I Can't See

The start of 1995 found me living outside of Grand Junction, Colorado on top of a mountain called The Monument. This in itself is a wild story but does not fit on the autoimmune part of my site.

Anyway, I was working in Grand Junction at the time as the Head Nurse of an Alzheimer's Wing in a local nursing home. On this particular morning, my alarm went off as usual and I got up to get ready for work.  As I was getting ready, all of a sudden my vision started getting dark... closing in on itself from the outside. I thought I was getting ready to pass out so I moved to sit down quick so I didn't fall when I passed out.

I was momentarily confused. How could I still be standing when it *looked* like I should have fainted?  And when would it hit me? Then a realization hit me!

I was not going to faint. That is not why my vision faded.  I just could no longer see. I was blind.  Before I could form all the questions, concerns, and fears in my mind, my vision was back. I do not know how long it was gone.... maybe two to four minutes. Long enough to scare me.  Things seemed to be normal once my vision returned so I finished getting ready and drove the 45 minutes to work.

As I walked the hall to my wing, everyone was asking the same thing.  What's wrong with your eyes? I answered nothing and was told to look in the mirror. I was shocked to see that the whites of my eyes were blood red. There was absolutely no white to be seen. Anywhere!  I had never seen anything like it nor had any of the other nurses.  Everyone convinced me that I should get in to see the eye doctor immediately.

I called the eye doctor and was told to come right in. The doctor saw my eyes and heard my story of momentary blindness but had no words. He had never seen anything like it himself. He left me with the admonishment to watch it and if it got any worse to come back. LOL... How much worse could it get?

I never knew what happened and it has never returned... at least to that degree. I do have some graying of vision but my sclera has never been turned red.

It must have been, what?

A JO thing!

Destination JO | Home
My Story | Story Index
Diagnoses Index | Update Index
Websites | Email Me

You are listening to Memories from the musical Cats, written by
Andrew Lloyd Webber and T.S. Eliot. I felt this song was a perfect selection
for this site because of the affiliation I feel with Grizabella. Although for her,
it was age and not health issues that changed her, neither of us are who we
were before, on the outside, and it can affect how we feel on the inside.

Disclaimer:
The author of this page does not promote, support, or recommend any
particular treatment or medication for any medical condition. The opinions
expressed in stories or links are the responsibility of their authors.
No treatment should be undertaken without the supervision of a physician.