What was supposed to be an ordinary day for Jennifer and her son Oscar ended up taking a turn for the worst. The morning of his first day at a new school ended up being spent in the hospital. Thankfully, Jennifer's seemingly normal act of taking a selfie held all the clues about what went wrong...
An Ordinary Day
Jennifer's morning routine was mostly dictated by her son, Oscar. She had to wake him up early, get him ready, and walk him to kindergarten each day before she went to work herself. He was an easy kid who liked school, so getting him out of bed was never a struggle. It was just the two of them at home, and they were each other's best friends...
Starting at a New School
On this day, Oscar was getting ready for his first day at a new school across town. He'd graduated from half-day to full-day kindergarten, and Jennifer was so proud. She waited for her parents to arrive so they could take him to school since Jennifer had to work, which was nothing out of the ordinary...
A Quick Selfie
For whatever reason, Jennifer decided to take a photo before they left. She looked good, felt confident, and decided they had just enough time before Oscar had to be at school. Being a single mom was difficult, and Jennifer usually didn't take the time to put a lot of makeup on or do her hair, but today she did because she had the time since Oscar's grandparents were coming to take him to school and she didn't have to rush...
Her Day Job
Jennifer worked as a Mental Health Unit Multi-Tasker, which meant she was on her feet most of the day and always had to stay sharp. Sometimes, Oscar kept her up late or the stresses of being a single mom got to her, and she was feeling a little tired and anxious. She was upset that she couldn't go meet Oscar's new teachers herself, but she knew her parents would make a great impression on her behalf...
She Was Usually Camera-Shy
Typically, Jennifer wasn't one for selfies. She felt self-conscious in front of the camera, but today was different. She was confident Oscar would love his new school, relieved that her parents were around to help, and glad that her hair and makeup had turned out the way she'd wanted. Things like that always gave her an extra boost of confidence...
A Reason To Worry
Later that day, Jennifer's parents dropped off Oscar and called her afterward. However, she didn't pick up the phone even though they'd called her twice. It wasn't like her to miss a call, so they decided to call her work. When they said she had never shown up, they went to her house...
Unconscious At Home
When Jennifer's parent's arrived at her house, they weren't prepared for what they were going to see. They walked into her bedroom and found her unconscious on the floor. Thankfully, Oscar was at school. Jennifer's parents had wanted to stop by and let her know how everything went when they made this shocking discovery.
What Happened?
Jennifer's phone was sitting next to her on the floor, and while her mother attempted to wake her up, her father started searching for clues. As he was scrolling, he found something very important about what must have happened earlier that morning...
Her Selfie
Aside from a couple of text messages, they saw Jennifer had taken a selfie around 8 a.m., just a few minutes before her parents had arrived to pick up Oscar. In the photo, one of her eyes was open and normal, and the other was completely shut and red on the outside...
Heading to the Hospital
Her parents immediately took her to the hospital when she regained consciousness. They ran several tests to determine whether she had a potentially life-threatening condition. After learning that she'd suffered from a stroke, Jennifer immediately thought about Oscar, who was still at school with no idea what had happened to her...
Her Phone Had Saved Her
Jennifer's father's idea of searching her phone for evidence had saved her. Finding that photo of her eyes had been the key to piecing together what had happened. The doctors took a closer look and started making a plan for how to prevent another stroke...
She Wasn't In The Clear Yet
Unfortunately, Jennifer needed to have surgery. The operation needed to happen now because there was a clot on her brain that needed to be removed immediately. That was the cause of the stroke and the reason why her eye had swelled up. If they didn't move quickly, things would get much worse...
She Couldn't Remember the Morning
After Jennifer woke up, hours later, she realized she couldn't remember what had happened to her that day. She was afraid when the doctors walked her through everything that happened. She'd had a stroke, collapsed, and had emergency surgery, all while Oscar had been at school...
Making a Plan
Since the stroke, Jennifer's vision had suffered. She had to wear a patch, walk with a cane and schedule another preventative surgery. Though she wasn't fully recovered yet, she was just relieved to have some answers about what had happened to her...
She Has to Stay Healthy for Oscar
Because her son is so young, she is determined to follow every step in order to stay healthy for him. Since she's a single mom, she can't imagine what would happen to Oscar if something happened to her. Unfortunately, her job didn't cover a medical leave, and she didn't want to ask her parents for help, so she opened a GoFundMe page...
Incidents Like This Happen All the Time
The ease of technology makes it simpler for people to catch things like medical issues similar to Jennifer's. Another woman, Laura, caught onto a strange illness while taking a selfie as well...
She Worked With Optomotrists
One day, Laura's eye was bothering her at work, so she decided to use one of the Opthalmology machines to take a picture of her eye since she was trained. She didn't really think she'd find anything and just assumed her eyes were irritated from a long day on the job. But when she read the scans back, she couldn't believe what she saw...
A Life-Saving Selfie
She took a closer look at the image of her optic disc and realized something was wrong. It was swollen with inflamed hemorrhages and was an undefined shape. Because she was a trained practitioner, she knew this was problematic. She was used to seeing things like this, but because it was her own body, she was nervous...
A Self-Diagnosis
Laura had an idea of what was wrong. Because she'd seen this before, she determined that she had papilledema, a serious disease that could potentially be life-threatening. She had a colleague take a second look at her eye, and they, unfortunately, confirmed what she was afraid of...
Self-Care
The diagnosis was clear, she had papilledema. Luckily, she'd found it quickly, which is the best-case scenario for this disease. Time was of the essence, so she got herself to the hospital right away for a more conclusive treatment...
Fast Treatment
Though Laura could determine what she had on her own, she couldn't figure out why without a hospital's help. Comprehensive tests done outside of an optometrist's office would be able to determine the cause of the swelling. She seemed at ease with the explanation they gave her...
Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension
Thankfully, the doctors determined Laura didn't have a brain tumor. That was the worst-case scenario that she could imagine. Instead, they explained that her condition was called "idiopathic intracranial hypertension." That meant she had a pressure buildup around her brain, which can potentially lead to a stroke...
An Overnight Visit
Unfortunately, papilledema is a persistent disease and can attack the body in different ways depending on the person. It can appear in bursts or it can linger for long periods at a time. The doctors treating Laura couldn't determine a root cause, which made it idiopathic. She stayed in the hospital overnight just to be safe and went home the next day...
The Selfie Saved Her
Laura's decision to check her own eyes had been life-saving. Had she just ignored the pain or assumed it was nothing, she could have had a stroke. Because timing is everything with diseases like that, she'd been extremely lucky. For others, the case isn't the same...
One Woman Went Suddenly Blind
Vanessa had spent an ordinary day out with her two young children, and she recalls the moment she buckled them into the car after a day at the park was her last color memory. Her story of going blind seemingly overnight is terrifying. Doctors refused to take her seriously even though she insisted something was very wrong...
Tests With Normal Results
Vanessa described the air around her as "fuzzy" and her mind "muddy." She told her husband that something was wrong, so they went to the emergency room together for tests. Doctors were confused when they looked at her - all of her test results were normal, but she insisted something wasn't right...
Fading Fast
Within a few hours of going to the hospital, her peripheral vision had seemingly faded into nothing. Suddenly, her limbs started to feel numb. She was waiting for a diagnosis about her eyes, but now was wondering if she was having a stroke. She was admitted to the hospital for several days...
Nobody Knew How To Help
Vanessa was transferred from general to neurology where she awaited more tests. "I'm losing my sight, I'm losing my sight," she said over and over. She felt her eyes and limbs getting heavy, and she was terrified that if she closed her eyes, she'd never open them again...
Finally a Diagnosis
After a lengthy stay in the hospital, doctors were finally able to give her a conclusive diagnosis. She had "NMOSD," neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder. That meant her immune system was reacting abnormally and attacking her body's organs, causing a loss of vision. It was unclear if Vanessa was ever going to regain her sight...
A New Normal
Because the doctors weren't sure whether or not Vanessa would regain her vision, she had to adapt to a new lifestyle. She had two young kids at home and a job in media that relied on her working with screens all day. She had a way to go to adapt, but thankfully since she'd caught her condition in the early stages, there was a chance for recovery.