Tomorrow, I should have been getting on a plane, and flying for 19 hours to Japan for the Japanese Linux Symposium, and Kernel Summit. Unfortunately, I’ve had to cancel those plans, and won’t be attending either event due to some unexpected health problems.

A few weeks ago, for no obvious reason, I went blind for 30 minutes. During this time, what I saw was a very distorted version of the world. The stripes on the crosswalk in front of me appeared as animated swirling zig-zag shapes for example. Needless to say, it freaked me the hell out. I stood still in downtown Boston for a half hour, too afraid to move, in case I stepped out in front of a bus or something. Slowly, my vision began to return, followed by the worst headache I’ve ever had in my life. Some reading later made me realise the symptoms were not entirely unlike a migraine. I thought I’d had migraines in the past, but compared to this, they were just ‘bad headaches’.

I went home, took some painkillers, and slept. For nearly 18 hours. That headache has been with me almost constantly the last month. Most days I wake up and the whole side of my head is numb and tingling. Constant nausea. Tinnitus. Dizzyness. Photosensitivity. Excessive tiredness. I’ve actually lost track of all the various symptoms I’ve experienced the last few weeks.

I hadn’t had an eye test in nearly 10 years, so I figured that would be a good place to start. I had one last week, and was told my vision was almost perfect, and I didn’t need anything corrective. The only thing of concern, was that apparently my right pupil is larger than my left. Which can be a sign of absolutely nothing to worry about, or it could be a sign of neurological issues.

I had also scheduled a visit to my doctor, which happened two days later. After telling him the various symptoms and what the eye doctor had told me, he was sufficiently concerned that he decided I needed my head checked out. So later this week, I have a CT scan to look forward to.

So that’s why I won’t be in Japan. Right now, I’m hoping it does just turn out to be ‘just migraines’, but I’m really bummed to be missing kernel summit. It’ll be the first one I’ve missed since 2000.