On a sunny day, March 11, after doing my hair and make-up, I went downstairs to make coffee and then went into our library room to finalize my make-up and put on mascara. That is when I noticed, my eyes had a faint yellowish color to it. Why have I not noticed this before? Was it because I always did my makeup in the bathroom or bedroom and the lighting was different? I suppose so. I quickly asked my husband to take a look. He was hesitant, unsure if due to the amazing lighting we had that day from the sun shining into the library room could be the reason why my eyes looked that way. I send the picture to my friend. I send the picture to my sister and brother-in-law, but everyone agreed that they were not able to see what I saw. Maybe I am over exaggerating. I sent the photo to my brother. He was the only one that was able to see what I saw. I knew at that point that I was not losing my mind after all when he started to describe what he saw. I felt a relief. But I left it alone. Didn't thought much of it.
Two weeks later, my kids and I are yapping away in the kitchen when my son says "mom, why are your eyes yellow? I replied back, "oh, you noticed it?". Then my daughter says, "yes mom your eyes look yellow." And they proceeded with having me turn my eyes to the left, then to the right, then again to the left and again to the right. They both agreed it was not a dark yellow but one that was noticeable if you were close to me but not noticeable if you were further away from me. The next day, what seemed like a bump (it was flat to the touch) appeared underneath my left eye. I called my PCP and made an appointment to get seen on March 24.
My doc was able to see the faint yellowish color. She advised on getting bloodwork done first and then go from there. She also advised to see my eye doctor. I was diagnosed with scleral icterus (very mild). As predicted, blood work came back normal, liver is well, which was a relief. But as always, my hemoglobin is low. My PCP calls and notifies me that the blood tests came back normal. However, I have to get back on iron for the next three months because my hemoglobin was down to 9. If it doesn't get better, I would need to see Hematology to get iron infusions. I had to explain that even if I get my hemoglobin back up to where it needs to be, it will drop back down once I get my menstrual cycle.
A few months back my GYN told me that my next option would be to get a hysterectomy to help with the heavy cycles. I did get surgery last year in May to remove a uterine fibroid, which unfortunately grew back. He did not want to move forward with another surgery removal since it may come back again. So, my next option would be to get a hysterectomy.
I saw my eye doctor April 3rd. She tells me just by looking at my eyes from where she is standing, she can tell that my eyes are healthy. But still went into a deep dive of checking my eyes to make sure everything was okay. She did say she can see the yellowish color on both eyes, with my left eye looking worse, as well as some redness which are signs of dry eyes. Since my liver tests came back normal, I asked if my anemia can be playing a factor here. She mentioned that my anemia is what is causing the yellowish of the eyes. I was given some eye drops to help with the redness.
Now, I just have to continue taking the liquid iron daily for the next three months and talk to my GYN about getting the hysterectomy.
We'll see how it goes!!!
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