I saw the doctor yesterday morning and got the official results of my tests. According to him, my spinal pressure is actually over twice what is should be. Also, although my MRI didn’t show any unexpected abnormalities, it did show a great deal of pressure on my brain and my optic nerves. Apparently, having so much pressure on the optic nerves can cause them to swell in their sockets, pushing against the bone. This, in turn, can cause extreme visual problems potentially even resulting in blindness over time.

The procedure I had read about online for this condition is something called a “shunt” which is supposed to help relieve the overall pressure (something like a cathetor in your spine, I think). However, the doctor recommended a different procedure that might help, and he is currently trying to get an appointment for me to go to OHSU for a procedure assessment.  In this procedure, they cut slices in the optic nerve. That way, excess fluid leaks out so the pressure is reduced ( the leaking fluid apparently gets absorbed by the blood stream). The doctor said it was a relatively simple procedure. However, I do wonder how they access my optic nerve (moving my eye to the side?). Also, anytime you talk about cutting near the eyes, it doesn’t seem so simple to me.

So, I’m a little freaked out right now. Obviously, it is crucial to try and do everything I can to avoid needing this procedure. However, the doctor seemed pretty certain I would need it. The main things I can do are take the diamox medicine (which removes sodium from the brain tissues to reduce pressure), lose weight (which I have been doing, but doesn’t seem to be enough, unfortunately), and reducing the salt in my diet. Now, I’ve been losing weight by monitoring primarily my calories but also paying attention to sugar and fat, especially. I’ve been losing weight fairly well by this routine. However, now I am going to have to totally change my way of eating for a nutrient I hadn’t considered before: salt. I was actually crying and had a little breakdown yesterday because of this (actually, three seperate crying breakdowns). It may not seem important to some, but having to totally redo my eating habits after I had finally changed them enough to lose weight is very devastating for me. Also, all of this health stuff just makes all my other goals such as improving my organizational skills, studying, exercising, etc. that much harder to accomplish. So, I’m really sad and bummed right now. However, I’m not falling into depression, which is good. I still have my family to support me. Speaking of which, here is a cute picture that I love that helps to cheer me up. We took this over spring break when my grandparents first met my boyfriend.