Jennifer never liked to be in front of the camera. However, if she hadn't taken a selfie this one fateful morning, she might have lost her life...
Just Like Any Other Day
Jennifer's mornings usually revolved around her son, Oscar. However, today was Oscar's first day of kindergarten. Oscar was an independent, excited child that couldn't wait for his first day of school. His mother was excited too. Even though Oscar was young, he was completely dependable to get out of bed on time and not make a fuss.
New Beginnings
Oscar loved going to pre-school, but he only went for half a day before this point in time. He had finally grown old enough to go to full-day kindergarten. This opened up opportunities for his mom to work longer hours to care for him better, but this also meant that Oscar and Jennifer would be spending less time together. Jennifer's parents were planning on bringing Oscar to school that day, so Jennifer had the opportunity to do her makeup and relax until they arrived. However, something sinister was brewing for Jennifer, and nobody could have ever guessed what was happening...
Snapping a Quick Selfie
Jennifer never found time to do her makeup since she was always tied up with Oscar in the mornings. She would usually just wake up, get Oscar ready for the day. throw on clothes, take him to kindergarten, and then immediately jet to work. However, today she got to spend some time focusing on herself. She was so pleased with her makeup, she decided to take her first confident selfie in a while.
Her Demanding Job
Jennifer was a mental health unit multi-tasker. She would handle at-risk patients and was constantly on her feet since the hospital she worked at was understaffed and underfunded. Because of this, Jennifer was unable to meet Oscar's new teachers, which made her pretty anxious and uncomfortable. However, Jennifer trusted her parent's opinion regarding Oscar's new educators, so she wasn't that torn apart about it...
Not One for the Spotlight
Jennifer never liked to be vain. She was usually one to shy away from the camera, but on that day, Jennifer felt inspired to capture herself in the moment. Maybe it was something about the transition in her and Oscar's lives that inspired her to step out of her comfort zone.
Raising Concerns
Jennifer's parents came to pick up Oscar. They said their goodbyes and took off. As soon as Jennifer's parents dropped Oscar off, they called Jessica to make sure that she knew he had arrived at kindergarten. Jessica didn't answer the phone. They called again a few minutes later to no avail. It was extremely unlike Jessica to ignore a phone call, even if she was working...
Racing Back
Jessica's parents drove back to her house to find their daughter unconscious on the ground. Fortunately, Oscar was still at school and neither of them had anything to do that day, otherwise, they would have ignored the missed phone calls. Jennifer's parents called 911 immediately and attempted to assess Jennifer's physical state.
What's Going On?
Jennifer was found with her phone beside her, almost as if she was trying to react to the calls that she was getting from her parents. Her father picked up her phone to see if there were any clues as to why she was unconscious. The only thing that was upon her phone was the selfie she took that morning. Jennifer's father noticed that something was strange about the picture his daughter took...
The Selfie in Question
The time the selfie had been taken was 8 a.m., just minutes before Jennifer's family came to pick up Oscar. In the picture, Jennifer's face was clearly drooping down to one side. Jennifer's right eye was open and bright, and her left eye was drooped down and shut, almost as if she had no control over that side of her face.
Leave It to the Doctors
Jennifer suddenly woke up, and her parents rushed her to the hospital. The doctors were able to evaluate her and determine that she had a stroke right after Jennifer's parents left with Oscar. If her parents hadn't called, Jennifer might have died. When she awoke, she had no recollection of what had happened, and she would have just continued life as usual...
The Proof Is in the Pudding
If Jennifer's father hadn't found her phone and determined that she had a stroke, he might not have taken her to the hospital. Thanks to his quick thinking, he saved the doctors possible hours of speculation. Now that Jennifer was at the hospital, they were able to immediately take the proper precautions to prevent her from having another stroke.
The Grim Reality
The doctors discovered that there was a blood clot forming in Jennifer's brain that needed to be removed immediately. This was the cause of her stroke, the reason for Jennifer's memory loss, and the reason her eye was drooping down. Jennifer needed to get into surgery fast. If she didn't get the surgery, she would die within the hour...
Missing Time
Jennifer had no recollection of what happened that morning. This told the doctors that she was in a more imminently dangerous state than they previously thought. All the while, Oscar was away at his first day of kindergarten without a care in the world.
Planning it Out
After Jennifer's surgery, she was given a glucose patch to keep her awake and she needed to walk with a cane. She desperately wanted to see Oscar at the end of his first day in kindergarten, but the doctors did not want her to leave under any circumstances. They even made Jennifer schedule a follow-up surgery to put another stint in her brain to prevent further bleeding...
Doing it For Him
Jennifer sacrificed picking her son up from school on his first day for her own health. She didn't let her parents tell him what happened—she wanted to tell him the story herself so he wouldn't be upset about her not showing up. Jennifer needed to get healthy for her son, and if she skipped out then, she might have not made it to today.
Common Problem
Believe it or not, this is more common than one would think. Medical technology makes it easier to discover these ailments during the perfect timeframe. Before MRI machines and the technological boom of modern medicine, Jessica would have most likely died. Another woman, named Laura, detected a similar malformation in her eye after taking a selfie one day...
The Follow Up
Like Jessica, Laura was a little camera shy. However, she noticed one day after taking a rare selfie that her eye was swollen and bulging a little bit. She made an appointment with an optometrist to follow up and see what could have possibly been going on.
That's Unusual
The optometrist discovered that Laura's optic disc was completely malformed. There was a swollen, hemorrhaged disc in the back of Jessica's eye that had seemingly changed shape overnight. Laura instantly panicked, because she knew that this could be extremely bad news...
Self Diagnosing
Laura worked in healthcare, and she had seen many cases like this before. She figured that she had papilledema, which is a serious life-threatening disease with an extremely short onset. She had an eye doctor friend run by and give her a second opinion. Unfortunately, they confirmed her suspicion.
Moving Fast
After receiving her diagnosis, Laura needed to get treatment as quickly as possible. Time was of the essence, so she asked her eye doctor friend to drive her to the hospital. She feared that she needed to get her eye removed, and if she didn't, she might die...
Getting it Done Quickly
Even though Laura was well equipped to diagnose herself, she was unable to do any preventative treatments outside of a hospital setting. When she arrived at the hospital, they rushed her into a room as soon as they could. The doctors were just as afraid of this as Laura was...
Hypertension Of the Ocular Variety
Fortunately for Laura, the doctors were able to confirm that she did not have a suddenly life-threatening disorder. She had a condition called idiopathic intracranial hypertension. This means that there was pressure built up behind her skull that caused her eye to rupture internally...
Just for a Bit
Laura only needed to be in the hospital for a small amount of time. The doctors drained the pressure behind her eye and set her free. Unfortunately for Laura, idiopathic intracranial hypertension is persistent and it manifests many times until it eventually claims its victim's eye...
The Selfie Saved Her Life
If Laura just let this go, she would have died within the day. Papilledema has been known to cause strokes, internal bleeding, and aneurysms. If this disorder goes unchecked, it's practically a death sentence...
There Are Plenty of Others That Weren't so Lucky
One woman named Vanessa suddenly went blind one day. She was walking outdoors with her two children. She remembers putting them into their car seats in her mini-van, getting in the driver's seat, and then suddenly, nothing. Vanessa was still conscious, but her vision was consumed by blackness...
Everything Seemed Normal
Vanessa got one of her sons to call 911, and she was brought to the hospital in an ambulance. Strangely, all of Vanessa's test results came back normal, despite not being able to see any longer. Vanessa also started complaining about a "fuzzy" feeling around her head. She stated that the air felt "electric" and she felt woozy...
Coming Back and Losing Again
The doctors kept Vanessa in the hospital overnight to observe her. Although there were no physical indications that suggested that this was happening, Vannesa stated that her vision was coming in and out throughout the evening. She wondered if she was having a stroke, but the doctors suspected something even more sinister...
Nothing Helped
No matter what the doctors did, no test they issued could help Vanessa's condition. She constantly phoned the neurologist on staff, panicking and screaming "I'm losing my sight, I'm losing my sight!" Sadly, there was nothing that the staff could do...
Strange and Uncommon, But It Was Happening
Suddenly, one of the neurologists on staff had an epiphany. After reading back in one of their medical textbooks, the doctors were able to conclude that Vanessa had a condition called NMOSD. This acronym stands for neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder. This rare and bizarre disease is the result of a patient's immune system attacking the portion of the brain that causes vision...
A Temporary Setback
The doctors made sure that Vanessa knew that while there was no treatment for this disorder, it would clear up on its own. However, they warned that this would 100% come back in some capacity for the rest of her life. They urged her to understand that if this were to happen again, she did not need to go to the hospital. All she needed to do was relax in a dark room until this problem blew over.
This Just Goes to Show
Let this be known, taking a selfie once in a while might just work out in your favor. Sometimes, taking a selfie might be just as good as getting a medical exam. Taking a selfie might save your life someday, but you should go to a doctor frequently as well.