Update on my brother's ER visit

[Siwsan]

The are keeping him until tomorrow morning so they can do an MRI. Probably a '23 hour hold' rather than an admission. They said if he stays, the MRI can be done first thing in the morning. If they discharge him, getting an appointment via a referral from his health care provider could take weeks or even months. They checked for a stroke and can find no evidence. His retinas are fine. He said it's like an occasional strobe light flashing in his peripheral vision. He sounds worried.

So I told him to call, any time, if he needs to talk. Meanwhile, enjoy that stellar hospital food.

I feel a little better but there's still that nugget of fear wrapped in anxiety. His birthday is in 5 days and he asked if I could make roast beef with Yorkshire pudding. That is most definitely going to happen.

[Not Heidi]

1. Poor guy. i can't imagine his anxiety.

Continuing to keep him in my thoughts. Do keep us posted.

[RKP5637]

2. Thanks for the update!!!

[SheltieLover]

3. Sounds like an occular migraine, Siwsan

Mine are caused by pinched nerves in neck & upper back.

1st time I lost vision in my right eye, it scared the hell out of me.

And the little fllashing lights in peripheral vision is like a warning for me ghat I need to stop (doing dishes, cleaning, chopping veggies, etc.) And get flat in bed. That prevents it from getting worse.

Along with the flashing lights, I also feel very slight nausea. Never enough to get physically sick, very slight.

So maybe this is just a wake up call for your dear brother to be more attuned to what his body is trying to tell him.

Best prevention for me is osteopathic manipulations but, alas, there are none of them in this region.

Did they give him a dx?

So glad to hear he's going to be observed & have an MRI to be safe!

And glad you're staying off the dangerous roads.

[Mosby]

12. I get those sometimes.

It's like a twinkling area right in the middle of my vision, and over 10-20 minutes it spreads into a c-shape. Afterwords I get a slight headache. I went to my eye doctor about them. No big deal, and he didn't suggest any type of tx. I think they are sometimes triggered when I go from a low light space to bright light outdoors.

[SheltieLover]

15. The eye docs I've seen have said no big deal too

[2naSalit]

20. Almost the same here...

Last edited Fri Mar 10, 2023, 07:55 PM - Edit history (1)

I have them all the time and have floaty blobs on occasion but I think those are from too much screen time.

Laying on my bed isn't my remedy though I have several stretches that I do and if it's really miserable, I take a small dose of IB. I have managed to get to where I only use IB a couple times a year now, it used to be part of my diet.

[SheltieLover]

32. What's IB?

This started for me when I was finishing grad school, doing an assistantship, caring for elderly parents over an hour away, & babysitting grandson.

Too much time looking down at screens & reading I think.

What kind of stretches? (It's not like there is any quality medical care here, so I learn what I can online. 😓 )

Do you have a blue light filter on your device? It's much easier on the eyes.

Thx for sharing!

[2naSalit]

38. I don't think I could describe them...

But They are things I've learned in physical therapy. When I was going to those sessions, one of the techs would print out pages from the link below.
There are numerous exercises described in detail.

https://www.hep2go.com/

IB is Ibuprofen.

[SheltieLover]

39. Thx!

Ooooh, ibuprofen. Thx for explaining.

[Siwsan]

25. They will do the MRI between midnight and 2am

Not sure how long he will have to stay once that is completed.

And he's had Occular migraines in the past. This just seemed different from what he has experienced.

Thanks for sharing that info!!

[SheltieLover]

31. Yw!

Ah, well this is likely just part of it then.

Continuing to send healing vibes for both of you. 💓💓💓

[Siwsan]

33. He just texted that they moved up the scan

He's probably going through it, right now. I have no idea how long they take, or how long before they deliver the results so I'm keeping the phone right next to me.

[SheltieLover]

34. Will he come to stay with you when he gets out?

[Siwsan]

36. He's probably just going to drive home

Of course, I have no idea what an MRI involves.

His vision has been fine, except for those flashes. If he should feel like he doesn't want to drive, my niece and her husband live close to the hospital - actually right about mid way between the hospital and where he lives. They could drive him and his car either to their house, or his.

I have always had dreadful night vision so I do night driving on an emergency basis, only.

[SheltieLover]

37. Glad to hear this!

I don't drive at night either, risk of violent crime & damaging car on these horrid roads is too great!

Far as I know an MRI is similar to an x-ray, unless he's claustrophobic, for which they'd rx a small valium or some other benzo.

I hope you're feeling better.

[mvd]

4. Thanks for updating us

K&R

Wishing him well and hoping for the best. He’ll enjoy that delicious meal.

[Sogo]

5. I've had that.

He needs to see an ophthalmologist. Possible tear in the retina due to liquification of viscosity of matter behind eyes. Natural part of aging but can be serious because of possible tear of retina when the matter pulls away as it is becoming liquid.

[debm55]

6. Thanks for updating us Siwsan. You are a very kind and loving sister. I hope your brother is okay.

[MontanaMama]

7. Sending you and your brother all the good I can.

You're a wonderful sister. I hope your brother gets an accurate diagnosis and will make a full recovery as soon as possible.

[spooky3]

8. Actually, when I was in the hospital last year, the food was fine. Nothing like

Your roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, I’m sure, but not nearly as bad as I thought it would be.

Good on ya for caring for your brother.

[Mr.Bill]

10. Hospitals are learning that good food is an

important component of healing. Our small hospital has pretty good food. You get to order from a menu anytime throughout the day. If your doctor approves, you can even have an acoholic beverage with your food. When I volunteered there all volunteers ate free at the cafeteria. I worked on Mondays and they always has eggs benedict on that day. I always looked forward to that.

[spooky3]

11. Good point. And I love eggs Benedict too. Nt

[Goddessartist]

9. I have those too.

Both eyes. Severe myopia since childhood. My retinas are fine too. Big hugs to both of you.

[50 Shades Of Blue]

13. That sounds a lot like my sister's eye issue.

About a year ago she started getting flashing lights in one of her eyes -- nonstop. The lights were in the upper left corner of her right eye. Her regular ophthalmologist couldn't find anything wrong so he sent her to a retinal specialist who didn't seem concerned about the flashing lights, but did find some other odd things wrong that were caused by her extreme nearsightedness that necessitated her having to get a shot in that eye at regular intervals. The flashing lights finally stopped after several months and she's gone from getting the shot from every 6 weeks to every 3 months. (The shot doesn't hurt, her eye is anesthetized first.)

So I have everything crossed for your brother (and you)! BTW, my sister gets ocular migraines (so do I) occasionally, and the flashing lights she was seeing were quite different from those.

[slightlv]

14. I think we should consider this good news, Siwsan,

and still keep you and your brother in our energies, thoughts and prayers. I'm so glad they ruled out any kind of stroke. That's what flashed through my mind at first.

Has Madoc settled down now? Poor baby. When Mama's upset, no one's happy! Holding you in our thoughts here...

[1WorldHope]

16. I'm glad that you have so many good friends here. I always read

what you have to say because you are so very genuine. I love your kitties! I think you can sit back and relax tonight. Relax or worry, time will pass either way and we will not have changed the outcome by worrying. Listen to some John Prine, he always makes me feel better. ☺️

[murielm99]

17. Thanks for the update.

I will keep you guys in my prayers.

[LoisB]

18. I have no medical knowledge but this sounds good. The MRI should disclose any issues. I am

sure he's anxious but let him know we DUers are sending him positive vibes.

[Evolve Dammit]

19. Thanks for the update. Best wishes

[nightwing1240]

21. Best wishes for a full recovery

for your brother. Sending positive vibes

[frogstar0]

22. I had same symptoms

I had same symptoms
I had same issue after working in a very white walls with no curtains and bright sunshine. Doing wall board work.

Had the flashes and, some floaters(like threads) at edge of view. Flashes went away by next day, and floaters after a couple days.
I did not seek any medical attention.

[Warpy]

23. Sounds like he's at risk for retinal detachment

but there is nothing much they can do until it happens.

If it makes you feel any better, I've had the flashing lights and floaters for 50 years with no detachment. It's something he's going to have to be aware of, though. If he ever experiences something like a curtain being drawn across his visual field, that's a detachment, friends have had them. That's an absolute medical emergency and he needs to go to an ER fast. The sooner he can be scheduled for surgery following detachment, the better.

It sounds scary as hell, but it can be treated.

[Marthe48]

24. Might be migraines

They can have weird symptoms. Good luck that your worries pass and all is well.

[nuxvomica]

30. Yes, it sounds like migraine to me

I've had them since grade school and they can produce a variety of symptoms. While I usually have the strobing aura followed by a headache, I've also sometimes had temporary tunnel vision or brief light dimming. But I know when it's a migraine because a headache usually follows and they always occur after a period of stress in which I felt powerless but once the situation is resolved and I feel relief, I get a migraine within 24 hours. After my light-dimming episode, I was sent for coronary and carotid ultrasounds and the tech told me unofficially that I was clean as a whistle and I told her that I bet I would have a migraine the next day because I was so relieved. The following day I had the light dimming again, followed by a headache.

[Marthe48]

35. My husband didn't have migraines when he was young

but he started getting silent migraines when he was older. Mostly affected his vision, no pain. I used to get them like you describe. When they were coming on, what I could see looked like shade under tree leaves-dappled, gray. And when I was young, headaches and nausea. I haven't had one like that for a long time, tG!

But even if migraines are crappy, if Siswan's brother is diagnosed with migraine, rather than some of the other problems, it might be a relief

[KPN]

26. Has he been looked at by the ophthalmologist yet?

Sounds exactly like a retina tear I experienced about 9 years ago. The flashing strobe on perimeter, big floater (which I learned was actually blood in the vitrious fluid from the tear), and vision just generally seeming off or weird. My tear progressed to partial detached retina so there was a blind area in the vision of my left eye but I wasn’t aware of it until they did some tests on me because my right eye still had vision that covered that area of my overall peripheral vision — but it definitely seemed like something was weird with my vision.

Some reassurance for you: if it is a retina tear or partial detachment: it was about 99.5% fixable. It seemed scary at the time, but in retrospect, it wasn’t a really bad health issue. My sight was fine within a few weeks. Retina tears and detachments are a lot more common than I had known. The science in dealing with them is pretty well developed.

So hopefully, that’s what it is at its worst. If it just a minor tear, the fix is even easier. The key to 100% cure is follow the drs advice 100% as far as physical exertion goes. I cheated a bit with the tear and it re-tore became a partial detachment.

[Siwsan]

27. His retina is fine.

They also checked for a stroke but he's good there, too. He will have an MRI between midnight and 2 so hopefully he will be calling me with the findings, early tomorrow morning.

[Rebl2]

28. That sounds

like vitreous gel in eye pulling away. Had the same flashing light in peripheral vision off and on. It went on for several months and the flashing was much more bothersome in the dark. Of course it happened on a Sunday. Called my eye doctor anyway and he told me don’t do anything strenuous the rest of the day and he saw me the next day. He sent me to retina specialist the same day and they diagnosed what was going on.

[The Facts First]

29. speedy recovery

Wishes.