Numb Eyeballs...YIKES!

For the last year or so I have suffered from some fairly severe headaches. They always seem to occur on Sundays. They mainly would come when we'd go down to visit Joel's family but in the last six months started happening almost once or twice a week. It gets so bad that when we watch a movie or TV I have to keep one eye closed and then the pain isn't so bad. I figured my eyeballs were being strained. So after a few months of going back and forth I scheduled an eye exam. I double and triple checked our insurance coverage in my little book and made sure it was affordable. Frankly, I can live with headaches if I have to pay $500 to fix them! That's just how cheap I am.

Fast forward to this morning. I woke up early to get Sarah and I ready, we ate and then headed out to Jaimee's. She selflessly offered to watch Sarah for me. I love her. That done I got to the clinic, and by clinic I mean state-of-the-art borderline museum-like new building. I walked up to the counter and was greeted by a very sweet woman. She pulled my file and mentioned that they called my insurance already to clear coverage. Apparently our routine eye-coverage was terminated. Meaning my eye-exam was not covered. Our insurance covers MEDICAL eye-stuff not retinal or routine. I nearly barfed a little in my mouth. I asked about how much it cost on average. She mentioned it would be between $50-$250 due at the time of service. That means today, two days before payday. Grr... I sucked it up, took it all in, and decided to be a big girl about it. I mentioned that this was really important to my husband and I and that it was worth the cost.

After waiting literally 3 or 4 minutes I was called back. The lady was very prompt, not un-friendly, but she didn't laugh at my nervous jokes. She put some drops in my eyes and told me to pinch my tear ducts towards my nose to avoid absorbing too much of the drops. I had no idea what they were for, but I didn't like the idea that I needed to avoid absorbing them. After pinching, she apparently performed a pressure test. It made my eyes water, I told her people might think she beat me I was tearing up so much. I got a smile out of her that time.

Afterwards, she told me to follow her into the actual doctor's office, as I walked something felt like it was missing in my body. I couldn't place it...then I asked..."Did you make my eyes numb?!" She replied with a chuckle, 'Yup, they're numb." Boy that would've been nice to know to start! I had an epidural when I birthed Sarah and literally could not feel my lower body for nearly 12 hours, THAT was not as foreign of a feeling than not being able to feel my eyeballs. You take for granted the wind blowing against them as you walk.

Anxiety over my eyeballs that felt like they were missing and the fact that another little piece of savings would be gone today filled my body as I waited for the doctor. When he finally came in I offered him my cold, wet, clammy hand. He was a friendly sort, very nice. He asked me lots of questions and examined my eyeballs with the world's littlest light with the brightest bulb. My eye's welled up again. Then he said, 'Well, you don't need glasses, maybe slight reading glasses but that's certainly not going to cause your headaches you describe." He mentioned he'd like to do another test to make sure there is nothing going on in my optical nerve. He asked if I had any optical insurance, I mentioned I did but it only covered medical procedures. I also told him I was grateful that he didn't have to dilate my eyes because I apparently did not have routine eye-coverage and the less procedures today the better.

Here's my miracle for the day. He said, "Oh, the receptionists sometimes forget this, but this is a medical visit. Headaches are not routine, they are medical. And the procedure that I want you to have is medical. Today should be covered by your insurance."

I was so thankful. It's like the Lord heard my heart trying to work a way through the problem but he took it upon himself. I managed to get out of the without spending a dime, yet. There's a chance the insurance could deny the claim, but I am glad it worked out as it did today. Gives me time to prepare.

As for the headaches, he said they sounded like migraines. It could be allergic reactions to perfumes, overload of the senses, hormonal (they have simmered since I've been pregnant the last few weeks), or it could be an optical nerve thing. He said to keep a headache journal and go over it with my doctor at one of my visits. It may just be something I have to live with. Which is okay, I suppose.

Long post, no pictures, I'm sure I'll hear about it...I suppose this was more of a journal entry.