It was the morning of May 6. It began like every other morning with the exception my right eye was killing me. I had assumed with Spring beginning to unfold, it was my allergies and hadn't thought much more about it. Medicine will take the pain away, I thought. I mentioned something about it to my husband and neither of us seemed to be too concerned with it. I took some allergy medicine, and figured I'd feel better before the day was done.
It was the week of May 13. The pain in my right eye was still present and now causing headaches. I still assumed it was my allergies as Spring was in full force. On the afternoon of May 14, I began noticing changes in my vision in my right eye. It was as though someone had taken my picture with a flash, and i could see the remanents of the bright flash everywhere I looked. On May 15, I finally broke down and decided to visit a doctor. I went to an urgent care clinic thinking it would be quicker and cheaper. If in fact it was allergies, they would know right away.
9:00AM: After spending what seemed like 30 seconds with the urgent care physician he informed me I would need to see an opthalmologist. They would be gracious enough to refer me to one and call with the information later that day.
12:00PM: Received a call from the opthalmologist office my appointment would be at 1:15. PERFECT, I thought. I get to see someone right away about this.
1:00PM: Arrived at Spectrum Health Opthalmologist and was seen right away. My eyes were dilated and numbed up. A series of tests were done on my eye, and a TON of really cool pictures of the back of my eye were taken. After approximately 3 hours, it was determined my optic nerve in my right eye was inflammed. I needed to begin a course of IV infusion of Prednisone to speed up the healing process and make the inflammation go away. I was then referred to a neuro-opthalmologist for continued care.
4:30PM: Began my first infusion of Prednisone through my IV. It took approximately an hour to complete. I was anxiously waiting to see the neuro-opthalmologist to determine what in the WORLD was wrong with me. This would be what the next 3 days would look like for me. Going to the hospital, receiving my Prednisone through IV, and waiting.
May 16: My first appointment with the neuro-opthalmologist. He talks to me about my test results from a couple days before and mentions I need to have an MRI of my brain to determine the cause of the inflammation. THIS IS JUST MY ALLERGIES, I thought. I don't know WHY I need an MRI for allergies, but whatever. I was told in 24 hours his office would call me and let me know the results of the MRI. Thank GOD i'm not waiting 2 weeks to find out, I thought.
May 17: It's Midnight. I should be home asleep, instead, I'm at the hospital getting ready for an MRI of my brain. I NEVER thought I'd be afraid or nervous, or anxious about having a medical test done, but this was scary. I'm slightly claustrophobic and that machine can make ANYONE feel uncomfortable. As the test began I did the ONLY thing I knew to do. Pray. Talk to God. It was during this prayer I caught myself THANKING Him. Thanking him for creating me perfect in his eyes. Thanking Him for the trials of this situation. Thanking Him for my amazing husband. Thanking Him for the doctors that were taking care of me. Thanking Him for EVERYTHING. The peace that passes all understanding created in me a peace that almost made me fall asleep....IN THE MRI TUBE.
Well, 24 hours later I began experiencing severe shortness of breath and I felt HORRIBLE. I ended up in the ER where they would evaluate my lung function. At this time, it was determined the shortness of breath was a side effect of having 3 days worth of a steroid in my system. During this particular ER visit, my neuro-opthalmologist visited me. With my husband at my side, he informed us that the MRI showed scar tissue lesions on my brain that were indicative of Multiple Sclerosis. Bottom line: I was at a 75% risk of developing MS in the next 5-10 years. I looked at my new husband and immediately felt ashamed and sorry that he had married me. It had only been 6 weeks since we said our "I do's". I did the only thing every new wife would do in this situation. I cried. I wept. Right there. In front of the hopsital staff and my husband. The neurologist also stated that I had a 25% chance that I would live the rest of my life without having another incident ever happen again in my life. I decided I'm that 25%.
The ride home was a long and somber one. I knew my husband and I had to talk about this, but what do I say???? What is there to talk about??? I looked over at him with tears in my eyes and was shocked to see he was crying too. "Why are you crying, honey," I asked him. "Because you're crying," was his reply. "I'm so sorry," I told him. "Well, you're that 25%, Hannah. You don't need to worry about anything," He replied. Later that night before falling asleep with heavy hearts, we prayed. We thanked God for all that he has done, and all that he continues to do. We then asked for healing of my physical body, quoting God' word, "By his stripes they are healed."
The next morning during our morning devotionals, my husband picked up his little devotional book and the verse on May 18 read: "Jesus answered, 'Woman, you have great faith! I will do as you have asked.'" Matthew 15:28 Not only did I NOT have to worry whether my faith was in the right place, but my reward for my faith was that God was going to heal me. I didn't know when, and I didn't know HOW, but I knew I would be healed. In the next few blog posts, I will continue to share my journey, and show you how I can walk on water.
