Ophthalmology Appointment…..Part 2 July 15th
Sorry for a delay in this post, this has taken me a while to
get my head around this one, also I haven’t been well again plus two weeks to
get my act together with my blogging again but I will try to explained what happened.
Specsavers had found an abnormal result on my Field Vision
test. They had referred me to the Luton & Dunstable Hospital for further
investigation so on Tuesday 30th June I went for the appointment.
It was so frigging hot in the hospital, as you walked
through the main doors the heating was still pumping out of the main blowers
over the doors!!! For Pete’s sake…..you want to save the NHS money? Start right
there David Cameron!!! You don't need to be a frigging genius it’s nearly forty
degrees outside, maybe just maybe it’s time to switch the heating off…der… this
will save us a bit of money, don't ya think???!!!! Rant over.
First of all they did the usual eye test but this was with
my glasses on. Pass.
Then I had another “field eye test”. This one was a bit
more technologically advanced than Specsavers, they took my glasses and entered
the prescription into the computer. They then put a plastic looking lens into a little stand just about where my eye would be, once I had rested one of my many chin's on the chin rest. They covered my left eye with a pirate like patch and
started the machine. I had to concentrate on an orange spot at the centre of
the screen and every white light I saw out of the corner of my eye (my peripheral vision), I would
have to press a button that I had in my hand. Easier said than done! The white
lights were all different sizes, shapes, brightness, near and far.
Next I went to see the Ophthalmologist Doctor. She said she
had reviewed my results from both my “Field Vision Eye Tests” and unfortunately
there was a problem with my peripheral vision and quite serious too. Then they
showed me this.
This is not my results but near as damn it. To explain it
simply the blacked out area is the area of peripheral vision that I cannot see!
And she said because it is on the left side of the line it means that it is my
brain that is causing it, not my actual eyes. She explained if she hadn't already received my notes, she would be sending me for an MRI because she would
be concerned that I may have a brain tumour, had a stroke or a brain bleed but
knowing I had an AVM, I had done the whole procedure the opposite way round.
Now
this has confirmed where and what the AVM is affecting. My AVM is large and is
in the temporal and occipital lobes. The occipital lobe is
important to being able to correctly understand what my eyes are seeing. These
lobes have to be very fast to process the rapid information that our eyes are
sending. Similar
to how the temporal lobe makes sense of auditory information. The occipital lobe
makes sense of visual information so that we are able to understand it. If our
occipital lobe was impaired or injured, we would not be able to
correctly process visual signals, thus visual confusion would result. The big question is, is mine temporarily damaged or
god forbid permanently damaged.
It really doesn't make sense, sometimes I can see
perfectly fine, other days not so good. On the day of the test I thought I wasn't so bad but the doctor told me I had failed the test and that I was not
allowed to drive. She could not guarantee that I would ever drive again either.
She said that maybe if the AVM could be removed I would get my sight back but
maybe it would make it worse, I would have to seek advice from the specialists
at UCLH. I give her dues, she must have had one hell of a tough ass with all
those splinters in it, sitting on the fence like that must have been taught at
university. I can see it now “Tough Butts 101” with private after school hours,
breakaway splinter groups, popping up everywhere lol. In fact as much as I joke
about it, I do have a lot of respect for her, she was as honest as she could be
and she wasn't going to hide anything but I guess she doesn't have all the
answers.
They want to keep a regular check on my eyes now
and I will have to see them every 4 months, my next appointment has already
come for November sometime. All these appointments, I will have to have a separate
diary just for them!
