Handling A New Attack On My Eye

What happened in March was not how I thought I’d spend my NMO awareness month. I’ve tried writing this several times but every time I write, things continue to change. It truly has been a mess of emotions from frustration to relief to confusion.

March 12th started like any other day. I woke up, fed the cats, made coffee, did my chores for the day, and relaxed with my little fur baby. It was all good and all normal. Jump to the evening and that’s when things started to change.

As I was watching a movie, a dull pain started happening behind my right eye, my bad eye that’s had the most damage from this disease. But other than that, things were okay.

Another attack beginning

March 13th at 4:00am, I woke up to feed my cat. What I didn’t see out of that right eye made me sick. It was getting blurry and color was fading. This is another attack. As I sat in my room doing all sorts of tests, it really was the beginning of a flare up.

So I laid in bed in tears, waiting for neurology to open so I could talk about it. Once it was time, they were all in meetings which meant more waiting. It was anxiety and stress to the max while I waited.

Luckily someone called within an hour, I was very impressed. We discussed that I did not want to go to the hospital with too many sick people. I wasn’t ready to get anything else on top of what was going on. We decided to have me start out by going to my eye doctor, which I agreed with happily.

An eye exam

March 14th I was rushed right to the eye doctor. He made room in his schedule and squeezed me in. He is also my last doctor that I have that has been with me through a few other NMO attacks in the past.

We went through normal check up routines and had a few pictures taken of my eyes. By this point I was much calmer that it was just attacking my already bad eye. The attack seemed to be going after the same spots as it did before. I could still see light in the top left corner of my eye.

No super stress yet - and then he returned with my results. My mind could not stop playing scenarios, but my optic nerve was fine.

Forming a plan

We discussed a few more things and then told me he wants to connect with my neurologist and discuss next steps. I had been vocal with both of them that I am okay, and want to take my time with this. I also wanted to find a doctor who wanted to maybe try different approaches since I wasn’t super worried about this eye.

March 15th we started with a phone call at breakfast. The two doctors chatted and were ready to discuss what’s next for me. They both agreed a hospital visit was in order. My only concern was being in a very packed emergancy room with all the sneezing and coughing. But they understood and helped me out. They made it so I can just come in to a bed that was ready.

All was settled and I was told I will be doing the PLEX treatment and have it be outpatient. I discussed my concerns with the use of steroids to which they really fought me on, but eventually let it go for now.

Another trip to the hospital

All I had to do now was go pack my bag and get situated. I showered and took a nap with my cat. The best medicine is animals, I swear. Remember that! Then before I knew it, it was time to make my way to the hospital. I hugged and kissed my little baby girl and left the house in tears. It really never gets easier sadly.

Has anyone else had a recent attack on their vision? How did your doctors decide to treat you?