2 -- Seeing Seeing Double Double
May 10-19, 2018
The day after the earth tilted was a fairly normal Thursday. Everything seemed to be back to normal. I went about my usual routine, but the TILT experience kept nibbling at the edges of my mind. I had a big weekend planned, so let's get going!
But hey, let's listen to a little music while I tell you about the weekend. I'm a 70's kinda gal, so sometimes music from "my era" pops into my head when it relates. And this sort of relates. So enjoy the song, as you read....
This was a Big Deal Weekend for our family. It was Mother's Day weekend, PLUS my niece was graduating from Wingate University.
Friday we packed up the car and drove to my daughter's home near Monroe. My three kids had planned a Mother's Day Feast for Friday evening. They are all grown up, with families of their own, and jobs with crazy hours -- so when we ALL are able to gather at the same place at the same time for a few moments, to me it is a HUGE EVENT! I was really looking forward to seeing everyone!
We are a couple of hours' drive away from where my children, parents, and sister live. It's a pleasant, easy drive. I enjoy our road trips; sometimes we sing along with the radio, other times we listen to NPR and discuss what's going on. Occasionally, I will read a magazine or book to read. This afternoon, I skimmed through a magazine a while. When we neared Monroe, NC, I put the magazine aside. I noticed that my vision seemed a little blurred -- nothing really awful, sort of like my eyes were tired. But as I began to look at the road ahead of me, the view seemed to split. I realized that I had double vision. I could put a hand over either eye and everything looked okay -- but both eyes were not working together.
I said nothing -- but quickly consulted Dr. Google on my phone. What causes double vision? The most prevalent answer: blood sugar levels. Ahh... That's understandable. I've been working on losing some weight so maybe it is just that I'm hungry. Makes sense, right?
We arrived at my daughter's house and enjoyed a delicious dinner of salad, homemade lasagna, and a beautiful cake. The food was great, the company was grand! We enjoyed the antics of our 4 grandsons. I had a great time -- doubled. Anything more than about 3 feet away was multiplied. I tried not to let on that I couldn't really see very well. Or maybe I was seeing TOO well, haha! I was not exactly worried about it. After all, it was probably just a blood sugar thing, right?
We left my daughter's home and drove to my parents' home to spend the night. Saturday morning we got up early -- we had to be at the graduation early enough to get a good seat! I noticed that I was seeing OK, so I dismissed the previous day's double vision as No Big Deal.
Once we arrived at Wingate, we joined my sister and her family. My niece is the "baby cousin" of six grandkids and we were all cheering her on for this milestone achievement. The ceremony was held outdoors under ancient oak trees. We found seats in the shade and waited for the processional to begin. We spotted AnneMarie in the line and cheered as she walked in.
The sun progressed across the skies and our shade shifted. We were now in the sunlight -- and the morning was getting hot and humid. The sweat began to pour down my back, drip down my forehead into my eyes. Then my vision blurred and split. Seeing double again. Well.... it's a hot morning, almost lunch time. Blood sugar. Yeah. Blood sugar. But I made a mental note to call Dr. Marom Monday.
We traveled back home that afternoon, the road ahead diverging right and left directly in front of me. I still had said nothing to David; I try not to over-stress him about things.
Monday I talked to my doctor; he suggested that I monitor the times of day and regularity to see if I could detect a pattern, plus advised me to call my eye doctor, just to be checked out. So I called my eye doctor. She worked me in for an appointment within a couple of days. She checked my eyes and ran a few more tests. Ultimately, she said I was definitely seeing double (based on my responses to the eye tests), but she could find no optical issues going on.
Meanwhile.... some days I saw things just fine, some days I saw double. Some days started out just fine then my vision would just split. If I happened to be driving or watching television, I'd just cover one eye and keep going.
I finally decided maybe I should tell David I was seeing two of everything. I continued to do things "just like normal" -- we went to a play in Columbia, I had another harp lesson. And we were going on a long-awaited vacation to New Orleans next week, so there was preparation for that.
I still was not worried. It was a minor inconvenience. Or so I thought. There was more around the corner, waiting on me. I just had no idea.
The day after the earth tilted was a fairly normal Thursday. Everything seemed to be back to normal. I went about my usual routine, but the TILT experience kept nibbling at the edges of my mind. I had a big weekend planned, so let's get going!
But hey, let's listen to a little music while I tell you about the weekend. I'm a 70's kinda gal, so sometimes music from "my era" pops into my head when it relates. And this sort of relates. So enjoy the song, as you read....
This was a Big Deal Weekend for our family. It was Mother's Day weekend, PLUS my niece was graduating from Wingate University.
Friday we packed up the car and drove to my daughter's home near Monroe. My three kids had planned a Mother's Day Feast for Friday evening. They are all grown up, with families of their own, and jobs with crazy hours -- so when we ALL are able to gather at the same place at the same time for a few moments, to me it is a HUGE EVENT! I was really looking forward to seeing everyone!
We are a couple of hours' drive away from where my children, parents, and sister live. It's a pleasant, easy drive. I enjoy our road trips; sometimes we sing along with the radio, other times we listen to NPR and discuss what's going on. Occasionally, I will read a magazine or book to read. This afternoon, I skimmed through a magazine a while. When we neared Monroe, NC, I put the magazine aside. I noticed that my vision seemed a little blurred -- nothing really awful, sort of like my eyes were tired. But as I began to look at the road ahead of me, the view seemed to split. I realized that I had double vision. I could put a hand over either eye and everything looked okay -- but both eyes were not working together.
I said nothing -- but quickly consulted Dr. Google on my phone. What causes double vision? The most prevalent answer: blood sugar levels. Ahh... That's understandable. I've been working on losing some weight so maybe it is just that I'm hungry. Makes sense, right?
We arrived at my daughter's house and enjoyed a delicious dinner of salad, homemade lasagna, and a beautiful cake. The food was great, the company was grand! We enjoyed the antics of our 4 grandsons. I had a great time -- doubled. Anything more than about 3 feet away was multiplied. I tried not to let on that I couldn't really see very well. Or maybe I was seeing TOO well, haha! I was not exactly worried about it. After all, it was probably just a blood sugar thing, right?
We left my daughter's home and drove to my parents' home to spend the night. Saturday morning we got up early -- we had to be at the graduation early enough to get a good seat! I noticed that I was seeing OK, so I dismissed the previous day's double vision as No Big Deal.
Once we arrived at Wingate, we joined my sister and her family. My niece is the "baby cousin" of six grandkids and we were all cheering her on for this milestone achievement. The ceremony was held outdoors under ancient oak trees. We found seats in the shade and waited for the processional to begin. We spotted AnneMarie in the line and cheered as she walked in.
The sun progressed across the skies and our shade shifted. We were now in the sunlight -- and the morning was getting hot and humid. The sweat began to pour down my back, drip down my forehead into my eyes. Then my vision blurred and split. Seeing double again. Well.... it's a hot morning, almost lunch time. Blood sugar. Yeah. Blood sugar. But I made a mental note to call Dr. Marom Monday.
We traveled back home that afternoon, the road ahead diverging right and left directly in front of me. I still had said nothing to David; I try not to over-stress him about things.
Monday I talked to my doctor; he suggested that I monitor the times of day and regularity to see if I could detect a pattern, plus advised me to call my eye doctor, just to be checked out. So I called my eye doctor. She worked me in for an appointment within a couple of days. She checked my eyes and ran a few more tests. Ultimately, she said I was definitely seeing double (based on my responses to the eye tests), but she could find no optical issues going on.
Meanwhile.... some days I saw things just fine, some days I saw double. Some days started out just fine then my vision would just split. If I happened to be driving or watching television, I'd just cover one eye and keep going.
I finally decided maybe I should tell David I was seeing two of everything. I continued to do things "just like normal" -- we went to a play in Columbia, I had another harp lesson. And we were going on a long-awaited vacation to New Orleans next week, so there was preparation for that.
I still was not worried. It was a minor inconvenience. Or so I thought. There was more around the corner, waiting on me. I just had no idea.
Comments