Got my MRIs returned from the facility today, along with the addendum comparing the previous MRIs. I let the UPS package sit there for about an hour before I mustered up the courage to open it!

According to my new favorite radiologist, there is "no convincing evidence of change in size or number of the multiple white matter lesions" in my brain. Yay!! (I think!!)

If you read my previous thread about getting the call from the radiologist asking about my eye, I guess it's because the comparison of the orbital MRIs showed "asymmetric T2 hyperintensity of the left optic nerve from the globe to the apex". It also notes no change since the last orbital MRI but that the lesion no longer lights up. I'm sure my neuro-op will explain this to me in April and call me beforehand if this is of concern but if anyone has any insight, bring it on!

Question for those of you who say your brain lesions have gotten smaller on subsequent MRIs -- does your neurologist tell you this or do you see it written in the radiologist's report? I have to admit, that's one thing I would have liked to see in the report!

My neuro is the one who told me that they had shrunk/disappeared.

Just got a call from my neuro-ophthalmologist. I was nervous while I waited for her to come on the phone but it's all good -- or I guess as good as it can be! What the MRI is showing is no change from the last one (except that the lesion is not active, which of course is good). The inflammation has gone down and she thinks what the films are showing should go away in the next MRI.

I wish that EVERYONE could have a doctor like this. It's amazing that she called me, just to say I'm on track. If anyone ever needs a good neuro-op in NYC, let me know!

*I just edited this because there is one question left!!

Regarding when lesions get smaller, do you usually see this in the report or is it something your MS specialist tells you?

Is your vision better now? If it is, how long did it take for things to improve?

I had ON in my left eye hit me in August of 2006. It took me the better part of a year to see improvement (10 months) and then a month or two after I hit the one year mark, was when my vision suddenly started to improve a lot more, and a lot faster.

I did get a second case of ON in the right eye, probably right about the time my left eye started to improve at the 10month mark. But that ON never gave me the big blind spots...just pain and some vision fuzziness, and some double vision when I look to the right without turning my head.

Glad that you got a call and an explanation...

Hope that you got the answers that you needed. Your docs sound like real keepers!

things are going well for you. ***toasts*** here here!

greta, our posts crossed! Thanks for posting. I hear people talking about the shrinkage and I'm a little envious!

I was hoping to see something in the report because while my neuro-op sure is a keeper, my MS specialist -- well, let's say most everything I've learned about MS has been either from my neuro-op or "on the street". He doesn't tell me very much at all. I don't expect to hear from him and when I last spoke with his office and asked if he wanted me to come in, his assistant said "I'll get back to you". She didn't.

Erin, I believed I had recovered from my ON probably around October (onset was March of '07). My neuro-op follow-up in December showed perfect visual field and although the colors weren't all that easy, I could still get them. (I know I have some residual color saturation loss but it's not bad -- nothing obvious.) So, this follow-up of the optics was a surprise to me. But now I know WHY the radiologist called me last Saturday. Obviously, CLINICALLY speaking, my eye is not 100% better. Very interesting to hear you had marked improvement after a year. What you're saying seems to support the findings in my MRI and what my neuro-op said. If she's right, the MRI should eventually look normal (or very close to it) and perhaps there's STILL room for improvement for me! (My eye feels a little funky from time to time but I am just so happy that my vision is back that I've kind of accepted it!)

I never thought I would get any improvement. After about a month or two. (my ON started late august 2006) I still had blind spots. In January of 2007 when I got diagnosed with MS, I still had dim vision in that eye.

When I would go to the yarn store, and ask strangers to tell me what color yarn I was holding, and did it match with the other color I was holding, they'd look at me funny. Like I was nuts (or new at buy yarn or something) That made me a bit sad. I was starting to think I would lose all of my color vision. Since you use both eyes work together to see, colors in the good eye didnt look quite right either to me.

I quit going to the yarn stores for a bit, since none of the yarn colors were appealing to me anymore. Used up a lot of my scrap stash (and I had a huge stash) When my eye started to improve a lot last fall, I went back to the yarn store (the expensive yarn store, I wanted to splurge a bit) I walked in, and knew the color vision was really improving. I was a kid in a candy store (or a crochet/knitter in a yarn shop) I had a blast going thru the green yarns (one of my favorite colors and the color I was having the most problems with other than red)

That was one of my big fears about the ON. That I was going to lose my vision and not be able to crochet ever again. Now I've been practicing crocheting with my eyes closed, and I kept up with the knitting (learned a couple days before the ON hit) and now I can knit garter stitch with my eyes closed for several rows, and I can crochet by feel.

Now if I get another ON and it does too much damage to my eyes, I'll at least be able to keep myself somewhat sane by crocheting or knitting...

i always get a copy of my report and read it.
i once even called the radiologist because i had some Q's.

however, i hear the real interpretation from my neuro.
and if you don't mind me saying, it sounds like you
need a new one. yours doesn't sound very caring and
his office is run like...well...that's usually a bad reflection
on the dr.

the news does sound good. no active lesions, nothing
enhancing.

M'kay..We don't discuss "shrinkage" at my house, because the only thing that tends to shrink is my brain.
Now, for "lesions", after my last MRI, my neuro said they "looked better", and when I got the CD of the results, I could see where the worst looking ones from the time before had faded quite a bit..
If in doubt, ask,ask,ask..