BAD news about my eye

[Guest guest]

Well, I thought I had an eye infection but it turned out that I just had my second confirmed bout of Optic

Neuritis, which has caused me to lose the vision in my right eye (my

good eye!) Optic Neuritis is inflammation of the Optic nerve. This

basically means that my eye can see but its messages to my brain aren't

arriving because my optic nerve is inflamed. The Ophthalmologist I

went to said that I had central vision blindness, which means I can't

see what is straight ahead (it's very dark/dim so I can't make out any

details) but I can see a little of what is around me. Really though I

can make out shapes but everything is gray or black, At the Dr. office

I couldn't even see the eye chart! I only saw a black box with what

looked like a dark gray box inside of it, that's it.

My vision will come back though but it will take time and it varies

on how good I will be able to see out of that eye. I had Optic

Neuritis in 1993 but that was in my left eye (bad eye) and I don't use

it for reading, seeing things, I use my right eye for that and right

now it's useless. I thought that I had Optic Neuritis again in 2002 in

the left eye but it wasn't as bad so I'm not really sure if I did or

not.

My Ophthalmologist and the specialist Ophthalmologist both said that

I have Multiple Sclerosis (MS) because that is what usually causes

Optic Neuritis. I want to get an MRI to prove it but I probably do

have MS. I want to find an Neurologist after I have it confirmed to

see if I can start on MS medication to prevent a recurrence. My

Ophthalmologist isn't concerned about it happening again but they are my eyes

and I need them to work and do the things I love to do. I would

definitely rather be Deaf than Blind especially now since I have so

many connections/friends in the Deaf community. I'm not saying that I

will go blind from this episode but I am very concerned about it since

it has now affected my right eye (good eye.)

The specialist Ophthalmologist I saw today recommended steroids as a

treatment to reduce the inflammation in my optic nerve and speed up

returning my vision. I've decided to agree to the steroid treatment.

I will have 3 days of IV steroids and 10 days of oral steroids. I hope

it works and I get my vision back FAST!

Steroids cause increased appetite and weight gain but I'm hoping to limit the amount of weight I gain. I asked the Dr. what I should do to keep from gaining a lot and he told me to limit liquids because steroids cause water weight gain and to eat healthy. He said that I can exercise during treatment and that the steroids will give me A LOT of energy.

If you are a Christian, please pray for me. If you are not please think good thoughts. I'm sure not having very good luck the last couple of years. I was just diagnosed with Hypothyroidism and now this!

Jenp.s. if you can think of any other tips for limiting weight gain while taking steroids please let me know. Thanks!