MetamorphosiS - ep. 2 - Breathe, just breathe!

The Visual Field Exam - 12:00 a.m.

It feels good to finally be able to sit in a ventilated room! Ahh, the joys of air conditioning! Hehe! Outside’s a burning hell. Joys of living in the city, it’s all boiling! Wait! They called my name!

- Miss Alexis Celic?

- Yes!

- Come with me, please. We will see you now. Have you ever had a visual field exam done before?

- No, this is my first time.

- OK, no problem then! You’ll have to wear this eye-patch. Which eye has issues… the right one. OK. Let’s cover it. Thaat’s right! Now put your chin over here, please… Like so, yes! And now try to stay still while flashing dots appear in front of your eye. Also try to push this button immediately as you see each dot. OK? Questions?

- It’s all very interesting. And I have only one single question: do I need to get ALL the dots right?

- The purpose of this test is to measure how accurate your vision is. Try to push the button as you see a dot, do not force it, but try to pay attention to their succession.

- OK, thank you. I’m so curious about how it will turn out. Let’s begin.

This looks kindda simple to do. No fuss about it. They’ll tell me that my eyes are tired. All that computer work took its toll. Hmmm… there are not so many dots appearing here. I’m kindda getting bored…. Oh, look! Down there! Lots of them… but close to none up here.

- OK, Alexis! We’re done with this eye, let’s do the other one to compare. Are you ready?

- Yes, let’s get it over with.

Hmm, this one is brighter. Ohh, loook! So many dots! Much more than on the other eye. I feels like I’m playing an arcade game.. or Counter Strike! Wait ‘till I tell Dimi that I trained for beating his ass! … I’m good at this. I could go on and ooon.. What? Finished? Already? Hehe!

- Alexis, we’re done. You can wait outside, and we will call you when your results are ready.

- So fast?

- Yes, we only need to print those out.

- OK, I’ll wait here then.

See? That was not that bad. First visual field exam ever! Hopefully the last too. … I so need a vacation! August seems so far away… tomorrow I’m back to work… and on and on… But then I’ll have two weeks off. Finally!.. And will…

- Alexis?...

- Yes, doctor!

- Here are your results, dear. But I must tell you, even if they turned out this way, you need not worry for all things can be treated. You should get these interpreted by your eye doctor.

- What do you mean “even if they turned out this way”? Is there something wrong?

- I cannot tell you that. The upper eye quadrant seems a little damaged, but it will all have a reason for why it is like this. Don’t be scared, dear!

- OK… Thank you!

- With pleasure!

- Have a good day!

- You too!

What was that all about? Half my eye is damaged? In what way? And why … Ohh, wait!  Let’s look at the results. The upper side of my right eye turned out black… aaand… the left is… is normal. What the hell?! This is not OK. Why I have the feeling this is gonna last a long time to be over with? Calm down, Alexis! Calm down! It’s all OK! You’ve had eye issues before and it all came out ok in the end…. It will all go away!

Enter the Neurologist  - 14:00 p.m.

I’m scared. Why am I so scared? It’s just a doctor’s appointment. He’ll probably tell me I’m alright and that I need to take better care of myself. It’s just nothing! But why do I feel that today something is going to be different? Look, my right eye seems to be better. Oh, wait! It’s not. Back to blurry again. What is taking so long? I’m getting anxious waiting here. I just want to get back home and relax. I’ve been up since 7 a.m.! Already done with my first appointment.. I just want it to be over! I’m hungr…

- Miss Celic?

- Yes! I’m over here.

- You can come in now.

So this is the neurologist that’s gonna see me. I’m curious. I’ve never been to a neurologist before. He’ll test my motor reflexes and stuff. That’s new. Let’s close this door.

- Have a seat, Miss Celic.

- Thank you!

- What seems to be the problem?

- My right eye is blurry. I just came from having my visual field exam.. Here are the results they gave me! (God, he’s so serious and mostly quiet… and me standing here with all this anxiety… calm down Alexis, calm down… )

- I see… Have you had this kind of problems before?

- Yes, but mostly they were all minor issues, tht went out relatively quick.

- Let’s have a look at you. Come over here and lay down!

He’s gonna test my reflexes, I know it. But then again, he’s not that talkative.. I would have wanted to ask him a few things. I have quite a few questions…

- What can I say.. You are all right.

- I’m glad to hear that!

- The only issue we have is the right eye. Tell me, how well can you see this color?

- Rrrred! it’s a dark red… The sensation I get is like I have a grey foil on my eye, and that distorts colors. It desaturates them a little.

- Do you see it grey or red?

- 50% - 50%... it depends. This morning my sight was a bit better, but now I think I am tired.  I never payed attention at how I saw colors.

- You see, this is exactly the problem. You say you had this issue for… how many days now?

- Ahmm.. about 3-4 days.

- And it’s never happened before?

- Not like this, no.

- Let me ask you something. Do you know what Multiple Sclerosis is?

- I’ve read something, but I honestly don’t know much about it.

- It’s a neurological chronic disease. It’s uncurable, but nowadays we can treat it. There are ways that you can live with it and have little to no issues. I’m not saying you have it, but optic neuritis is one of the first symptoms in about 25% of the cases. You should be aware of this possibility. What I recommend, as you only have one pair of eyes, is that you should be hospitalised for 3 to 5 days, and be treated intravenuously with 1000 ml of corticosteroids a day. The hospital is five minutes away from here. You go there, check in and have your treatment.

Hospital? Needles? Intravenous??? Hell NO! How did it come to this?! Why now?

- But… But my family doesn’t know that I’m going there. I have no clothes, no nothing. I need to get home first and prepare. I will consider going tomorrow.

- It’s your call. But if I was in your place I would go today to start my treatment. The longer you postpone treatment, the dangerous it will be for your eyes’s health. I’ll say it again, you only have two eyes. Getting quick treatment or waiting for the problem to worsen is all your decision.

- Of course I want to get better and take care of my eyes. I not only need them for seeing, but for my photography as well.

- It’s up to you. Go home, prepare, but go have your treatment. It’s the best thing you could do in your case. Do you have any more questions?

- No, thank you doctor!

- Glad I could help you.

- Thank you again! Goodbye!

- Goodbye and lots of health!

Deeeeeep breath, Alex, deeeep breeaaath! It’s all OK. It has to be. What will I tell mum and dad? And Dimi? … Breathe….just breathe! Let’s call dad.

- Dad? Are you home? … I need to tell you something!

(continue to Ep. 3 - And so it begins...)

(go back to Ep. 1 - Just a normal weekend)

(to read Episode 1 - click here)