ok - we're done.
some good news. you have grade 4 posterior subscapular cataracts.
good news in that i should be able to remove them with little or no damage to your cornea.
the cataracts are acting like a curtain - covering the window of sight. if the disease to the retina is reduced as much as i think it is - there's a very good possibility we can give you sight.
we feel there's an opportunity for us all here - i think i can get the institute to pick up the bill.
at this time - no. unfortunately the cataracts are not allowing me to see the retinal wall. i can't tell how advanced the retinitas pigmentosa has become.
there have been a few cases of restored vision in adulthood to a patient blind since birth. the operation is delicate, i'll admit - but nothing as invasive as what you went through as a child. of course there is always some risks with any operation - infection, swelling - long shot stuff. i would do both eyes at the same time - it's basically out patient surgery. virgil - an exhale of air. a lot to take in.
it would be evident that you will never be able to see.
ok virgil - let's get to it.
for posterity. we're going to make you famous. we're also sending this closed circuit to one of our conference rooms - there's a lot of people interested in our results today. so how you feel virgil?
nothing to be nervous about. now jennie and amy, if you would stand off to my right -- i want virgil to get just a slight bounce of light. ready virgil.
okay - last phase - we remove these patches and.
well - we're all here - amy, your sister. this is new for us all. why don't we find out?
well?
virgil - what do you see?
everything's fine - it's going to take.
tell me what you're seeing virgil.
what? the camera?
alright - alright - they've stopped. ok. let's everybody just calm down - we'll take it slowly.
good, virgil - that's it - use your touch - associate - now, tell me - what do you see in your hand?
he's associating - one sense to the other. his fingers tell his brain - then his brain tells his eyes and he recognizes the image in front of him. he's seeing!
virgil - let's rest your eyes for today and we'll check them again tomorrow. we should all be happy - we've got something.
you saw it. success.
he sees you. he just doesn't understand that he sees you.
there's a very real possibility the part of his brain area allocated to vision is atrophied - given it's lack of use, virgil has probably used it for some other function.
we had no way of knowing what his faculties were until we gave him the operation. if you remember - we didn't know what to expect - though it's clear his retinal disease must be in remission.
he won't need to stay here - take him home - let him rest. but i will need to see him every couple of days for the next month.
ok, there is a visual therapist - ray webster - a little unorthodox - that's why he's probably your best bet, especially considering the unique aspects of virgil's condition. i'll contact him for you - but there's no guarantee he can help.
jennie, i told amy here when we first talked - this is whole new ground - for all of us.
now just two weeks after surgery--the patient is still having difficulty understanding images, shapes, contours -
- and his progress with depth of field has been especially slow.
virgil is still very reliant on his touch to interpret objects in his surroundings -
- and his understanding of three dimensionality is extremely limited and confounding to him.
he is also still having great difficulty "scanning", basically putting a whole picture together.
if he looks at the top of a tree - then scans to the bottom - he's forgotten the top by the time he reaches the trunk.
this includes the ability to read. in reading a word - he forgets the first letter by the time he gets to the last.
-- meaning .  he has a total lack of visual memory. this is an unexpected physiological flaw. we are hopeful virgil can overcome this. thank-you - that's all for today.
up until the operation five weeks ago - virgil had been a touch person - someone who's vocabulary, whole sensibility, his picture of the world was based on tactile -- non-visual terms.
but - now - as a sighted person - by focusing singlemindedly on his goal, virgil has a new found ability to understand his own physical relationship to objects in his life around him.
distance, size, shape - perspective - now all have profound meaning to him.
and though there are still miles to go in his learning process - for all medical intents and purposes - he is becoming a seeing person.
this is an extraordinary achievement and advancement for medical science and a tribute to virgil's determination to see.
ladies and gentlemen - virgil anderson.
what?
it means - the machine is only registering sparks of activity - retinal sparks - followed by nothing. how long has this been going on?
your retinal function is down ten percent. i'm afraid - your retinal disease seems to have returned.
now, you've every right to be upset. maybe you didn't have the blood vessels to supply enough oxygen to the retinas. - possibly some trauma - there are so many variables.  to be honest, i don't know. i wish to god i did.
virgil. i -- i wish there was a nice way to say this.
virgil, i understand what.
hard to say. month - few weeks - days.