With dreadlocks and funky glasses, Dawn Standera sits cross-legged on a couch, tying knots on a lapboard. She works with blues, greens, corals – colors that represent Martha's Vineyard for a commissioned piece of art.
Dawn is one of a handful of North American artists who specialize in Cavandoli macramé. And she may be the only macramé artist in the world with a tightly woven story – about glasses.
An unexpected conversation
"How long have you been dizzy?" asked the physical therapist last summer. Dawn, a part-time emergency room nurse, was at North Country Hospital in Bemidji for outpatient treatment of low back pain.
"I was surprised by the question," recalls Dawn. "Even though I hadn't said anything, the therapist could see I struggled with dizziness. I told her a decade, then explained."
The dizziness stemmed from a severe head injury in 1997 and meningitis in 2000. Over the years she'd seen several specialists, undergone multiple tests and tried many treatments – physical therapy, vestibular training and medications. She even taught herself to juggle, hoping the right-left coordination might restore balance.
"Nothing made the dizziness go away, but I didn't let it stop me. I kept doing what I loved – traveling, fishing, hiking, creating," says Dawn. "I learned to live with the dizziness and spent $120 a month on anti-nausea medication."
Unusual expertise
The physical therapist referred Dawn to
Dr. Bob Edwards, optometrist at
MeritCare Bemidji Eye Center. He's one of few optometrists in the state with expertise in neuro-optometric rehabilitation. This highly specialized field helps people who experience balance or equilibrium problems following a brain injury.
Dawn underwent a two-hour neuro-optometric exam to determine if she was a candidate for rehabilitation. Rehab involves wearing specially made lenses that help retrain the brain, but don't correct vision.
"Rehab glasses are very much like crutches," says Dr. Edwards. "You use them just long enough for the brain to develop new patterns, new pathways if you will."
The detailed exam indicated Dawn was a good candidate. That day she tried on a set of mock-up lenses.
"It was a miracle – truly amazing," she says. "For the first time in years I could walk around without dizziness. I could look up and around. I could get my bearings."
Custom-made for each patient, the glasses typically need special tints and frames. Dr. Edwards works closely with a local lab that carefully grinds the lenses to specifications. His team plays a key role, too.
"Dr. Edwards' staff couldn't have been better," says Dawn. "They got me in on a timely basis, they adjusted the lenses as needed and they were just very responsive."
Dawn has worn her rehab glasses for a couple months and expects she'll wear them from six months to three years – as long as it takes for her brain to form new patterns.
A life-changing difference
"The biggest difference is no more nausea!" says Dawn. But she's enjoyed other changes, too:
- Greatly reduced dizziness.
- Better driving ability with a bigger field of vision.
- Less neck and shoulder strain due to head position.
- Better reading comprehension.
"I feel blessed that people from the hospital and clinic worked together to make it easy for me to have a better life," she says. "If anyone out there thinks they have this problem, I want them to know good help is available right here in Bemidji."
If you've experienced a head injury and still have issues with balance or dizziness, you may benefit from neuro-optometric rehabilitation. For more information, call MeritCare Bemidji Eye Center at (218) 751-2020. People from throughout the region, including Wisconsin, Minnesota and North Dakota, come to Dr. Edwards for his highly specialized care.