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In February of 2007, I was heading up a big project at my job…that’s what we called it, “The Big Project”. We worked for hours gathering new materials for company policies and procedures that we hadn’t yet documented. It meant long hours in front of the computer, and my body began to show the signs. Mainly in the form of what I thought was eye strain. I was experiencing some intense headaches that mainly centered behind my eyes and were only relieved with copious amounts of Ibuprofen and a warm washcloth for a couple hours in the evening.

At that point, I decided I was way past due to get my four-year-old eyeglass prescription updated. Just prior to the appointment, I noticed my left eye starting to turn inward a little. I mentioned this to my Optometrist and she told me that if the problem was not corrected with my new glasses to come back. I decided that it might be in my best interest to have an Ophthalmologist look at my eyes. I went through my insurance website and found one nearby. I set up an appointment.

I went in and explained what had been going on. The doctor looked into my dilated right pupil and expressed concern. He quickly moved to my left eye and peered in. He said something about a tumor and left the room. I looked at my partner at the time and said, “Are you ready for some kinda of tumor thing because that’s what he just said?” My mind began to race understandably. I had no idea what I was about to be faced with, but it sounded bad, if not life-threatening. It didn’t even register with me that the doctor had left the room and rather left me hanging.

He returned in a few short minutes and began to explain what was going on. Pseudotumor Cerebri is a buildup of cerebra-spinal fluid in the head. It is called “pseudotumor” because it has the same effect on the brain as if a mass were present. The problems with my eyes were being caused by this buildup of fluid pressing on my optic nerves. He set up an appointment for me with a Neuro-Ophthalmologist and I would be going to seem him within the next couple days to figure out the next action to take.

Whew! This was all a lot of scary information to take in. I was pretty clear on what was going on, but everything was happening so fast. I had no idea what lay ahead and that the treatment that should have taken place would not happen in time.

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