A few months ago I started seeing things fall from the ceiling. It was like a tiny shadow floating quickly past my face. I'd jump and start looking for the "thing" that fell. I could have sworn it was a spider or some other bug. However, not once, could I find a single insect. After a few episodes of "seeing things", I decided it must be my imagination. One day I noticed squiggly lines floating in front of my eye. I even see them when I read. I've had floaters (lint-like spots in my eyes), before, but this one was a bit bigger than most.
I often have auras, which are little semi-circles of jagged light that appear and blur my vision for about 10 to 20 minutes before they go away. I saw a doctor about them years ago and he said they are nothing. I get them two or three times a month, now. To be on the safe side, I "googled" jagged light, and confirmed that they are common-place and usually precede a migraine headache. Only, I don't get migraines. Since they don't hurt, I ignore them.
Well, friends, a couple of weeks ago I started having flashes of light in my left eye. They come and go faster than lightning. I mentioned it on Facebook and two minister friends quickly commented and told me to get to an eye doctor immediately. They said it could be a retina tear. One friend is actually legally blind in one eye because of a torn retina that wasn't treated quickly enough. Ten years later, he insisted immediate treatment for a second eye. He was concerned I was experiencing the same thing. Long story, short--I got an optomotrist appointment that day. After chatting with me, and taking a photo of my eyeball (one that shows the optic nerve and all the other little nerves), he concluded I had a chunk of jelly-like stuff tugging on the retina which caused the flashes of light.
No need to worry unless I completely lose vision in some area. The gel-stuff that caused the light-flash will eventually break off and become another floater. Isn't that just peachy? I was surprised to learn I have the beginnings of cataracts. But they aren't bad enough for an operation at this point. Something to look forward to.
Here's the kicker about seeing things. I've gotten so I don't trust what I see anymore. Case and point: Saturday I was watching television and saw a dark flash (no light) dart across my field of vision. It looked like a big shadow. I told my husband that I thought the gel stuff must have broke loose and was floating around in my eye now because I could swear I'd just seen a mouse scoot across the floor in front of the television. Thirty minutes later I saw the same shadow again, in the same place. I told my husband and he just shrugged in affirmation. After all, there's nothing he can do about me seeing things. It's rather annoying though. A half hour later, the shadow darted across my vision again. Only this time my husband saw it, too. I was thrilled. That is, until I realized what we both saw really was a mouse. That little guy ran around and around the floor-boards of our house all day long as if he was searching for a way out. I suppose I should have been a bit freaked out, but to be honest, seeing him dart by every thirty-minutes, or so, was far more comforting than frightening. At least I wasn't seeing things.
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