June 17 and 18 2004 Flashback.

Rush to work, rush through the day.
Rush home, we have eye appointments.
Rush to downtown Ballard, say the parking prayer all the way there:

Hail Mary full of Grace Help us find a Parking Space

Rush into the doctor. Wait for an hour. No problems no worries. We are here for a routine, Sally you need more correction on your reading bifocas because you are older than dirt. Then..... off to Thai for dinner.

Those moments of simple innocence before we started down the rabbit hole that has been our life for almost a year.

When "They" say your life can change in a moment an instant, believe them

Dr. Balter did the routine, drops, wait, look. He checked me out, no problems. Mary-Elizabeth was the next one to be seen. He did a brief scan then looked into her eyes. He pulled back and looked again and then he said. "I see a problem." It was a quiet sobering comment. I took a deep breath and asked what? He explained that he could see a visible swelling of her optic nerves. In both eyes. He immediately took her blood pressure and ruled out a problem there. He said she need to be seen by her family doctor and another specialist. He talked with our doctors and send us to Retinal Eye Specialist. Both appointments were made in rapid succession.

Thursday night was very tense. I called my dad and my sister. I called Johnny. We all were a bit worried but knew that we had lots of information to gather. We were up early and then Friday the 18th. We went to blood draws and then to breakfast at the Atlas. Back to the doctor. He could find nothing that would be a problem. Blood sugar was normal, everything was normal. The blood work looked good and there were no symptoms of anything. No head aches, not nausea, nothing.

On to the Retinal Specialist. He took pictures of the back of her eyes. He took one look and then pulled back and said: "I don't think she has a brain tumor." It might Pseudo Tumor Ceribir. Most likely, her head just thinks she had a tumor. Oh great, those are the most comforting word a mother can hear.

He made an appointment with Dr. a NeuroOpthomologist. 11:00 am on Monday morning. Wonderful, I get to worry about this all week-end.

8:30 p.m. Friday night the phone rings. "Sally, this is Scot Makintire. How did your appointment go......" Somehow a phone call from your Primary Physician late Friday night. A progress report was given and then we fretted.