I have a right field cut. Because of this I can not drive. Is anyone else in this same situation? (written with the assistance of my wife)
hi tony,
i know how you feel…i lost all left field vision…thats how my avm was diagnoised…and since then i too have not been able to drive…a bit of a bummer i know…but if its any comfort you do get used to not driving it has been almost 2 years for me know…at the begining it is a big loos of independence…but the way i look at it now is that i have to be thankful i am here… so if i can’t drive really its a small price to pay…hang in there mate xxx
Irene Carnahan said:
I have a total left field cut since 1959 when an AVM in occipipitql and parietal lobes bled. I believe it bled for a while before they figured it out and did an exploratory craniotomy. I was 8 years old. I remember this like it was yesterday, the awful procedures without benefit of CT scans or MRI. I don’t think the field cut was there until after the surgery, and I learned to drive at 17 in driver’s ed. No one knew and I told no one because I did not know much anyway, I did not know how blind I am and thought it was just my left eye. I had many accidents hitting things, never people, thank God, but I still drove, just thinking I was a lousy driver. In 2003 I went to get new glasses, and the new doctor insisted on a visual field test. Driving home that evening was the last time I drove. I took it gracefully, but after a little while realized just how tough it was, and how much my life changed again. Now I could care less about cars and driving, as I moved to Sarasota FL, with great public transportation. I can walk places, and I ride a bicycle. Yes, I know. But, I have to do it for freedom and to get to appointments, and the store. I am in much better shape. and it makes me happy. There are a lot of people here now because it is that time of year when north comes south, a lot of the people are very elderly and short and some have no right to still be driving. I must be very careful. I am the little guy, and it is my responsibility to stay alive as well as I can. I positively make eye contact with drivers and gesture to see if they are staying put while I cross the roads. Otherwise I stop and wait. I am patient. I love this time of my life.
Oddly enough, I have never looked into the local laws on the subject, but I lost the entire right field of both eyes as a result of my surgery. The vision that is left in the left field is a perfect 20/20 and is probably better than most. I asked my surgeon about my ability to drive and he said that as long as I was comfortable in doing so, to feel free. I even had monthly follow-up appointments with an optometrist to have peripheral vision tests and track any changes. He never made any comment about it one way or another and I always came in by myself, so it must not have been that major of an issue for him either. It certainly took some getting used to, but I think I am now a safer and more courtious driver than most people on the road because I take the extra second or two to take a look around before making quick turns or lane changes. Unfortunately, I have a feeling that the older I get, the earlier I will have to give up on driving, but I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it (no pun intended).
Are you struggling with anything else ? Short term memory? Word finding diffuculties? Slowed reasoning? Are you able to work in a normal mainstream environment? (written by Tony’s wife)
Jake M said:
Oddly enough, I have never looked into the local laws on the subject, but I lost the entire right field of both eyes as a result of my surgery. The vision that is left in the left field is a perfect 20/20 and is probably better than most. I asked my surgeon about my ability to drive and he said that as long as I was comfortable in doing so, to feel free. I even had monthly follow-up appointments with an optometrist to have peripheral vision tests and track any changes. He never made any comment about it one way or another and I always came in by myself, so it must not have been that major of an issue for him either. It certainly took some getting used to, but I think I am now a safer and more courtious driver than most people on the road because I take the extra second or two to take a look around before making quick turns or lane changes. Unfortunately, I have a feeling that the older I get, the earlier I will have to give up on driving, but I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it (no pun intended).
I dealt with all of the above for for the first severa months after surgery. My short term memory was a complete joke, I forgot all sorts of stuff. I would replace words with other, unrelated words without even realizing I had done so, and I would have a hard time with things as simple as using a remote control to operate a TV. Fortunately, these have all passed. It wasn’t really a slow, drawn-out process either, it was almost a quick shift from “I’m having this problem and this problem and this problem” to “Wait, wasn’t I having trouble doing these things?” One thing that I still continue to have trouble with is remembering names and phone numbers. It was a MAJOR problem immediately following surgery, but it is not nearly as much of a problem these days. That being said, here I am 3.5 years laster and am still no where near where I used to be as far as remembering names/numbers. Oh well… Some people are horrible with this type of infomation anyway… brain surgery or not!
Tony said:
Are you struggling with anything else ? Short term memory? Word finding diffuculties? Slowed reasoning? Are you able to work in a normal mainstream environment? (written by Tony’s wife)
Jake M said:Oddly enough, I have never looked into the local laws on the subject, but I lost the entire right field of both eyes as a result of my surgery. The vision that is left in the left field is a perfect 20/20 and is probably better than most. I asked my surgeon about my ability to drive and he said that as long as I was comfortable in doing so, to feel free. I even had monthly follow-up appointments with an optometrist to have peripheral vision tests and track any changes. He never made any comment about it one way or another and I always came in by myself, so it must not have been that major of an issue for him either. It certainly took some getting used to, but I think I am now a safer and more courtious driver than most people on the road because I take the extra second or two to take a look around before making quick turns or lane changes. Unfortunately, I have a feeling that the older I get, the earlier I will have to give up on driving, but I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it (no pun intended).