Thursday, July 8, 2010

When it all Started

The beginning of my problems started back in 2003 when I was pregnant with my second son, Zachary.  At that time, I worked for an Ophthalmologist.  My day started out perfectly normal.  I was in the middle of doing a refraction on a patient, when all of a sudden, I started getting a spot in the middle of my vision in my left eye.  I stepped out of the exam room and went to sit down, not sure if what I was experiencing was real or because I had been in a dark room.  The central vision in my left eye continued to get darker and darker, and then darkness starting sneaking into my peripheral vision.  I then started getting all sorts of other strange sensations.  I felt my lips tingling, my face felt as if all the blood had drained from it, I started to feel weak and "out of it".  I called in a colleague of mine and apparantly I was slurring my speech, unable to coordinate my words or thoughts.  They took me into another room to do a visual field test (the benefits of actually being at work while this first occured).  I was basically blind in my left eye.  That day I don't recall ever feeling any head pain.  After about 15-20 minutes or so, my vision in my left eye returned.  I was driven home and I just felt completely drained and exhausted, but otherwise all other symptoms had subsided.  I called my ob/gyn to speak with the nurse, and since I wasn't in dire distress at the time, was just scheduled to come in the next day for a check-up.  I felt the baby moving and kicking about so was pretty sure he was fine despite my "episode".  My sister had a similar thing happen to her previously, which at that time her doctor said it was an "Ocular Migraine", so I assumed that was what had happend to me and didn't think too much of it and fell into a deep sleep for the rest of the day.  Little did I know that was just the start of worse things to come!

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