Optical nerves

I promised to write about damage to optical nerves.  Often during severe head trauma, especially that to the forehead, optical nerves can be damaged.  When Richard awoke after more than 2 weeks, he said that he couldn't see out of his left eye.  They called in an expert in the area and they did some testing while he was still in ICU.  They told him that this type of injury does occur in patients with head trauma and that if they had known about it before then, they could have given some medicine to him that would prevent the optical nerve from dying, but that it had to be given within just a couple of days after the trauma.  Since he was not awake and aware during that time, he did not say anything and he lost the sight in that eye.

Later in the summer, he was taken to an eye doctor by ambulance and upon further investigation, they found that additional damage was done to the optical nerve of the right eye as well.  The doctor was surprised that he had as much visual range as he did have.  He did reiterate that the damage done was irreversible.

People are surprised when they hear that Richard has lost that much sight because you cannot tell it to look at him.  For the first several years the left eye tracked perfectly, but it has started to vary somewhat just recently.  They eyeball itself is absolutely normal and works fine. It is the optical nerve that is the issue.  When we asked his eye doctor about possible cures, she said that someday there may be some advancements through stem-cell research, but that she didn't think it would be in our lifetime.  Somehow the optical nerve is connected with the spinal column and therefore stem-cell research on spinal injuries could also help provide a cure for optical nerve damage, at least that is what we have been told.

The optical nerve is shown here as it is located in the brain.
http://www.anatomyzone.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/optic-nerve.png