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.