Clear Vision

Today was the 1st of many BIG, hopefully very informative appointments to come in the next few weeks. This morning I had an appointment with a Neuro-ophthalmologist. My neurologist didn't think I needed to see one, but I felt that I needed to have a neurologist whose specializes in eyes check and give us confirmation on how my eyes were doing.
I was very impressed with everyone we met today. I had a visual field test that took a long time and was hard for me and the technician was very patient and gave me breaks as needed so that I could give my eyes and neck a break.
My neurologist seems to minimize everything from symptoms to concerns and it really bothers me. Yes there are many others who have had way worse strokes, but I had one too and for us this is a big thing.
No one made me feel that way today. No one minimized what I had been through. No one told me I shouldn't be there. Instead they looked at my MRI's and read my file before they came in to see me. They knew I had been through a big event and that I was there for a good reason. They were grateful that I was getting my eyes looked at.
Thankfully we got all good news!! The best thing they told us was that there's no lasting damage from the stroke!!! They were very interested in the results from the visual field test. The test showed that I have NO visual gaps. The told us that they were very surprised that I have no visual problems from the stroke because I had multiple little strokes in my optical lobe.
The 1st symptom after my stroke was a black spot with no vision and red & green squiggly lines in a horse shoe shape. This sounded absolutely normal for where my stoke was. They made me feel normal in my symptoms and concerns. They also said it was normal to see the visual disturbances on the left side while I had right side weakness, and that it was probably in both eyes and not just my left eye. They asked about tracking issues and testing my eyes separately right after the stroke, but I honestly couldn't remember either of them. I told them I was so stressed that I had to have Valium in the ER. The doctor told me he probably would have had needed some himself too. That made me feel like I wasn't going crazy with my feelings.
I was able to ask some other questions about my eyes. I told them I have black and white static all the time. It's called 'visual snow' and there is nothing I can do about it. It doesn't cause any problems, it's just bothersome. They told us that they see visual snow in a lot of migraine suffers like me. They brought up a website that simulated what someone with visual snow sees. I describe is as static on a tv set. Sometimes it's worse then other times. I've had it for as long as I can remember, so I've just learned to live with it.
I also have visual floaters. We didn't talk much about them, but they are also harmless and something I just have to deal with. I see them mostly in bright lights, and especially in the bright sun.
They told us my optical nerve and muscles in my eyes looks great. I have no signs of early cataracts or macular degenerative disease which I've been told runs in my moms side of the family.
We talk about my photo sensitivity or extreme sensitivity to light. They turned on the florescent lights and I had to close my eyes. I was reassured that after brain trauma that photo sensitivity is common and will get better with time. We talked about what I already do to lesson the light hurting my eyes. I wear sunglasses and hats alot of the time. I don't use overhead lights when I can avoid them, but use softer indirect lights. He told me that doing things in the dark will not make my eyes worse. If I need to read in a darker room to go ahead and do it without worry of making my eyes worse. That's a good thing because the darker the better right now.
Since the doctor was also a neurologist he prescribed me a medicine that I'll take every night before bed that is suppose to stop me from getting so many headaches. I see the doctors at the headache clinic on May 9th, and this way we can have 1 of the many different types of medicines tested out before the appointment. Also one of the side effects of this medicine is that It'll help me sleep better. A big positive for me right now!
I'm going to go see another ophthalmologist that specialized in lenses. They can test me and see what color light I am most sensitive to, and I can get sunglasses made that will stop the light wave from bothering me so much. They'll hopefully be even better for me then my polarized glasses. I'm excited to try to lesson my sensitivity to light.
I have been so impressed with almost every doctor & nurse at the University of Iowa Hospital. I had always just gone there for specialists and done everything else through Mercy hospital affiliated doctors. I look back and see the blessings from not being able to get into my regular doctors office and needing to receive care at the University hospital instead last October. Since all my information is on my file there, any new doctor I see there knows my history and takes my concerns seriously from the beginning. I'm grateful I was established with my care there before my stroke happened. It's made all the appointments so much easier.