Finally. An Answer.

Today was my visit to the Retinal Specialist to find out exactly has been going on with my left eye. Last week I was at Credit Valley Hospital for an Optical Imaging Test where they seriously dilate your eyes, and numb them and then take a series of photos while injecting you with a dye. The point of the test was to see the dye flowing through my eye to determine the extent of the bleed. (It turns out I’m allergic to the dye and I came out in hives but only on the side of the injection and they went away very quickly.)

Here is a photo of my test results.

I know it looks like a giant boob but it is actually the inside of my eye. I apologize for the quality of the shot but my eyes were dilated and I took it with my phone. Here it is close up.

See the area there that I’ve circled in black? That is my bleed. The darker part in the center is pigmentation and the area around that is the blood. The increased pigmentation is caused by a retinal scar that I’ve had for more than 5 years. I don’t know how or when I got it but it’s there. This scar caused some extra blood vessels to form inside my eye and for some reasons, they burst causing me to lose the centre of my vision in the left eye. Essentially, the blood was blocking my retina. It turns out I have an occult bleed (I may not be spelling that right) which means it is bleeding slowly, as opposed to a classic bleed which is like a fountain.

The good news is the first time I went to see the Retinal Specialist I could only read the very top and largest line of the eye test chart. This time I could read it plus 3 or 4 below it. I did notice yesterday that I could see a little more through the centre of my spot than I could a few days ago.

The bad news is if it doesn’t clear up on its own, I will require a needle directly in my eye. The will freeze it for me first, but . . .

This is now a weak spot and may happen again and my vision may not go back to 20/20 but I’m so glad to finally have an answer. I know there are so many people out there with more serious issues to deal with, and my heart goes out to them. I’ve been dealing with this for a few months now and didn’t realize how much it was weighing on me. Now that I know exactly what it is and know what needs to be done about it, I feel as though a weight has been lifted. I'm almost looking forward to that needle!

I’ll be sure to post a photo of myself when I have my eye patch!!!

I Think I'm Developing A Problem

Have I blogged about my new Log Your Memory Logbook yet? I got my first one just for December 2009 to see if I liked it, and I’m not embarrassed to admit I absolutely loved it. I’ve since ordered myself the 2010 edition and I use it every day. I haven’t quite managed to become involved in the online community as much as I would like but I do check the website frequently and have acquired many new ideas there.

I love to write in it about what has happened to me during the day. I particularly like to write with different coloured pens and do a bit of doodling and even do some key words or phrases in different colours. It makes me feel very creative. Plus, from a scrapbooker’s point of view it is full of great journaling/page ideas. I haven’t quite managed to keep up with them all but I know I will go back and create some pages from the journaling challenges I have managed to complete.

It accompanies me around the house along with my ‘basket of books’.I think I’m developing a bit of a problem here. I will admit I do have a thing for Moleskine notebooks. I just love them and am hoping to get a large one in pink one day.

Anyway, here they are. I’ve got one for my shopping lists and one for my digital pages. And one that I write down ideas for projects in.

Then there are my other notebooks. One for blog ideas, one for interesting stories I want to remember (I’ve never actually used this one!) my to do list and one for note writing.

Also in this basket are my phone/iPod ear buds, some post it notes, a pencil sharpener and my glue stick.

Plus there's my pencil case and my coloured pens for my Log Your Memory Logbook.

I even have some notebooks that aren’t here in my basket. At least 3. Oh dear.

Do I need a new basket?

Or should I stop accumulating so many notebooks?

Oh, and sometimes I even carry around my pencil crayons because I’ve started colouring.

I found some very cool colouring pages online and find it quite soothing to sit and colour while watching TV or while the girls are doing their homework.

That’s just a little peek into my life for today.