The Specialist Verdict

Mom and I took off to Fort Worth because I had an eye appointment with a specialist/specialist..a neuro-opthalmologist. We had a really good quick trip up there. I got some really great news..well probably one of the best diagnoses that I could get. He told me I have optic neuritis. It's inflammation of the optic nerve. Basically, my body is attacking my optic nerve because this is a autoimmune disorder. My body is treating my optic nerve as a foreign body. That is what has caused the blindness in the lower half of my left peripheral of eye. Good news is that is my sight should come back. He says it happens in younger people and in 93% of the people that get this recover completely..which is pretty good odds if you ask me. Also, he said with optic neuritis..most people have inflammation of the brain. He said because my MRI and Cat Scan showed no sign of inflammation of brain, he has high hopes that my vision will be restored completely. I do have to keep an eye out for signs of Multiple Sclerosis though. I read online that MS usually shows up within the first five years of having optic neuritis. So please pray that nothing of that appears. So I guess now it's just a waiting game. I'm hoping by June or July that my vision will be back to normal.

Children's Museum

Personalize your own digital scrapbooking design

Zoee Goofing Around

Chinese New Year Bunco

Digital invite customized with Smilebox

Stuck in a Rut

I told Mike yesterday that I feel "stuck in a rut". I get to feeling like this every once in a while...guess life just catches up with me. It doesn't help that I haven't been able to drive and get out and about like we are so used to doing. I'm surprised Zoee hasn't been acting more crazy. We try to stay busy here at the house..learning and reading. We are heading out today though to the park. This should be fun getting out into the fresh air and letting her run free and wild. She really has been a trooper since about December 15th, when all of this started. I do have Bunco tonight..so I will finally have some adult interaction (besides Mike in the evenings and my parents during appointments). That should be fun! I'm hoping to get out of this funk very soon!

Spinal Results

I went and saw Dr. Abijay this week and he gave me most of the results of my spinal tap. I am so glad I do not have Multiple Schlerosis and all the others he received back came back negative. He said we are still waiting on some of them to cook. HA He really has a great sense of humor. He told me I definitely do not have PseudoTumor Cerebri..which is also a blessing. My brain had normal pressure at 120 and anything over 200 is considered to have PTC. He asked if I had trouble..cause apparently they have a grading system they place on the records. Mine was high he said..which meant they had trouble. I said..Uh yeah..they had to stick me with three different needles. He said..well, as least they were able to do it. I have had a hot spot on my right upper thigh for a couple of weeks that he said is probably bursitis caused by me walking with this dang boot. He said when you get inbalanced and walk that way for a while..certain tendons and ligaments will become inflamed..so yeah that's what I have going on now. NOT FUN..cause it's really painful to the touch and sore. He told me what to do to make it feel better..so hopefully it will start soon. I am going to be starting back at the Y at the beginning of February swimming and classes again..so maybe that will work it out, too!

Zoee and I have felt imprisoned...ha ha We haven't gone anywhere cause I haven't driven but once in over a month. It's weird not driving. I told Mom that I might as well get used to driving like this..cause if the eye damage is permanent, then I have to live with it.

Dr. Abijay seemed kind of frustrated that he couldn't help me. He has ordered one more test which I have to go back and do another MRI..well it's actually called an MRA. He wants to check the blood vessels and arteries in my neck to make sure I don't have or have had an aneurysm that caused this. I told him he better prescribe me a happy pill along with booking that MRI..ha I have bad anxiety when it comes to that MRI machine. UGH..so not looking forward to that next Tuesday. He is still sending me to the specialist in Ft. Worth for my eye. That trip is planned for the 30th of this month. So I'm praying he knows exactly what has happened and he can fix me.

Good news

Dr. Abijay called today and he said the results of my spinal pressure came back normal and that I do NOT have Pseudotumor Cerebri. That is a huge blessing and weight off of my shoulders. He asked how I was doing..he is really caring and I love that. He told me he was going to go ahead and make me an appointment with the specialist in Ft. Worth..so I'm waiting to hear when that will be and hopefully he can restore my peripheral vision. I do still have an appointment with Dr. Abijay next Wednesday unless it conflicts with the appointment in Ft. Worth. So that is good news so far.

New Doctor and Spinal Tap

So after the 2nd ER visit, I finally was referred to a different doctor other than Dr. Gurru. Dr. Abijay said he would take me on as a patient and I went and saw him on Monday. He was so nice and very informative. He told me that he doesn't think by the sounds of what all my symptoms are that I have Pseudotumor Cerebri. I wasn't having migraines and my MRI didn't show swelling in the back of my brain. He said just to be sure, he wanted me to go ahead and get a spinal tap to makes sure everything checked out with my brain. I told him when I went to Midland Memorial, they told me I was unable to do the spinal tap. He said..no, it should not be a problem in Odessa. So they scheduled it for the next day. He ordered a bunch of tests of my cerebral spinal fluid. He thinks with my vision impairment in left eye, that I might of had a stroke in my eye. I told him that the week that the I lost my vision I was taking a medication called medroxyprogesterone. I was taking it because my monthly visitor was visiting wayyy too long..like for 7 weeks straight. NOT FUN at all and the OBGYN had prescribed it to me to stop it. I had to take it for 10 days as ordered and on the 4th day of taking it was when I lost my sight in the peripheral of my left eye. Dr. Abijay said I most certainly could of had a stroke caused from the progesterone. That's scary! He said if everything checks out with my brain then he was going to refer me to see a neuro-opthalmologist up in Ft. Worth.

So the next day, I went in for the lumbar tap under the fluroscope. They use a fluroscope ( fancy name for xray machine) during the procedure to make sure they getting the needle in the right place. I went in ..laid on my stomach...he took a bunch of xrays while finding the right placement and inserted the 1st needle..wasn't able to reach my fluid..inserted a longer one..wasn't able to reach it still. I must be really dense..cause I don't have much fat back there..ha ha. Inserted a third bigger longer needle and he got it in the right place. It's not excruiating pain..but it's not pleasant either..just really uncomfortable and irritating. I've had an epidural with Zoee..so I kind of knew what to expect..this they just go deeper to reach the fluid. Then he rolled me on my side and placed a meter on the end to measure the pressure on my brain. It was normal..measured at 12.8..normal measures anywhere from 10-20. He said my fluid looked clear and that was a good sign. It took forever cause I was a dripper..they needed 17 cc's for testing tubes and he said he counted 30 drips per cc...so it took a long time. I had to go home and lay down flat for 6-8 hours afterwards. That wasn't fun.

The next day, I felt okay the next day..had a bad headache in the morning, but it subsided by afternoon..which was good. I was really sore..but that is all to be expected after having this type of procedure.

I came home on Wednesday after staying with my parents for a while...Zoee and I decided to brave it alone now that most of that steriods was out of my system and not making me feel icky and crazy. Although, I'm still having horrible nights..not able to sleep because when I lay down I start to feel sick and tremor a little bit still..and it makes my stomach hurt and I feel nauseous. I don't know why it only happens at night. I'm praying that those steriods get out of my system ASAP cause I'm over all of that. I have nothing good to say about Dr. Gurru. He is the one that gave me all those steriods and juiced me up basically with that and the Topamax making me all crazy. He totally misdiagnosed me and I am so mad about it.

Zoee is 34 Months Old!

Zoee is 34 Months Old!!!

Slow it down please! Zoee is getting way too big! As we approach her turning three, it makes me a little sad that she is growing so fast. I was thinking the other day that she's already been potty trained for a long time. Where did the time go??

Right now she loves to play with babies, Barbies, any little character she has in there. She got a smaller dollhouse for Christmas and can play with it for hours. She's still a little social butterfly..so she would much rather be out and about running around being a kid!

She is sleeping her BIG GIRL twin size bed now. Her favorite word right now is "NO" which drives me crazy. She is so hilarious and has such a HUGE personality still and can be very dramatic. She went and sat through a movie at the theatre for the first time this month. Her favorite foods are pasta or hamburger and FRIES. She still loves veggies, which I'm happy about and even ate a lot of my salad the other day. I thought it was crazy that a two year old loves lettuce and tomatoes so much. She doesn't like chicken nuggets, which I thought was strange for a kid. HA She still LOVES milk..but doesn't get very much of it anymore. She still loves to read and play learning games on her LeapPad Explorer Her favorite shows are Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Olivia, Pocoyo, Little Einsteins, and Curious George. She amazes me every day at what she is learning and what she already knows. She is really really smart and picks things up quickly. She's just our lil' stinker who keeps us on our toes and makes us laugh so much. She brings us so much joy and we love her!

Post IV Drug & I"M LOONEY

Okay...This is now January 4th and the first day I have been able to actually type everything--this is how bad I have felt for the past few days. I literally had to have Katlyn come and get Zoee yesterday and get Zoee and take her overnight for me and all day today because I was too weak to take care of Zoee and Mike had to work. That was the biggest blessing EVER..she will never realize! Not sure exactly what those steriods are suppose to do to your body..but I am praying to God they are working together with the other medication I'm taking to do what they are suppose to...cause the side effects from the steriods is the most horrible thing I have ever gone through. What I would imagine a drug addict going through withdrawl would be similiar..even though I have never ever done drugs. I would shake one minute..be sick to my stomach the next, raging headache, chills, I could not sleep at all... for 3 days straight. I still am coming off of it even tonight..but it as not as near as bad. On top of this, I have had bad anxiety... real bad. I had a regular doctor appointment tomorrow so we'll see how it goes. I am going to go and stay with my parents for a few days the rest of this week cause I just don't want to be at home by myself alone with Zoee in case something happens. My brain has been doing some funny things and I'm just ready to start feeling better. I talked to my neurologist earlier this week, and he said that it takes about 10 days for the medicine to start working with the steriods and we'll what happens and go from there.

The Brain Scare & Dates of it All

It's now New Years Day..Happy News everyone! I am praying that 2012 is a better year than this last health wise for me.

Here's what has happened the past two weeks...

Dec. 12th- Saw OBGYN Lively...basically harped on me for being fat and told me I needed to go and see a bariatric doctor about surgery. I went in to see him because I had been having a horrible period since November 7th...off and on.

Dec. 15th--That afternoon sitting in living room and thought I had a glazing of mucus over my eye..went to bathroom and nothing was there. Come to find out I had become blind in the half peripheral of my left eye.

Dec. 16th--Went and saw my optometrist (regular eye doctor). He dilated my eyes and found nothing wrong with my eyes. Said I must of had been having an optical migraine to go home and rest and it should go away in a few hours. Low and behold..it did not go away the whole weekend.

Dec. 19th--Went and saw Dr Mayans (Opthalmologist) He also dilated my eyes and said he did not find anything wrong with my eyes either but said it's definitely not a migraine..must be something neurological. Referred me to Dr. Gurru ASAP.

Dec. 19th--Saw Dr. Gurru Ran a Vision field test and scheduled me for MRI for next day

Dec. 20th--Went in for MRI...could not do the closed MRI..freaked out so ended up doing the CAT scan instead with IV iodine. Took 7 vials of blood for testing.

Dec. 21st --Back to Dr Gurru--Told me it was possibly PsuedoTumor Cerebri that he does she a tumor/mass growing putting pressure on my optic nerve causing the blindness. Still has not ruled out Multiple Sclerosis.

Dec. 23rd--Saw Dr. Patel (Internist) for high blood pressure. Got full physical on body. Let me tell ya..it was FULL physical..poked prodded EVERYWHERE..ha Put on new blood pressure medication.

Dec. 27th--Red blood blister type circles show up on my face--doctor assumes it is stress. Open MRI done (successful) wasn't bad when put on Xanex. Didn't think I was claustrophobic until put into that situation. Thought I was being shot by a machine gun..hammered with a jack hammer at other times...and going to be vibrated to death ..just very annoying.

Dec. 28th-Saw Dr. Gurru again--Said found nothing on MRI except swelling on my brain. There is no tumor/mass. Too much bone around the eyes to tell the first time with Cat Scan. Says that I will have to have a Lumbar Tap (Spinal Tap) done in Midland. If too much pressure on brain they will relieve it by taking out some of the spinal fluid.

Dec. 29th Day- Saw Dr. Van Riper (Another OBGYN) Period still hasn't stopped or slowed-I went in and without him introducing himself or anything he said..oh you are very obese and have you ever talked to a bariatric doctor? I guess with everything that had been going on over the past week or so..I just lost it. seriously lost it. I just sat and bawled. Thank God my mom was in there cause I didn't hear much after that what he was saying. He did an exam and said that my lining was thinning to spare you the rest of the details and that I should be stopping pretty soon and sure enough I finally stopped that evening. PRAISE GOD!! After having a period since November 7th..I seriously thought I was bleeding to death. I know I know TMI! But it was horrendous with having to deal with that on top of everything else. I finally settled down..but was pretty stressed the rest of the day. I was so sick of doctors telling me that i was obese that I needed bariatric surgery...and Dr Van Riper nor Dr Lively were nice about it at ALL. I mean..there are nicer ways to tell someone they are fat. It's not like I don't look in the mirror everyday. Besides..all this started happening when I've been losing weight..so it's really hard for me to understand it all.

Dec. 29th NIGHT-About 10:30 at night I was sitting on the couch and not feeling right. I started feeling kind of panicked. My chest started pounding..I felt like something was sitting on my chest. Very bad headache..jittery. I thought maybe my blood pressure was up..so I went to take it and I couldn't even sit still enough to let Mike take it for me. I basically ripped it off of my arm and said we have to go to the ER. My Mom and Dad were already on their way to take care of Zoee..but that's a 30 min. drive and so Mike just grabbed Zoee out of her sleep and we bolted out the door. I thought I was having a heart attack really. I was in the ER for 5 hours and still not settled down. They gave me two big shots and I was still jittery time I got home. I finally got to sleep around 3 am...then had to be up again to do the spinal tap by 10:30. By this time..I was sooo exhausted and weak.

Dec. 30th-Spinal Tap day-We traveled over to the RadIology dept in Midland to do the Spinal Tap. I waited for an hour for the Radiologist tech to come out..he came out took me back and checked my weight..we came back out and he said..I'm sorry we are not going to be able to do it. YOu cap the weight capacity for our table for the flouroscope table for the lumbar tap. I said you have got to be kidding me. So what am I going to do?? He said he was going to talk to Dr. Gurru (who happened to out of town because of the holiday) and talk to the Radiologist and get back to me to wait back in the waiting room. I was so pissed off. Like seriously..nothing is made for overweight people. He came back out and said no they weren't going to be able to do it. That they are going to go ahead and start the treatment with the IV steriod drug. I have to go for three days from about 6 pm to 8:30 pm to be hooked up to a drip. Let me tell ya..this is no cake walk. This steriod is no joke..it's strong and unrelenting..especially at night.

Dec. 31st--Round 2 of IV treatment of steriod 6-9 this time. This steriod makes me hungry, thirsty..jittery..heart to palpitate funny..race.. forget sleeping when you are all amped up..I have had a constant headache even though I'm on migraine medication. I would hate to see what it would be like if I wasn't on medication. The next day my hips, legs, and knees hurt..basically joints. It also leaves the most nasty taste in your mouth during and after for about 3-4 hours like you've been sucking on a metal.

Jan. 1st--Round 3 of IV treatment of steriod--hopefully this is my last night of this. I'm sick of being stuck. I've been poked and prodded everywhere. I will be seeing Dr. Gurru again sometime this week to see about further treatment. Not sure if I will be going somewhere else..if they have a machine big enough for the fluroscope procedure to take this pressure off..if not I might have to get a shunt put in either brain or spine to take it off. That is scary cause that means surgery.