23 April, 2014

Diagnosis Unknown

On December 31st I came down with the flu. Fantastic timing really, being the first year I had actually found a New Years Eve party to go to that wasn't at my home. It was only natural my body would decide then was the best time to be the sickest I have ever been as an adult. So, needless to say, I was pretty stoked when my fever quickly climbed from 99 to 102.

I had hoped a nap would make me feel slightly better so I could join my friends and boyfriend at the other party, but no, it became pretty clear to me that would not be an option. Luckily, I have the best friends, family, and boyfriend anyone could ask for...They moved the party to my house so I could be a part of their celebration even if I couldn't leave my room.

On January 2nd I broke down and went to the doctor. I had yet to receive my new (awesome) health insurance card, so I had hoped I could beat this without an office visit. They made me wear a mask, and was diagnosed with the flu. Many prescriptions were written and I was sent on my way.

That evening I was sitting in my living room when I noticed a flashing light in my right eye. "Great," I thought, "Now I'm getting a migraine." I already had a fever, so might as well have a migraine too! I braced myself for the inevitable onset of pain, but it never came. In fact, when I woke up in the morning the next day the light was still there. I called my mom for about the millionth time since I came down with the flu (because seriously, all you want is your mom to take care of you when you're sick, even when you're an adult) to complain about the light. She suggested that maybe it was the medication I was taking and that it would hopefully go away in the next few days. I thought that sounded about right, and patiently waited for the light to go away.

But it didn't. So after my insurance card came (about February-ish) I decided since I have awesome health insurance that I should maybe see a doctor. My first visit was to a new eye doctor (who is great, by the way). He put those crazy dilating drops in my eyes and looked inside.

Which I thought was HILARIOUS.
He told me I had stretchmarks in the back of my right eye, lattice dystrophy, and a vitreoretinal tuft. He told me not to do things where I could hit my head (specifically, no boxing), and that the flashing light should go away in a month. I scheduled an appointment for a month and waited.

Well, it didn't go away. So when I went back to the eye doctor he gave me two potential diagnoses: the first would be an atypical migraine, and the second "way down at the bottom of the symptoms list" would be MS. My heart dropped a little when he said the latter. He said "not to worry," but he was ordering an MRI just to rule it out.

So my next step was the MRI. I met with my primary care doctor (who seemed less than pleased at the possible MS diagnosis) so she could help get the MRI process going. She also scheduled my an appointment with a neurologist (so many doctors).

While I waited for the MRI to be approved by my insurance, I completed (and aced) a visual field test at my eye doctor and was told that it "definitely wasn't an eye thing, and was probably a brain thing."

I had the MRI (was not thrilled about it), and got the results a few days later. The newest diagnosis was a slight chiari malformation (aka a saggy brain as I liked to call it), but NOT MS. So I went to the neurologist who assured me the chiari malformation is SO minimal I would never show any symptoms, and the light was definitely not caused by it. BUT he found something else behind my right eye - possibly a benign tumor (fantastic!). So he ordered another MRI (ALSO FANTASTIC!) to investigate.

So I had the second MRI (And got this cool picture of my brain that refuses to post here for some reason). Oh, yeah, I also got every blood test known to mankind done. And the results? Normal. Everything normal; blood and MRI (with the exception of a slight vitamin D deficiency). I have an asymmetrical something-bone in my skull which they believed was the mass the neurologist found behind my eye.

I am relieved and confused. Because while everything has come back fine and normal, I still have this light, flashing away, in my right eye. Luckily, it doesn't really bother me. I barely notice it if I'm using both my eyes. I started this whole process just to have an answer as to why it would be happening, and here I am months later not being any closer to an answer. Although, on the positive side, I do know I'm tumor and MS free!

I had planned to post this entry since I've kept this whole process on the down-low, but my plan was to post it after they had found out what the problem was. Now that I'm thinking I wont really get an answer, I figured now was as good a time as any to write this. I have a few more things to wait for, as my neurologist seems pretty determined to help get me an answer, but I'm not real confident I will get anything definitive at the point. I'm frustrated and grateful all at the same time, but we shall see what the future holds!