Aa
Neuro-Ophth Appt.
I LOVED her. I feel like I am in such good care now. Yay!
She ran the visual field test, acuity, color test and the OCT! She spent about 45 minutes just talking to me about my symptoms, running neurological eye examinations and reviewing my MRI then went over the results and her impression.
Here is the scoop --- she doesn't feel I am in a flare up right now and my tests came back relatively normal. She is not concerned about my double vision in the individual eys. She thinks that my not being well has created fatigue and the LASIK "haze" and astigmatism are more pronounced. She would like me to try mild powered reading glasses to see if it will reduce some fatigue and ease my discomfort there.
She is concerned with my double vision that I see with both eyes together. She is concerned with my color variances and saturation changes as well. She said the INO (which is gone at the moment) could have created a lot of my symptoms and that weakness is causing the double vision together. If my symptoms get worse, consistent, I am to come back in immediately.
She reviewed my MRI's and feels I have several lesions she can see. The one in the perventricular region that is as clear as day. She also pointed out a couple other areas that appeared to have smaller lesions which appear new. She wants to have a repeat MRI. She is glad that my MSologist had intended to do that so she doesn't have to request it.
She asked about my other tests and if I had a LP and VEP. I told her the LP was negative and gave her the VEPs. She said, that a VEP is anitquated in testing for optic nerve damage. She said it used to be that they used those because MRI's weren't all that easy to read. The other thing is ON is difficult to see on the MRI, enhancement is not consistent; so the OCT is the new MS measuring tool even over the MRI now. She feels LP punctures tend to give negative results if you are not flared and since it appears I'm early in the disease process it *would* be negative.
My OCT test reflected some thinning or atrophy. My results should have been in the higher 90's for both eyes but they are 82% and 86%. She said it's POSSIBLE that is normal for me but based on what she sees in the MRI, the OCT and my symptoms/history she supsects it's MS. She feels I need to be followed closely. She instructed me that I can't do hot yoga (I tried it this last week) and to stay cool. I told her I was trying to push through and see if I could acclimate. She told me that heat will in some cases actually flare and damage the CNS, that is why they stopped the hot bath tests years ago. She wasn't at all surprised that I react to heat/sun.
I was rather surprised and thrown off by her pointing out my lesions (that were MISSED BTW on all my MRI's) and the information she was giving me. It was AWESOME! Truth be told, I sort of felt I got a preliminary diagnosis today or at the very least validation. She DID say that it's possible some of my symptoms could be migraine related (I've not had issues with migraines) but the MRI tells her I need to continue being vigilant about MS. It may take some time. Never the less, I feel I am officially in the right hands. YAY!
I feel pretty good about this.
She ran the visual field test, acuity, color test and the OCT! She spent about 45 minutes just talking to me about my symptoms, running neurological eye examinations and reviewing my MRI then went over the results and her impression.
Here is the scoop --- she doesn't feel I am in a flare up right now and my tests came back relatively normal. She is not concerned about my double vision in the individual eys. She thinks that my not being well has created fatigue and the LASIK "haze" and astigmatism are more pronounced. She would like me to try mild powered reading glasses to see if it will reduce some fatigue and ease my discomfort there.
She is concerned with my double vision that I see with both eyes together. She is concerned with my color variances and saturation changes as well. She said the INO (which is gone at the moment) could have created a lot of my symptoms and that weakness is causing the double vision together. If my symptoms get worse, consistent, I am to come back in immediately.
She reviewed my MRI's and feels I have several lesions she can see. The one in the perventricular region that is as clear as day. She also pointed out a couple other areas that appeared to have smaller lesions which appear new. She wants to have a repeat MRI. She is glad that my MSologist had intended to do that so she doesn't have to request it.
She asked about my other tests and if I had a LP and VEP. I told her the LP was negative and gave her the VEPs. She said, that a VEP is anitquated in testing for optic nerve damage. She said it used to be that they used those because MRI's weren't all that easy to read. The other thing is ON is difficult to see on the MRI, enhancement is not consistent; so the OCT is the new MS measuring tool even over the MRI now. She feels LP punctures tend to give negative results if you are not flared and since it appears I'm early in the disease process it *would* be negative.
My OCT test reflected some thinning or atrophy. My results should have been in the higher 90's for both eyes but they are 82% and 86%. She said it's POSSIBLE that is normal for me but based on what she sees in the MRI, the OCT and my symptoms/history she supsects it's MS. She feels I need to be followed closely. She instructed me that I can't do hot yoga (I tried it this last week) and to stay cool. I told her I was trying to push through and see if I could acclimate. She told me that heat will in some cases actually flare and damage the CNS, that is why they stopped the hot bath tests years ago. She wasn't at all surprised that I react to heat/sun.
I was rather surprised and thrown off by her pointing out my lesions (that were MISSED BTW on all my MRI's) and the information she was giving me. It was AWESOME! Truth be told, I sort of felt I got a preliminary diagnosis today or at the very least validation. She DID say that it's possible some of my symptoms could be migraine related (I've not had issues with migraines) but the MRI tells her I need to continue being vigilant about MS. It may take some time. Never the less, I feel I am officially in the right hands. YAY!
I feel pretty good about this.
Wow it definately sounds like she is on the ball and working hard to find out what is going on with you - That is so great - I can imagine your relief - to finally find a Dr who listens to you and is actually interested in finding answers - this whole process is scary enough without having to deal with a Dr that is disinterested!
Keep us posted on your progress with her and it definitely sounds like we are getting closer to answers -
Have a great day
Hugs!!
Keep us posted on your progress with her and it definitely sounds like we are getting closer to answers -
Have a great day
Hugs!!
My next tests are the SSEP and seeing an ENT for my hearing issues. I hope to have those done in the next couple weeks.
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