Today I went with my youngest daughter to her eye specialist appointment. I was not sure what to expect. I have been praying that this was only a small matter. I have been trying to not have a panic attack.

The nurse came in and ask a lot of questions to my daughter. She carefully documented all of my daughter’s responses. She then stated the doctor would be in a few minutes. The doctor came in shortly and immediately went to my daughter and doing numerous test on her eyes. I never got to see the doctor’s face. The doctor stepped out of the room and my daughter told me that the doctor had a few too many Botox treatments. I laughed and this helped relieve the tension of my worrying about my daughter. When the doctor stepped back into the room, I saw what she meant. The doctor stated that my daughter had “Pseudotumor Cerebri”. When I heard the word tumor in the middle of that long name, my mind was freaking out. They gave us a sheet about what it is, etc.

The following is excerpts from American Academy of Ophthalmology Fact Sheet:

What is pseudotumor cerebri?
Pseudotumor cerebri (PTC) is a condition in which high cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) pressure inside your head can cause problems with vision and headache.

In PTC, the flow of CSF (a clear fluid that bathes the brain and spinal cord) is blocked from flowing back out of the head as it should, leading to high pressure within the CSF inside your head. This pressure results in swelling of the optic disc at the back of the eye, which can damage (sometimes permanently) the optic nerve, causing vision loss. High pressure may also cause damage to the nerves that move the eyes, resulting in double vision.

What causes pseudotumor cerebri?

This condition seems to occur more often in overweight young women, a hormonal influence is suspected…..In some cases, antibiotic or steroid use may be associated with pseudotumor. High doses of vitamin A may also lead to increased CSF pressure.

What are symptoms of pseudotumor cerebri?

Most common symptoms of high CSF pressure inside the head are headache and visual loss. The headache may be located anywhere. Symptoms include:

The only symptom that my daughter did not experience was the rushing noises in the ears. Since she was experiencing so many others, the doctor ordered the additional test.

My daughter is ready to walk into our regular physician and tell him what she thinks of him and saying it only just a headache or migraine. She has been suffering for over a month now. My daughter is scared and knows she has to lose weight. She does not want to lose her eye sight. As a mother I feel helpless right now, but I have to keep her encouraged that this is treatable as the specialist stated.