Nadine Miller truly soaked up life. Nadine and her husband loved watching her children learn and grow. A hardworking woman, Nadine wasn’t one to complain. In 2008, she noticed that her vision wasn’t what it use to be. Unable to read the small print or even the mail, she headed to the ophthalmologist. Little did she know that this visit would be the start to a difficult journey. Here are a list of some of his personal symptoms and a brief version of the path of Tammy took to get a final diagnosis.

Some of the symptoms he showed over time:

• Nadine went to the ophthalmologist. She wasn’t even able to sign herself in. her vision had gotten so bad. He checked her vision and ordered an MRI. The test showed inflammation of the optic nerve which could indicate Sarcoidosis which causes swelling in the body and may cause the loss of vision.
• Unable to see faces, she was placed into the hospital to undergo steroid treatments every 12 hours. By the fourth day her vision felt normal.
• Two weeks later on her way to work, Nadine started having problems with her vision again. She headed back to the hospital. Once again they gave her high doses of steroids. However her vision was starting to go quicker. Her doctor encouraged her to give the steroids a chance and Nadine tried to do her best to get by…even having others read to her. Her husband Willard was now her chauffeur and found himself having to do the bulk of her daily routine, like cooking.
• Then one day she noticed she was seeing an array of colors and blobs of floating darkness where objects should be. They rushed to the doctor and the tests showed nothing. They gave her a referral to see a psychologist. Feeling horrible and overwhelmed, Nadine did her best to manage. Her work placed her on disability.
• Nadine went back to her doctor and encouraged him to reconsider the diagnosis. He scheduled another MRI which showed that the swelling had doubled. He suggested a craniotomy to take a biopsy. Although it was a very dangerous procedure, Nadine wanted answers to this illness that plagued her for 6 months.
• Neuro-Ophthalmologis, Robert Tomsak, MD, PhD of the Detroit Medical Center, preformed the surgery and sent off the biopsy. Three days later the results came back and Nadine finally had some answers.

Final Diagnosis:

• Chronic Relapsing Inflammatory Optic Neuropathy (CRION)- an auto-immune disease that effects the eyes. Normally the immune system helps to keep infections in check, but for people with this disease the immune cells (B cells) attack the optic nerves causing severe inflammation and vision loss.

What is ahead for her:

• With no cure, it can be helped with anti-inflammatory medication. With less than 25 reported cases known, this was still a new disease. The doctors weren’t sure what the results would be, but gradually her vision started to improve.

Now, Nadine has IV treatments every 6 months. Her vision is no longer blurry and she is able to function better. Although she isn’t 100% and may never be, Nadine is optimistic about her future. We wish her all the best