My Health Journey - Part 1

Thank you all so much for your prayers, support, and very kind words. It is nice to be a part of this blogging community. I know I am new to it but I am enjoying you all. I felt that since you are all praying for my healing that I would share what this health journey has been. It is a little long but I think I can cover it in 2 parts. I hope that you hang in there because I would like all of your opinions and offers of advice.

On August 17, 2005 I woke up with double vision. Not just blurry but truly double vision. It wasn't to bad when I was looking at something cool like a hot fudge sundae but a dirty bathroom was horrible. And Yes I can hear you all singing Foreigner's Double Vision. I had no headache just double vision. After I had been experiencing it for about 3 days, I figured that it wasn't an after effect of the wine I had drank and decided to see my doctor. She ran tests, found nothing so she referred me to an eye specialist. Dr. Fox, the specialist, diligently ran every test he could think of. Did you know that they do angeo of the eye? He even sent me in for an MRI. Everything came back fine. No medical explanation for my double vision. That is when they sent me to Stanford University. Yep I got to go to the big wigs. The Director of Neuro-Opthmology examined me and called the Head of Neurology in and they took pictures and then proceeded to tell me that I had this horrible disease. It has a huge name but basically the outcome would be that my eyes would eventually freeze into place and I would have no movement. They sent me back to Redding and told me to come back in 3 months for a progress evalutation. Good News was that I wouldn't lose my vision, Bad News I could pass it down to my daughter. I remember crying my eyes out the entire way home, 4 hours of tears at what I was going to be giving my Daughter.

Upon returning home I continued to see my Eye Guy aka Dr. Fox. He requested another MRI, which again showed nothing. (I knew my head was empty :) ) With those findings or lack of findings, he sent me to a local neurologist that just scratched his head. He tested me for a few nasty diseases. Thankfully I had none of them. Three months flew by and I went back to Stanford. They talked to me for 10 minutes had nothing new to share with me and told me to come back in 3 months. As Craig, my husband, and I walked out of the exam room I told him I wasn't coming back. I had had enough. I was tired of being a guinea pig and not getting answers.

So I came home yet again. Climbed off my pity pot. Got online and shopped for some eye patches. I got some really pretty ones, even one with Pooh on it. Craig put electrical tape on the inside of one side of my sunglasses so that I could drive. I relearned my depth preception and away I went. I have always been very independent and during this time I really had to rely on others to help me. I always thought of the double vision as God's way to teach me humility, His way to make me ask for help.

Well 7 months after it all started, I woke up one morning and it was gone. I was so happy I cried and I praised my Heavenly Father and basically did a really embarrassing happy dance. I went in and saw my Eye Guy and Neurologist and they both had no clue what had happened to make it go away. But they also both said that they felt it was an "exasperation", my first episode of MS. I didn't claim it, think about it, or accept it. I went back to life with no electrical tape on my glasses, happily.

All was good until August 21, 2007.......

I will cover that in Part 2. Sorry for how long it is. I will be surprised if anybody gets this far but it feels awesome to just get it out.