impossible to see out of my left eye.
After seeing several eye doctors, neurologists, and physical therapists, I finally came to a point where the dryness was alleviated with over the counter eye drops and as a result, I could “see” out of my left eye. But, I began feeling nauseous and had even more headaches than I normally did. Another side effect from the tumor removal is that I lost one of my balance nerves.
Even though the other balance nerve accommodated for this loss, I was still off balance. I also had very poor depth perception. Parking my SUV has always been a source of humor for the rest of my family, as it took me several tries to get it right.
Shopping in large supermarkets seemed to “stress” me out. I would get overwhelmed and would try to avoid shopping for my family as much as possible.
After I received my new glasses, most of my symptoms have disappeared. Besides the obvious vision corrections that allowed me to see clearly, my daily headaches have decreased in number and intensity. The very first thing I noticed after getting my glasses, happened on the way home from Dr. Debby’s office. I live an hour away and all the way home, I was NOT fighting to stay between the lines on the road. My nausea has pretty much disappeared. Even my balance has improved, which I was not expecting considering the loss of one of my balance nerves. I can park my SUV much better. And I now find myself going to the market at least once a week, instead of once every 4-6 weeks. I feel relaxed when I am shopping, not overwhelmed or stressed out.
– J. D., 39 year old
