Ok, last time I left off after the surgery on my left eye. The surgery for my right eye was done a week later on April 30th.
I was able to return to work the following Monday, after my left eye, while Bob and mom returned to Dallas. My mom came back on Tuesday and we hung out until my surgery Thursday afternoon. Bob couldn't skip class, so he came Thursday evening.
The surgery was pretty much the same, except that we had to wait a lot longer to get back in there. It didn't help much, just waiting around, but I was eventually led into the same room I'd been in the week before. After much protesting, my mom was kicked out of the room. The biggest difference between the left eye and right eye was that 1) I sort of blinked, only a little, but it was really hard to resist because she was applying so much pressure to my eye and 2) after they'd injected my eye to numb it, the doctor didn't stand there for 5 minutes rubbing it in, so it took a bit longer for my eye to completely numb and become stationary. I tried to rub it a little myself, but I know I was being more gentle than the doctor had been the previous week.
My mom was allowed back into the room while my eye was numbing, but then again, after much protesting and telling of stories I didn't want to hear, she was kicked out again while they performed the laser treatment. The laser itself was over in a couple mintues and we were soon on our way.
As with the left eye, I didn't really feel much immediately after the surgery, just a little beat up, so since we hadn't eaten all day (it was around 5pm), we decided to stop by Olive Garden on the way home. We had a nice dinner, and as we waited, the pain from my eye slowly started to seep in. Afterwards, we stopped by the pharmacy to get the pain medicine and we went home so I could rest.
The amount of pain I had after we reached home and I was able to lay down was significantly worse than the previous iteration. To the point that I would just shudder and squeeze my kitty, George, who had come in to keep me company (he's such a good cat). It took my longer to get to sleep, but eventually I was able to and I rested until Bobby showed up that evening. I was still in a lot of pain, after he got there, so I rested until it subsided enough that I could watch Star Trek. The next day the pain was almost gone, which was really different from the previous eye which took days for the pain to subside as much as it had by day 2 on the right eye.
And, that was pretty much it. At least that was what I thought. I continued to have a dull ache, and when I completely came off the steroid drops (in my right eye) looking at my computer was becoming increasingly difficult and light caused such a sharp pain my my eyes that I would have to nap when I got home from work just to alleviate some of my headache. Not to mention that by the end of the day I couldn't read, and finishing the history class I was taking had become a major chore because I had such a hard time reading the computer screen. So, I returned to the eye surgeon to see what was the problem the following week. They couldn't see anything, and suggested I try rewetting drops for awhile to see if it would help (that was Friday May 8th).
By the 11th, I was in no mood to play with eye drops and decided I needed to go back to my opthamologist to get a second opinion (really a third since my eye surgeon was in surgery and another doctor saw me). He did a full exam to rule out possible eye diseases and to check my vision. He told me that the light sensitivity was a side effect of the surgery and that he thought a lot of the pain was due to a major change in my near field vision (I had had a vision test 2 months before, so the change, for the better, in my near range vision was very sudden). He suspected my allergies could have also been causing some of the problem and in addition to ordering me some reading glasses, he suggested I try Sudafed.
The Sudafed helped, wearing sunglasses over my glasses helped with the light sensitivity (outside, inside is still a problem), and the reading glasses arrived the other day and I can actually read again. Small print is still an issue on the computer, but in most places I can increase the font size so I'm doing ok. 8 hrs staring at a computer screen still leaves me with a headache, but I'll only be doing this for a couple more days and after Thursday my computer usage time will drop off significantly.
So, that's where I'm at. I have a follow up appointment in August and two pairs of glasses, one for reading (and working on the computer) and one for everything else.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Good God, not my eyes! Part 2
So, I got as far as April 16th in the previous post. The surgery on my left eye was scheduled for the following week, the 23rd.
Mom and Bob both arrived here in Houston late on the 22nd, so they could take me to my appointment the following morning. I don't remember exactly when the appointment was, 10am or 11am, but we got up around 8 and made it to the Medical Center near Rice University with 15 minutes to spare.
We didn't wait very long before they had all three of us in the back and were in the process of dilating my eyes. We waited 30 minutes or so in their not so dark, dark room for my eyes to completely dilate. Then, off I was to the operating room. It wasn't what I would normally think of as a standard operating room, because the operating table was shoved against a wall and the main feature to the room was a computer.
But there I laid, on the not so cushioned operating table with the nurse rubbing alcohol under my eye and Bob and mom questioning the nurse on if they could stay and watch, what kind of laser is that, what power, what's this, what's that.... An inquisitive pair. But, no they couldn't stay, so when the doctor was ready to numb my eye they were kicked out.
So, eye numbing, that was a not so fun adventure. The doctor came and stood over me, so I couldn't see her hands, of course, and told me to look at the nurse's finger and not to move.... all I was thinking was, "Don't Panic, Don't Panic, Don't flinch, Don't Panic..." Then suddenly I see it, the longest needle known to man and it's headed straight for my eye, MY EYE! Don't Panic! Ok, so it wasn't right at my eye, just slightly below my iris on the part of my eye between my cheek bone and where my eye lashes are. I couldn't really tell you if I was still or not, because it's really difficult to focus when someone is applying a lot of pressure to your eye. But, the next thing I knew the needle was out, the doctor was rubbing below my eye and Bob and mom were back in the room, asking all sorts of questions. I hate to admit, but I wasn't hearing them anymore. They were now collaborators with the crew that was torturing me.
So, the doctor played rub my eye for a little while, then went off somewhere. The next thing I knew, the nurse was having me look around the room to see if my eye was ready. What I saw, was obviously very different from what everyone else saw my eyes do, because it seemed to me that I could move both eyes, they were just not looking in the same direction. They saw my left eye remain still and my right eye moving around, which meant I was good to go.
The nurse then started putting a jel on my eye, tapped the right one closed (so it would not be effected by the laser light), and began all her preparations. Mom and Bob were again kicked out of the room and the doctor came back in. They turned out the lights... and during this time my ability to see out of my left eye was diminishing, so that all I could see was light (vague right?, think a single ball from Van Gogh's Starry Night, that's all I could see). The doctor put on her "mining" helmet and they quickly began the procedure. It only took a few mintues, with me seeing only a Starry Night spot that flashed green, sometimes a greenish blue.
Next thing I knew, Bob and mom were back in the room, my eye was patched up, and we were heading home. For the most part, I felt ok, a little beat up, but like I had a sunburned ring around my eye, nothing too bad. So, I wasn't about to protest to lunch, cause I felt fine, no real pain at all, and off we went to the 59 diner. Yes, the 59 diner. I hadn't conveyed my concern that my problems were connected to the 59 diner, and since it was only circumstantial, and mom and Bob were all excited, I couldn't protest.
It was a good lunch, and as it wore on, I slowly began to feel a little something. Just a little headache, no need for codeine or any pain medicine, and as we were heading home I told them I felt fine, ... no need to fill the prescription. That was along HWY 59, by the time we reached HWY 290, it was more than just a little headache, and I conceded that I would need to fill the prescription.
We stopped by our local CVS, and filled the prescription as I leaned against Bob feeling as though I'd been stabbed in the eye -- which I had been. When we got home, they tucked me into bed, fed me some codeine, and tried to get me to go to sleep. It took awhile, because every position hurt. Not just a little, a lot. I'd been stabbed and tortured and was now suffering the consequences. So after a short nap, 2-3 hours, I got up and emailed my boss that I would NOT be in the next day. "You'll feel fine the next day." ... right, let me stick a needle in your eye, burn your retina back in place, and you tell me if you're fine the next day.
Well, I did manage to join mom and Bob for some late night Star Trek (gotta love DVR) after the pain subsided a bit. I don't remember much of what we did that night, but I know Star Trek was involved. That night when I went ot bed, I could only sleep on my back. It took me a week to be able to sleep in any other position. I had nightmares that night, which I'm starting to think is a natural reaction to traumatic experiences. I'd been in a lot of pain, A LOT, so looking back, I guess it's understandable.
That's about all I can handle tonight, more later.
Mom and Bob both arrived here in Houston late on the 22nd, so they could take me to my appointment the following morning. I don't remember exactly when the appointment was, 10am or 11am, but we got up around 8 and made it to the Medical Center near Rice University with 15 minutes to spare.
We didn't wait very long before they had all three of us in the back and were in the process of dilating my eyes. We waited 30 minutes or so in their not so dark, dark room for my eyes to completely dilate. Then, off I was to the operating room. It wasn't what I would normally think of as a standard operating room, because the operating table was shoved against a wall and the main feature to the room was a computer.
But there I laid, on the not so cushioned operating table with the nurse rubbing alcohol under my eye and Bob and mom questioning the nurse on if they could stay and watch, what kind of laser is that, what power, what's this, what's that.... An inquisitive pair. But, no they couldn't stay, so when the doctor was ready to numb my eye they were kicked out.
So, eye numbing, that was a not so fun adventure. The doctor came and stood over me, so I couldn't see her hands, of course, and told me to look at the nurse's finger and not to move.... all I was thinking was, "Don't Panic, Don't Panic, Don't flinch, Don't Panic..." Then suddenly I see it, the longest needle known to man and it's headed straight for my eye, MY EYE! Don't Panic! Ok, so it wasn't right at my eye, just slightly below my iris on the part of my eye between my cheek bone and where my eye lashes are. I couldn't really tell you if I was still or not, because it's really difficult to focus when someone is applying a lot of pressure to your eye. But, the next thing I knew the needle was out, the doctor was rubbing below my eye and Bob and mom were back in the room, asking all sorts of questions. I hate to admit, but I wasn't hearing them anymore. They were now collaborators with the crew that was torturing me.
So, the doctor played rub my eye for a little while, then went off somewhere. The next thing I knew, the nurse was having me look around the room to see if my eye was ready. What I saw, was obviously very different from what everyone else saw my eyes do, because it seemed to me that I could move both eyes, they were just not looking in the same direction. They saw my left eye remain still and my right eye moving around, which meant I was good to go.
The nurse then started putting a jel on my eye, tapped the right one closed (so it would not be effected by the laser light), and began all her preparations. Mom and Bob were again kicked out of the room and the doctor came back in. They turned out the lights... and during this time my ability to see out of my left eye was diminishing, so that all I could see was light (vague right?, think a single ball from Van Gogh's Starry Night, that's all I could see). The doctor put on her "mining" helmet and they quickly began the procedure. It only took a few mintues, with me seeing only a Starry Night spot that flashed green, sometimes a greenish blue.
Next thing I knew, Bob and mom were back in the room, my eye was patched up, and we were heading home. For the most part, I felt ok, a little beat up, but like I had a sunburned ring around my eye, nothing too bad. So, I wasn't about to protest to lunch, cause I felt fine, no real pain at all, and off we went to the 59 diner. Yes, the 59 diner. I hadn't conveyed my concern that my problems were connected to the 59 diner, and since it was only circumstantial, and mom and Bob were all excited, I couldn't protest.
It was a good lunch, and as it wore on, I slowly began to feel a little something. Just a little headache, no need for codeine or any pain medicine, and as we were heading home I told them I felt fine, ... no need to fill the prescription. That was along HWY 59, by the time we reached HWY 290, it was more than just a little headache, and I conceded that I would need to fill the prescription.
We stopped by our local CVS, and filled the prescription as I leaned against Bob feeling as though I'd been stabbed in the eye -- which I had been. When we got home, they tucked me into bed, fed me some codeine, and tried to get me to go to sleep. It took awhile, because every position hurt. Not just a little, a lot. I'd been stabbed and tortured and was now suffering the consequences. So after a short nap, 2-3 hours, I got up and emailed my boss that I would NOT be in the next day. "You'll feel fine the next day." ... right, let me stick a needle in your eye, burn your retina back in place, and you tell me if you're fine the next day.
Well, I did manage to join mom and Bob for some late night Star Trek (gotta love DVR) after the pain subsided a bit. I don't remember much of what we did that night, but I know Star Trek was involved. That night when I went ot bed, I could only sleep on my back. It took me a week to be able to sleep in any other position. I had nightmares that night, which I'm starting to think is a natural reaction to traumatic experiences. I'd been in a lot of pain, A LOT, so looking back, I guess it's understandable.
That's about all I can handle tonight, more later.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Good God, not my eyes! Part 1
I wish I knew where to begin, perhaps the best place is my state of panic at the thought that I was drawing nearer to a state of blindness. While I know its a bit of a leap to go from dizziness, spots, and eye pain to "I'm going blind!" but the words of my eye doctor when I was in high school telling me that I may go blind later in life, led me into a panic. Not that I verbalized my concern, and I intelligently waited a couple days just so noone would catch on.
My patience was rewarded with a trip to a local surgeon. And, I knew I should have told someone, and I should have had someone drive me, because the lady did tell me to, but with reckless abandon I went alone.
So, after poking around my eyes, -- poking is too polite, she manhandled me, flipped the chair over and everything, then stuck this huge light in my eye and asked me to look around. All I could think of was, 'light hurt, light hurt...."
And even though I knew it was coming, I just stared blankly at her when she told me I needed surgery on both eyes ... something about holes in my retinas, retinal skesis, lattice degeneration, retinal tears, and a small retinal detachment.
I'd known for years it was going to happen because of my "severe myopia" but my mind drifted to isolating the latest strain that would have caused it all. I flipped started with declaring it to be looking at ancient Biblical texts in dim lights (it all started after we went to the musuem to see the Christianity exhibt the day before Easter). I knew I shouldn't have been scanning the texts for letters I recognized, or wait ... no, it was the pot roast and sundae (we went to lunch at the 59 diner... it was a Saturday, afterall).
After all that, she told me to have someone bring me next time and she'd do the surgery on my left eye first, possibly with a local, or maybe just a topical pain reliever.
My patience was rewarded with a trip to a local surgeon. And, I knew I should have told someone, and I should have had someone drive me, because the lady did tell me to, but with reckless abandon I went alone.
So, after poking around my eyes, -- poking is too polite, she manhandled me, flipped the chair over and everything, then stuck this huge light in my eye and asked me to look around. All I could think of was, 'light hurt, light hurt...."
And even though I knew it was coming, I just stared blankly at her when she told me I needed surgery on both eyes ... something about holes in my retinas, retinal skesis, lattice degeneration, retinal tears, and a small retinal detachment.
I'd known for years it was going to happen because of my "severe myopia" but my mind drifted to isolating the latest strain that would have caused it all. I flipped started with declaring it to be looking at ancient Biblical texts in dim lights (it all started after we went to the musuem to see the Christianity exhibt the day before Easter). I knew I shouldn't have been scanning the texts for letters I recognized, or wait ... no, it was the pot roast and sundae (we went to lunch at the 59 diner... it was a Saturday, afterall).
After all that, she told me to have someone bring me next time and she'd do the surgery on my left eye first, possibly with a local, or maybe just a topical pain reliever.
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