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.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Random Story
Never tell someone the truth when a random story will do. Here's my conversation with a coworker:
Here's where I could have just told the truth and said, "ah, who wants to be called 'little cupcake with sprinkles'?" But I thought I'd bog her down with a random story instead --- thus I could irratate the idea of calling me 'little cupcake with sprinkles' out of her.
Of course, I don't have the story telling skills to come up with such a story on the spot, but I'm very familar with a little internet toy called the Random Story Generator. So, my nonsense was thanks to them, and my coworker won't be asking for any more stories from me. :)
* I gotta give credit where credit is due, so here's the credits for the story:
Coworker: THANK YOU....always know I can depend on you my little cupcake with sprinkles!
Me: never call me that again.
Coworker: WHY....LMAO
Here's where I could have just told the truth and said, "ah, who wants to be called 'little cupcake with sprinkles'?" But I thought I'd bog her down with a random story instead --- thus I could irratate the idea of calling me 'little cupcake with sprinkles' out of her.
Me: ... bad memories.
Coworker: I want to know.....do you have bad memories with a cupcake as a child?
---- BEGIN RANDOM STORY --------
Me: It all started when our hyphen-happy protagonist, Stephanie, woke up in a imaginery desert. It was the fifth time it had happened. Feeling alarmingly exasperated, Stephanie poked a ripened avocado, thinking it would make her feel better (but as usual, it did not). Duly ecstatic about the looming crises, she realized that her beloved little cupcake with sprinkles was missing! Immediately she called her so-called buddy, Bob. Stephanie had known Bob for (plus or minus) 11,000 years, the majority of which were curious ones. Bob was unique. He was plucky though sometimes a little... stupid. Stephanie called him anyway, for the situation was urgent.
Bob picked up to a very sad Stephanie. Bob calmly assured her that most disease-carrying chipmunks panic before mating, yet Indonesian devil cats usually flamboyantly cringe *after* mating. He had no idea what that meant; he was only concerned with distracting Stephanie. Why was Bob trying to distract Stephanie? Because he had snuck out from Stephanie's with the little cupcake with sprinkles only three days prior. It was a saucy little little cupcake with sprinkles... how could he resist?
It didn't take long before Stephanie got back to the subject at hand: her little cupcake with sprinkles. Bob panicked. Relunctantly, Bob invited her over, assuring her they'd find the little cupcake with sprinkles. Stephanie grabbed her hippopotamus and disembarked immediately. After hanging up the phone, Bob realized that he was in trouble. He had to find a place to hide the little cupcake with sprinkles and he had to do it recklessly. He figured that if Stephanie took the wannabe go-fast Civic, he had take at least six minutes before Stephanie would get there. But if she took the Saturn? Then Bob would be scarcely screwed.
Before he could come up with any reasonable ideas, Bob was interrupted by nine oafish Cats that were lured by his little cupcake with sprinkles. Bob grimaced; 'Not again', he thought. Feeling displeased, he aptly reached for his dull pencil and recklessly deflowered every last one of them. Apparently this was an adequate deterrent--the discouraged critters began to scurry back toward the disease-infested jungle, squealing with discontent. He exhaled with relief. That's when he heard the Saturn rolling up. It was Stephanie.
----o0o----
As she pulled up, she felt a sense of urgency. She had had to make an unscheduled stop at The Salvation Army to pick up a 12-pack of gerbils, so she knew she was running late. With a heroic leap, Stephanie was out of the Saturn and went earnestly jaunting toward Bob's front door. Meanwhile inside, Bob was panicking. Not thinking, he tossed the little cupcake with sprinkles into a box of dangerous oil-soaked rags and then slid the box behind his refrigerator. Bob was stunned but at least the little cupcake with sprinkles was concealed. The doorbell rang.
'Come in,' Bob earnestly purred. With a careful push, Stephanie opened the door. 'Sorry for being late, but I was being chased by some dimwitted self-righteous ass in a magic flying carpet,' she lied. 'It's fine,' Bob assured her. Stephanie took a seat exotically proximate to where Bob had hidden the little cupcake with sprinkles. Bob turned red trying unsuccessfully to hide his nervousness. 'Uhh, can I get you anything?' he blurted. But Stephanie was distracted. Absolutely thrilled, Bob noticed a stupid look on Stephanie's face. Stephanie slowly opened her mouth to speak.
'...What's that smell?'
Bob felt a stabbing pain in his kidney when Stephanie asked this. In a moment of disbelief, he realized that he had hidden the little cupcake with sprinkles right by his oscillating fan. 'Wh-what? I don't smell anything..!' A lie. A annoying look started to form on Stephanie's face. She turned to notice a box that seemed clearly out of place. 'Th-th-those are just my grandma's potatos from when she used to have pet Indonesian devil cats. She, uh...dropped 'em by here earlier'. Stephanie nodded with fake acknowledgement...then, before Bob could react, Stephanie aimlessly lunged toward the box and opened it. The little cupcake with sprinkles was plainly in view.
Stephanie stared at Bob for what what must've been eleven microseconds. Unaware of the bleakness of existence, Bob groped charismatically in Stephanie's direction, clearly desperate. Stephanie grabbed the little cupcake with sprinkles and bolted for the door. It was locked. Bob let out a eccentric chuckle. 'If only you hadn't been so protective of that thing, none of this would have happened, Stephanie,' he rebuked. Bob always had been a little abrasive, so Stephanie knew that reconciliation was not an option; she needed to escape before Bob did something crazy, like... start chucking wolverines at him or something. Duly ecstatic about the looming crises, she gripped her little cupcake with sprinkles tightly and made a dash toward the window, diving headlong through the glass panels.
Bob looked on, blankly. 'What the hell? That seemed excessive. The other door was open, you know.' Silence from Stephanie. 'And to think, I varnished that window frame seven days ago...it never ends!' Suddenly he felt a tinge of concern for Stephanie. 'Oh. You ..okay?' Still silence. Bob walked over to the window and looked down. Stephanie was gone.
----o0o----
Just yonder, Stephanie was struggling to make her way through the lemur-infested moor behind Bob's place. Stephanie had severely hurt her fingernail during the window incident, and was starting to lose strength. Another pack of feral Cats suddenly appeared, having caught wind of the little cupcake with sprinkles. One by one they latched on to Stephanie. Already weakened from her injury, Stephanie yielded to the furry onslaught and collapsed. The last thing she saw before losing consciousness was a buzzing horde of Cats running off with her little cupcake with sprinkles.
About nine hours later, Stephanie awoke, her ear throbbing. It was dark and Stephanie did not know where she was. Deep in the hazy bush, Stephanie was excessively lost. Suddenly inspired by the wise teachings of Confuscious, she remembered that her little cupcake with sprinkles was taken by the Cats. But at that point, she was just thankful for her life. That's when, to her horror, a little Cat emerged from the swamp. It was the alpha Cat. Stephanie opened her mouth to scream but was cut short when the Cat sunk its teeth into Stephanie's armpit. With a faint groan, the life escaped from Stephanie's lungs, but not before she realized that she was a failure.
Less than three miles away, Bob was entombed by anguish over the loss of the little cupcake with sprinkles. 'MY PRECIOUS!!' he cried, as he reached for a sharpened gerbil. With a skillful thrust, he buried it deeply into his ear. As the room began to fade to black, he thought about Stephanie... wishing he had found the courage to tell her that he loved her. But he would die alone that day. All that remained was the little cupcake with sprinkles that had turned them against each other, ultimately causing their demise. And as the dew on melancholy sappling branches began to reflect the dawn's reddish glare, all that could be heard was the chilling cry of distant Cats, desecrating all things sacred to virtuous men, and perpetuating an evil that would reign for centuries to come. Our heroes would've lived unhappily ever after, but they were too busy being dead. So, no one lived forever after, the end. :'( *
Of course, I don't have the story telling skills to come up with such a story on the spot, but I'm very familar with a little internet toy called the Random Story Generator. So, my nonsense was thanks to them, and my coworker won't be asking for any more stories from me. :)
* I gotta give credit where credit is due, so here's the credits for the story:
LOLz!!1
*** L337 Story Generator v1.0
*** Written by Derek Clark. Copyright © www.the-elite.net ~ 2004-2005
*** Forever pwning with earnest.
http://www.the-elite.net/---/story/
Friday, November 14, 2008
Ike at the Office
I've been procrastinating a lot lately, so in an effort to procrastinate new things I thought I'd post some of my pictures of the damage to our office building caused by Hurricane Ike. We were out of work for almost a week due to Ike and when they brought us back we were on generator power without AC for a week and then after they obtained a larger generator we were on generator power with AC for another week. It took about a month to get the office cleaned up again. Of course, in that time everyone switched offices (except me since I'm on the back hallway that was for the most part not effected.
They tore up the wet carpet and dry wall before they let us back in the building.
They had fans running to dry everything out.
It was just my side of the building that flooded -- the east side.
My *new* bosses old office. He's down the hall from me now. He went on vacation after Ike came through so he missed a lot of the office mess.
This office was empty, but it becamse a joke that we now knew what happened to the guy that had been in this office ... he slowly dug his way out. :)
I'm not sure exactly how much water we had inside but they took about 4 inches off the dry wall.
Towards east of building.
Looking back towards the back of the building.
They tore up the wet carpet and dry wall before they let us back in the building.
They had fans running to dry everything out.
It was just my side of the building that flooded -- the east side.
My *new* bosses old office. He's down the hall from me now. He went on vacation after Ike came through so he missed a lot of the office mess.
This office was empty, but it becamse a joke that we now knew what happened to the guy that had been in this office ... he slowly dug his way out. :)
I'm not sure exactly how much water we had inside but they took about 4 inches off the dry wall.
Towards east of building.
Looking back towards the back of the building.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)