Hello All,
  
An eye update — all good news although the mystery remains…
 
I survived my MRI Wednesday night (I thought 9:30 was bad but some poor girl was there when I left at 10:40!). They sent me home with a CD copy of the scans, which of course I sat up well past midnight comparing the other three CDs I have in my growing little collection. My doctor called me late Thursday evening to say that there are no signs of MS or anything really bizarre.  Diagnosis remains Optic Neuritis, cause as yet unknown.  He said the muscles are not quite as inflammed as last time, which is good news.  Shorter healing time means less chance of any further permanent damage.
 
I had another VFT (visual field test) done this morning.  The eyes are both up around 80% (they were at only 60% last week) – THANK YOU GOD!!  I have to have another one done next week as I step down the steroids again but definitely moving in the right direction.  Also the color vision is back to almost normal.  Red is such a lovely color – especially if you haven’t seen it in a week or three.
 
So for now the plan is to finish out the remaining days of steroids, possibly taking on another 5-10 days at a very low dose depending on next week’s VFT.  I’m surviving this round of Prednisone much better than last time, although it still messes with sleeping.  At least the Ambien nights make for some great journal entries – they make sense for the first page…. then… well… stream of consciousness – YIKES!
 
My doctor has given me STRICT orders – change the Bob Dylan music on my phone because Bob Dylan writes good songs, he just can’t sing worth a damn – which led to a forty minute comparison of Ipods and favorite folk singers.  Oh yeah and ANY visual disturbances going forward, I have to go for VFTs (no more blankie-over-the-head stuff).  Until now, I’ve avoided that because I’ve labled such vision problems as migraines, eye strain, stress, exhaustion… pretty much anything that doesn’t involve docs & meds…(yes-  Queen of Denial isn’t just my favorite latte)

On a MUCH happier note vacation starts for me soon. I’m taking a week off by myself holing up in a hotel somewhere with my laptop, the opening chapters of my newest writing project, some good music, a lot of coffee and some seriously dark chocolate.   The answers to this eye thing will come eventually and much as it scares the hell out of me when it happens, for now this episode is passing and there’s not much else that can be done about it.  The mystery surrounding this remains and I suppose in addition to surrender, I must learn patience.  My friends and family have been a huge source of support for me, although reaching out is not always easy for me.  Perhaps a lesson in humility as well?
What I do know for certain is that God has given me much to be thankful for and much to ponder.