Friday, May 18, 2007

Bright Yellow Pee and Other Miracles of Modern Medicine

So I got to see the inside of my eyeball today. Not to sound too much like a science geek, but it was WAY COOL!

Background - I have a condition called Migraine Equivalent. I experience the aura of a migraine without getting the pain. Which is much better than the other way around, if you ask me. I've had it for years, and the aura event always follows the same pattern. Until Tuesday, when instead of 40 minutes or so, it lasted all day. So I went to the doctor, who sent me to an opthamologist. He spotted a shadow on my left retina, so he sent me to the hospital eye clinic for a test called a Fluorescein Angiogram. They dialated my pupils - always fun - then injected a yellow dye into a vein in my arm and took pictures of my eyes as the dye moved through the blood vessels.

It had to be one of the freakier experiences of my life thus far. The pupil dialating part always sucks - you basically can't see for shit for a few hours - but the picture-taking was OK. Then when they turned on the lights, everything was pink for about 30 seconds! And the grooviest side effect of all - my pee is bright yellow for the next day or so as my body gets rid of the dye. and when I say bright yellow I mean Bright Fucking Yellow. This is definitely not a colour found anywhere in nature. But it sure looks cool. And here comes the science geek again - I'm wondering what would happen if I drank blue Kool-Aid ...
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