My fingers just felt so clumsy at first.

How did you spend the 5 days?
My days were really packed. I'd have to get up by 6:30 or 7 AM and have a quick breakfast and then have MRI's or other testing in the morning, and then I'd have Braille instruction for 3-4 hours a day, which I found extremely interesting. But it can get tiring sitting there trying to relearn the alphabet, to recognize the dots with your fingers. My fingers just felt so clumsy at first.

To improve my dexterity, I'd do things like working with clay or drawing with pastels each afternoon. I probably had pastels all over my face. I drew a tropical island in the Philippines that I visited last year. I drew a macaw because I like birds. I'd try to keep track in my mind where I was drawing so I could draw things in the correct position.

Were you aware of your other senses improving?

I knew that it was becoming easier for me to read Braille, but I didn't know if that was just because I could recognize the characters faster. I'm sure my fingers becoming more sensitive helped a lot, but in terms of everyday touching things, it wasn't all that apparent.

A funny thing happened the day after I got out. I like Indian food and spicy food a lot. I had chicken vindaloo the week before I went to the study. I had the same dish the evening after I left the hospital. I almost couldn't take it because it was so spicy! That never happens to me. I had just assumed my taste buds died years ago!

Other than the inconveniences of not seeing, did you miss your sight on an emotional level?

I now know what it's like to not have sight for a week. But I don't know what it's like to be blind. I didn't have to deal with a lot of things people in real life would have to deal with. I was in a controlled room, with help a push-button away. I knew that it was over at the end of the week. Missing my sight never got me down because I knew it was over in a week.

One funny thing was that, even though I was blindfolded, I liked to have the lights on. I liked to have the door closed and the curtain open. The idea of going to the bathroom with the lights off was kind of spooky to me even though it didn't matter.

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