Here there be dragons...

"I'm telling you stories. Trust me." - Winterson

Insert foul language here

Every friggin long weekend this summer I've spent having or recovering from surgery.  Yes including the September one.  I am not even kidding.   I need a new hobby.

My eye had gotten to the point where I was slowly starting to get vision back -- the gas bubble was shrinking and I could see over the top of it.  Pretty excited about it and feeling well.  We'd had a family bbq and were planning a house is finished celebration (poutine bar!) for the long weekend.  And then all of a sudden, a grey cloud overtook my vision.  I got a wicked pit in my stomach and just wanted to cry.  All my vision was gone.  Again.  Grey rather than black, so part of me hoped maybe that'd be something else.  Part of me is an optimistic idiot.  Back to the clinic -- of course my surgeon is away.  Cause, well that's the way my luck goes.  Fortunately for me his awesome admin decided it was serious and fast-forwarded me through the line to see another doctor.  First doctor said she thought I had fluid in my eye and would need surgery.  Specialist confirmed -- fluid in eye due to another tear in the retina beside some scar tissue AND a new hole just for creativity's sake.  Awesome.  She said I'd need surgery within the week, but they didn't want to admit me like before because the OR was so backlogged people who they'd admitted were waiting for days, so better to schedule a time next week.   Sure - why not?  At least I'd be able to go back to work and organize things over a couple days.

Right, about that.  The fellow came in to look and promptly vetoed that.  Need surgery, will do it scheduled but scheduled for Friday (it was Wednesday afternoon at this point).  Oh, but no going back to work -- have to lie face down till the surgery to help avoid it being any worse.  Awesome.   This was not news I was happy with.  And then it was followed up with more -- they were going to put a belt in my eye, which would change the shape of it.  This should help keep it from re-detaching, BUT it will also make my snazzy new lens that I was so excited to be able to see out of, unlikely to work.  Fail.   Am incredibly disappointed at that.

So Thursday was all kinds of miserable, not gonna lie.  Friday went in for surgery.  Amazing waiting room -- all kinds of impressive.  Had a library and everything.  Admittedly more useful for Chris than me, but I was still amused.  Chris' description of the decor being a cross between his grandmother and Napoleon seemed about right.  You can picture it now, can't you?

Just a small example of the decor
Spoke to both the nurse and the anesthesiologist about my previous, less-than-pleasant, experiences.  So this anesthesiologist said she'd give me three anti-nausea drugs and would not use morphine as that can sometimes trigger nausea.  And, well, third time's the charm.  I was awake, or partially awake anyways, throughout the surgery.  Phasing in and out and able to answer questions.  I was in no pain (huge improvement over last time)!   And while hearing a saw start up when they're operating on your eye is a little creepy to say the least, overall it was a non-issue.  I've also learned to identify the sounds when they're using the lasers.  This is knowledge I would've been quite content living my life without.  Sheesh.

When I got up, first thing they did was give me more nausea drugs.  And the world was good.  My eye was sore, unsurprisingly, but there was none of the misery of last time.  Told they put oil in and the belt on.  Big boo on that :(   Oil means there'll be at least one more surgery.  I'm not really okay with that idea.  Both because I'm very tired of this game and because I'd really like to be able to be back at work.  I finally had things caught up and back under control after the last round and now this?  So not impressed.   They're being super supportive -- I just don't have the patience to be *that* person.   And the belt -- well that means no good vision for me :(   Ever.

So yeah, I was fairly disappointed at that news.  Follow up appointment on Saturday was a waste of time.  The doctor we met with was filling in (apparently the one we should've seen had an emergency - fair enough), and he had absolutely no background of the surgery at all and was asking questions of us he should've been the one answering.  He certainly wasn't able to answer any of ours.  Also slightly terrifying that he kept asking me to look right when I was -- obviously my eye was not responding the way it should.  Other doctors so far have been better at hiding that knowledge from me.  Very disconcerting.   And I've yet to meet the surgeon who actually did the surgery -- either before or after.

I have an appointment scheduled on Friday with the surgeon who did the second surgery -- I'm hoping to keep it and get him to look, cause of all of them I liked him best.   Now I have to go back to lying down -- have to stay on my left side for a week.  This sounds like it'd be a dream - forced vacation woohoo!   Except in very little time everything starts to hurt - shoulder, ear, and hip being the worst quickly followed by back...  I don't know how couch potatoes do it!  So frustrating.  Plus side, I'm not feeling horrible this time. Down side, that makes lying still endlessly more of a challenge.  Esp as I have very little faith in the doctor that gave us that information.

So as far as Google tells me, I've now had *all* the retinal surgery options out there -- some more than once.  I think, having had the complete experience, I'd like to consider this done now and move on with something else to blog about.  House hunting would be good -- somebody could just come buy our house and then that'd be a fun thing to blog about.

Speaking of -- we fired our real estate agent.  That story's not being posted, but is available upon request ;)   Agent we have now (and our buyer agent) both seem excellent.  So that's a relief.

And back to lying down I go.  Hope you're enjoying the last few moments of summer!


1 comments:

Oh Lauren! I am so, so so sorry you are dealing with this. I feel your misery. I had to miss half the summer last year due to surgery as my appendix ruptured, but I was able to return to the end of summer with only moderate secondary issues. My Mom was also in and out of hospital and having emergency surgeries so I feel your frustration. I pray that the eye will finally heal and all this will soon be a memory while your riding or showing or teaching. :) Also sorry to hear about your Agent issues with your house. I do hope you get to house hunt soon :) (btw, it's Lynn).

 

Post a Comment