Eye test saves Omagh woman’s life

Omagh’s Stacey McNamee is not one for believing in bad omens but can remember as clear as day that it was a Friday 13th last January when she was told by a consultant at Altnagelvin Hospital, “It’s not good news.”

Just five weeks earlier, Stacey (33) and husband Paul had welcomed their first baby into the world. Finn McNamee was premature, arriving four weeks early and weighing just 5lb 5oz.

“Finn’s birth was relatively straightforward,” said Stacey. “I had contractions on the Thursday evening and he was delivered at Altnagelvin on the Friday morning. He was the tiniest little thing and aside from a little bit of jaundice, was in great health. We were able to take him home eight days later.”

Little did the new parents know that five weeks later to the day after Finn’s birth, they’d be back in the hospital where Stacey would be admitted to the stroke ward after an eye test raised some red flags.

Recalling the lead up to her diagnosis, Stacey explained, “About 10 days before I went to the GP. I had been really suffering with awful headaches. However, I had also just given birth and I wasn’t getting much sleep, so I just presumed the headache was something to do with that. I was preoccupied with Finn, but when they wouldn’t let up and I started getting additional symptoms, I begrudgingly went to see my GP.

“That was on the Tuesday. They took my bloods and suggested I go to get an eye test. I don’t wear glasses but I have had eye tests before, so I called Specsavers Omagh that Thursday, and got an appointment for the next day.”

Tests

After Stacey explained her symptoms, the optician carried out a visual field test alongside the regular eye test, and that’s when they realised she was showing signs of a possible medical emergency.

Donna Harbison, ophthalmic director at Specsavers Omagh remarked, “A visual field test measures a patient’s peripheral vision and all-around vision, and depending on their responses, can help us detect vision loss which may be caused by a possible stroke or other eye diseases. In Stacey’s case, she could not see the spots in her peripheral vision, therefore was not responding to them, which warranted an urgent phone call to eye casualty.”

While Stacey waited at Specsavers Omagh for the results of her tests, she continued to have unbearable headache pain and called the GP again, in the hope for a prescription.

“The pain was worse than labour,” she recalled. “I have never felt pain like it, absolutely nothing made a dent in it, which was another indicator for the type of stroke that I’d had.”

Both the team at Specsavers and her GP referred Stacey to Altnagelvin A&E and, after initial triages, she was given a cat-scan, which confirmed her diagnosis.

“The consultant said, ‘it isn’t good news’ and told me I’d had a stroke,” Stacey said. “Cerebral Venous Sinus Thrombosis, or Cavernous Sinus Thrombosis was my medical diagnosis. It means there was a blood clot in my cavernous sinus, just behind the eye and I’d need to be admitted to the stroke ward immediately for treatment.

“We were both in shock and I just cried. I wanted to go home, I didn’t want to be in hospital, away from my baby. That was the worst part of it for me. However, I knew that by getting the treatment, I could be there for him once I was better, but it was so difficult leaving him, that week felt like the longest week of my life.”

Back to work

Now, after celebrating Finn’s first birthday in December, Stacey is back to work and says she is still suffering from some symptoms of her stroke. However knows the quick thinking of her medical team, along with Aoife and Mairead at Specsavers Omagh, meant she could get treatment immediately and not suffer any further complications, saving her life.

“I was only 32 at the time; I did not think for one minute that it could’ve been a stroke. I wish I hadn’t waited 10 days to go and see someone about those headaches. It’s only in hindsight that me, my family and friends look back and realise that my lack of focus, fatigue etc wasn’t just from having a new born.

“I still really suffer from the fatigue, and of course I am gutted that this has taken from my precious time on maternity with Finn. My family were just amazing throughout the whole ordeal, making sure wee Finn had everything he needed and making sure I could see him as much as possible. It really does take a village. I am not the same person I was, but I am determined to get my health back as much as possible for me and my family. It is the most important and precious thing we have, and I would tell anyone experiencing anything like that to go and see a health professional as soon as possible. If it’s a headache like mine, get an eye test sorted, I couldn’t believe how accessible that was for me and it saved my life.”

Eye health

Donna at Specsavers concluded, “The eye tests that we undertake at Specsavers are not just about checking your vision for prescription lenses, we are very much focused on your eye health and have the technology to detect anything out of the ordinary.

“For Stacey, the fact that she’d experienced headaches for more than three days led us to undertake the visual field test, which immediately showed a defect typical in stroke cases.

“Thanks to our referral system with Altnagelvin, we were able to share our findings with the team and make sure Stacey was sent straight to Eye Casualty with all the information needed. Community healthcare is a vital service to have, and we’re grateful to have been able to assist Stacey and help her get a diagnosis and treatment quickly and with such a positive outcome.”