It's Not a Tumor!

Last October, right before my birthday, I went in for my yearly eye exam.  I got the whole shebang: glaucoma test, dilation, visual field test.  That's the one where you put your head in this kind of space egg thingy and click a buzzer every time you see a little flash of light.  It uses magic and computer programming to map out your vision and show any blind spots. 

Imagine my chagrin when I failed the visual field. At first I just chalked it up to crappy genes and encroaching old age, but my kind doctor informed me that there shouldn't be significant changes in the visual field unless you have glaucoma or an eye injury.  Then she said, "It might be (insert scary medical term that means BRAIN TUMOR here).  You need to come back in three months for a re-check.  If it continues to get worse, you will need to see a neurologist.  But don't worry about it."

Yeah, right.  Happy birthday to me!

I had to have several awkward conversations that went something like, "Guess what!  I might have a brain tumor!"  To which my husband/sisters/friends looked at me blankly and waited for the punch line.  Good times.

Luckily, the crazy holiday season did a pretty good job of keeping my mind off of it.

So today was the day of the big re-exam.  It's not a tumor!  My test came back consistent with all the visual field tests I had taken before last October.  That test was an anomaly.  It could have been that my eyes were dilated, or that I was dehydrated, or hormonal.  Whatever.  All is well now.  Whew!