Sense of Humour is the Key to Survival

Night falls and a visual disturbance ensues. What could be going on? I am mostly recovered from a recent brain surgery. Did it not go as well as I was told? Is my optic nerve damaged? An urgent appointment took place the following day with my trusted Opthamologist. A battery of tests showed everything was normal. YAY!!!! Still, to be sure, he wanted me to see a Retina specialist. An appointment was made for 3 days later. (How quick was that!)

When we get our pupils dilated (not diluted....you know who you are) most of us are able to return to perfect vision after a couple of hours. Not me....my pupils are dilated for at least 12 hours. Once they put in the drops at this wonderful hospital clinic, they checked me periodically to see when they were fully dilated. After about a half hour, they were. I went in to see the good doctor and the examination began. Although, it seemed to have gone well, the doctor felt that since I was already there, perhaps a further test of the retina would be a good idea. This would involve a fluorescent dye injection and some really interesting pictures being taken.

I had another appointment (what else is new) a couple of buildings over with another doctor. I couldn't cancel this as it was too important. So, we all agreed that I would go over to the other appointment and when I was done, I would return to the Retina clinic for this fluorescent test.

Once I returned for the fluorescent test, the technician checked to see if my pupils were still dilated. This was over 3 hours since the original exam.....and yes, they were still dilated...no big surprise there. The technician who took the pictures was a hoot. Cracking jokes, answering question with humoured sarcasm and making the whole experience a little better. Then the resident is called in to administer the fluorescent dye by inserting a needle into a vein in my hand. I warned the poor guy....I told him my veins collapse and roll and don't like needles anymore since my experience with Chemo. He tried twice in my left hand....it hurt like hell and didn't work. (What a waste of pain) The stress of the second painful attempt brought on a hot flash and I wasn't in a position to fan myself. So, here was this male technician, sense of humour and all, fanning me down, while we wait for the Retina specialist to return so he could insert the needle instead. Finally, he is able to do it without much effort (shocking, I tell you) and the test is complete. The jokes are being told, the laughter is there and the whole process is virtually painless.

The results are in.....Normal. YAY!!!!!

But what happened was real, so there are two possibilities. The first is that there may have been a tiny blood clot in a vessel that moved through and repaired itself. The second is that it could have been related to the onset of a migraine. Since I didn't actually have a migraine while all this was going on, I am going to have to go with the first possibility. Either way, no harm was done, thankfully. The bonus is we now have a base line in case something goes awry from the upcoming radiation. We will know the cause immediately.

If you have to spend a whole day in a hospital with tests and waiting and more tests and more waiting....a sense of humour is the way to go.