An Eye to the Future

Arose early [for me, now working the late shift, 6:30 is early] and picked up my daughter, who I was bringing to my appointment in Seattle as my "designated driver." She also helped with companionship and support, not to mention that it is always a treat to spend a day with her. I drove to Madison Street in Seattle, next to Swedish Hospital, to a group of Neurologists who are also qualified as Ophthamologists, to try to find out why vision in my left eye in the last few days has gone from "sort of funny" to "looking through a brownish haze or smog."

First I went upstairs to Radiology and signed in for the MRI scan of my brain. My daughter signed in as my designated driver. I have heard so many stories of people who freak out at the last minute when confronted with the MRI tube, and discovered at a young age I am somewhat claustrophobic [when we took turns being locked in the outhouse] that I decided to accept a mild sedative. They won't give that without the patient bringing a driver.

It turned out that I probably wouldn't have needed the Xanax but I didn't mind having it. [The moderate dose I took turned out to be sort of a blessing on the drive home, which was a little harrowing with the rain and heavy traffic.] Anyway, I sort of enjoyed the MRI. The only disconcerting parts were the loud sounds made by the imaging process, and the inability to move.

Downstairs we shared a snack, as breakfast was at 9 AM and the MRI was finished at 1 PM. The neurologist put in yet another set of eye drops, tested my eye pressure and the field of vision in both eyes, and did a color test. He suggested getting an MRI and I explained that I had just had one, so he found it on his computer and took a look.

The upshot was that he believes I have optic neuritis. If I was a little younger, it would be suggestive of MS, but I'm a little past the usual age range for developing MS. Possible causes include diabetes, which causes poor blood flow to the optic nerve, causing it to swell, or it sometimes can be triggered by a vaccination. I have diabetes, and also had a flu vaccination at work about 2 weeks ago.

The good news was that this condition usually resolves in 6 to 8 weeks, according to my neurologist [imagine, having my own neurologist, kind of like having a pet] without any treatment. Alternatively, if I wasn't willing to put up with the symptoms or they became worse, he could administer a steroid. I'm not crazy about steroids because of the awful side effects. So I should recover more normal vision in a few weeks.

Hurrah!

We ate a decent lunch at a nearby cafe, parking cost me $12, even though parking for patients was not supposed to exceed $8 [neither office validates parking], and it took 3 hours to drive home in bumper-to-bumper traffic in the rain.

At home I made a fantastic soup with dahl [red lentils], cauliflower, garlic, soy milk and spinach.