1.09.2008

APMPPE

The other day I started seeing something weird in my right eye - a little wavy shimmery spot every now and then. I thought I was staring at the computer screen too much, but having just had my annual eye exam the week before, I decided to call and ask about it when I followed up on if my new glasses came in.

It's not a good sign when every person you speak with says "oh no" after you describe your symptoms.

The concern was that I might have a detached retina, which apparently has to be surgically reattached in a day or two or else you could go blind. Nice. This was day three. So, off to the eye doctor I go.

The eye doctor dialates my eye and spends forever shining a bright light into it to the point where I can't see anymore and when he instructs me to look up and to the right, I just hope my muscles are responding correctly because I can't see to tell.

The good news is that I don't have a detached retina. However, my body, which can never decide to be normal (low temp, low BP, low iron - I swear I have the metabolism of a lizard) has decided to once again do something unusual: the doctor tells me he believes I have AMPPE (pron. "amp-y") otherwise known as
Acute Posterior Multifocal Placoid Pigment Epitheliopathy. Basically, this means I have lesions on my retina. It's a very rare disorder (Mass Eye and Ear saw 5 cases in 10 years). It fucks up your vision, then goes away - most of the time. It's a vascular inflammation, cause unknown, though sometimes it's preceeded by the flu (not in my case).

The internet is evil as all the message boards related to this (like two) are all full of people (like two) where it hasn't gone away and they have, like, actual holes in their vision. Fabulous.

So I'm seeing a retinal specialist tomorrow to verify that this is actually AMPPE. The flashes I'm seeing now don't bother me, really, but from what I read it typically gets worse before it gets better (weeks/months) and usually hops to the other eye too.

Even as bad as my vision is without glasses or contacts, I've taken for granted that it wouldn't get any worse until I was in my old age. If anyone has heard of this condition or knows of someone that has had it, I'd love to hear more about it. Wish me luck.