Sooo. Uveitis. Still got it.

Let me tell you how weird the last few weeks have been. After taking entirely too much time off of work (it stressed me out to think about my operator running my shifts for me), I tried getting back into the swing of things, and it's been a bit of an adjustment. I have what my co-workers refer to as "shy eye," because whenever anyone starts talking about my eye, or I start thinking about it, or I start thinking about people looking at it or anticipating talking about it, it clamps shut and starts to water. Ridiculous. Here's some pictures of the eye in the beginning. Be careful though. You might get the shy eye when you look at them.


The eye is getting better. They gave me some steroids to take that made me cry all the time, but it improved my vision to the point where I can keep the eye open and am able to read SOME things (unfortunately, the tiny print on this screen is not one of them). In the beginning, it was like looking into the sun. Any light, and I really mean ANY light, was excruciatingly painful. It got so bad that I put boxes in the windows and hung sheets in front of the curtains to block out the light. Clay came home from work and found me not eating (the kitchen was too bright), sitting in the dark, watching Alice in Wonderland, with the windows all crazy rigged up, and he said it was like walking into the living room of a serial killer.


I've come a long way since then. I've been back to the eye doctor 4 times now. I've also given blood 3 times. THREE. The first time, they took 16 vials. (You remember, I turned pasty green and ate the lady's jelly beans?) The second time, they took one. (Whoops, forgot the HLA-B27 - whatever that is) Today, they took 6. And there still aren't really any definitive answers.

Here's what we DO know:

First round of blood tests = high ANA levels. These are "antinuclear antibodies" and it means that my body is fighting itself from the inside. Apparently, this is an indicator of Lupus or some other autoimmune disorder. It was the only test that came back positive, so I guess it's good that I don't have Lyme disease or AIDS. Sooooo... eye doctor referred me to a rheumatologist to see if I have Lupus.

Rheumatologist asked me a billion questions today.

• Do you have any lower back pain? Uhhh, no. And I lift 30-50lb boxes at work on a regular basis.
• Do you sometimes get red butterfly rashes on your face? If I go out in the sun without sunscreen, but that's typical for a ginger.
• Do your knees sometimes turn red in a lacy pattern? That sounds like crazy talk.
• Do your joints hurt? not at all.
• Do your fingers turn blue or purple when they get cold? I think I would have noticed that by now.

And the whole time he's asking me these questions, he's moving all my joints around like I'm a rag doll. Moving my wrists up and down. Pushing on the top middle part of my foot. Putting his thumbs on all my knuckles. Checking my nail beds for some weird word I don't remember. I also almost kicked him in the face when he grabbed my knees. I'm really stinkin ticklish.

But he had the same reaction that my eye doctor did. "Well, I'm gonna send you for some more blood work to rule out the scary stuff. But it really all may come back negative, since you're not showing any symptoms of anything really. Just the crazy eye." He also said that, instead of the ANA being an indicator of some disease that's causing my uveitis, the uveitis may be causing my ANA levels to be high? So I really may just be fine and my eye is deciding to eat itself from the inside like a pacman.

On a brighter note, we're almost completely moved out of campus housing and into the Ball's house! Tomorrow, we get the last of our things and turn in our keys. We feel completely blessed to have some amazing friends help us save some money over the summer by letting us stay with them until we head out to Scotland. I am enjoying having a friend to cook with, a dishwasher, and a puppy and toddler to play with, and a Roomba to scare me by cleaning randomly in the middle of the morning. Also, squirrels everywhere? Climbing on the windows and the porch?

Also, the husband has been great through the whole thing. Taking me to the doctor over and over again. Spending our days off in and out of the lab getting bloodwork done. Helping me feverishly pack up all of my random stuff that I've been hoarding collecting over the last 2 years in Crutcher. Making sure to hug me when we get back-billed by all of our doctors because Guidestone insurance pretends to pay for stuff and then tells you that you owe more money. He really is the best.

Let's continue to pray for my eye though, because I'm still wearing my bobo glasses from high school and I have to renew my passport. Who wants a picture of a crazy eye in their passport picture for the next ten years?? Not this girl.

Carm