It's been an interesting week... To level-set, today is the first day I've felt well enough to write. Or had any interest in eating for that matter.
Wed night in emerg, I was told the retina had redetached and I would need surgery. So Mum and I trooped back out there to see the surgeon on Thurs. It was quite the process, 5 steps in fact:
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| This was attached to the chart I had to bring to all the various people |
And these steps were not counting the first sign-in or actually seeing said surgeon... hahaha ah well. On the plus side, they didn't put any drops in. Woohoo! So I could read most of the day. I was in no pain, just tired and somewhat concerned at the severe lack of vision out of that eye -- the L shaped shadow had taken up most of my field of vision.
Eventually met with the surgeon and he confirmed the re-detachment (actually said the original detachment had healed quite nicely, but this was a new one. Aren't I lucky?). Said to come back tomorrow -- they'd use today as a baseline to determine if it was stable enough to wait for surgery next week, or if it was an emergency, in which case they'd admit me to the hospital to wait on a triage basis for an operating room.
All the people here were amazing -- friendly and willing to answer questions. Even the surgeon took the time to introduce himself and asked me what was going on. The contrast was dramatic to say the least.
I was told no food after midnight in case they did decide to do surgery on Friday. So we went out for dinner at Fran's (50s style 'tons-of-yummy-classic-greasy-food' type place) that left me all kinds of full. So much so that I forwent the pre-fast mid-night snack ;) I mostly figured it was going to be a long, hungry, grumpy day -- after which I'd be sent home and told it'd be next week. Especially when I woke up and my vision was pretty much as it had been on Thurs.
Except that by the time we were seen on Friday, said vision had noticeably deteriorated. My L shape had become a horseshoe, and I had maybe a thumbnail's worth of vision left. Very scary. Fortunately the photos they took and the tests they ran supported what I was saying and I was told that I needed surgery -- waiting till next week wouldn't be an option.
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| I was impressed the Fellow took the time to explain to me what he was seeing here |
So I was told I'd be admitted to the hospital and surgery would be somewhere between 5pm and 5am that night. I was a "B" level emergency, so would be bumped by an "A" levels (read heart attack, major trauma, etc) and that there was one other eye surgery in front of mine. I was shown to another room where a different doctor came and did the same tests I'd had to get my GP to do before the first surgery. Good to go for anesthesia. I mentioned the issues last time and a note was made. Then I just needed to pick up my paper work from the office and head over to the hospital.
Right. Well there were a couple very loud people in said office making their displeasure at having to wait (despite not having an appointment) very clear. There was only one woman there and she was doing her best to deal with everything. Anyways -- we'd been waiting for a while when the surgeon walked by. He paused and gave me a look. "Uh, why are you still here?" - Waiting for paperwork. He pokes his head in the office and seconds later I have everything I need and directions to the hospital (you know, the giant building across the street).
So head over there, admitting sends us up to the 15th floor. Take a look around and it's very clearly maternity. Somebody has a sick sense of humour. But sure enough, I'm in the right place, and they actually have a room for me. Apparently this admitting thing is serious. Semi-private room, but nobody in the other half. Sweet.
Chris joined me about this point and Mum headed home. Have I mentioned lately how awesome my family is? And then it was all about waiting. They had me change into full on hospital gear, did an EKG test, more blood pressure, took blood (no you're not going to be able to get it from the vein in my hand... *sigh* Sure enough, second try from my arm and even that took forever to fill the one little vial). The usual consternation about my low heart rate and slow bleeding. Normal. All normal. And they hooked up an IV -- my new boyfriend, George. Which is probably a good thing since by this point it'd been about 24 h since I'd had anything to eat or drink.
Chris was smart enough to bring his laptop, so we had Netflix to keep us amused through the night. I was really quite happy the nurses didn't kick him out once visiting hours were over. They were actually pretty awesome. I was really impressed.
Anyways -- about 4:30 it was time to go. Gave me sexy little booties and a hair net to go with the snazzy gown and we were off... I warned the resident anesthesiologist about my reaction last time, "oh we're just going to do a local" Uh huh, that's what they said last time too... Oh. At that point they took it seriously and told me they'd also give me an anti-nasuea drug. Sweet. I also then met the second anesthesiologist, who's the head of the department. Awesome. Nothing but the best :)
End result -- those guys knew what they were doing. I was awake for the whole procedure which was very cool. Couldn't feel anything related to my eye, although my lower back was killing me and I would've given anything to be able to move (there was a table across my lap that stopped me from being able to move, and my arms were strapped down "so you don't help"). At one point somebody came in and asked how long remaining -- when they answered 40 minutes, it felt like forever.
Afterwards the surgeon went to speak to Chris and I was wheeled into the recovery area. I honestly didn't care too much about my eye at that point -- it was numb, so non-issue. What I cared about was that I was insanely thirsty and my back was killing me. Talk about priorities eh? But the nurses were awesome, allowed me a few sips and got me a pain killer. And since I seemed to be keeping it down, a little more before I was wheeled back up to my room.
There I had some apple juice and Chris had found me some arrowroot cookies. Best. Cookies. Ever. But I was good -- no interest in being sick, so just nibbled. Was actually feeling fine at this point though -- sitting up and hungry. Not nearly as tired as I should've been.
And then all that changed. You see, it turns out the anti-nausea drugs were good. Very good. But they wore off. And then I couldn't keep anything down. I was throwing up pretty horrifically any time I so much as sat up. So I mostly curled into a ball and tried to focus on breathing. Somewhere in there my eye and my head started pounding horribly too just to add to it. But any pain or nausea meds they tried to give me just came back up. All kinds of unpleasant. And hot. So hot. Eventually (presumably a few hours) later the doctor came back for a follow up appointment. I managed to stay sitting long enough for him to remove the bandage and look at my eye. My focus was entirely on following his instructions ("Look left, look down" - these things are remarkably hard to do when you can't see and aren't even sure your eye is open), and trying to avoid throwing up. I didn't actually hear any of his after-care instructions (yeah for attentive husband), and the second he was done I had to excuse myself to go be ill again. Lovely. Chris handled the Q&A part and by the time I got back the doctor was gone.
The nurses didn't want us to leave until the nausea was under control, but I *really* wanted to go home. Making Chris wait there for hours for me to feel better just didn't appeal (not that he would've cared -- he was just trying to figure out what would make me feel better) and I didn't see that they could do anything for me my nice bed at home couldn't (yeah -- logic wasn't really my friend at that moment. Did I mention how incredibly awesome they actually were?)
So home we went. It wasn't a pleasant drive, but we made it and I curled up in bed. Chris went and collected drugs and eye drops and various other things that were magically there when I woke up. I just slept. Woke up when I had to take drops and then went back to sleep.
Soon it was Sunday. I was completely convinced it was Saturday -- not sleeping Friday night totally threw off my schedule. While I didn't feel like eating anything, nor was I throwing up any more. That in itself was worth celebrating. We went home where I promptly went back to sleep.
My eye was all kinds of an ugly mess -- partially because it wasn't healed completely from the first surgery. The ugliness, pain, and headaches are way worse than the first time around. I also have a gas bubble in, so I have to always have my head either face down or be lying on my left side. My awesome parents went and found me special pillows to support this -- makes a huge difference. The kind of pillows you would've loved to build a fort with as a kid :) On the plus side, I'm so tired and sore that lying there (even though it's now been days) has not really been a challenge other than muscles being sore from being slept on constantly. On the down side, well, same sentence.
Yesterday I watched NetFlix all day -- this was a good sign as I felt okay enough to turn it on and watch. It's Thursday now and it's the first time I've been hungry enough to seek out food (Chris has been awesome about making sure I eat; if I'd been alone, I doubt much food would've been consumed) and been inclined to spend more than about 2 mins on the computer. It's also the first time I've been able to open my eye all the way (I think) and while it's horribly blurry (I was warned it would be), it does look shadow-free. Cross your fingers for me!
On plus side, once the gas dissipates, I shouldn't need any more surgeries! So in the long run, I could actually be healed faster with this than originally thought. Which is sweet. Gotta be some benefit right?
Okay -- I've had enough of having my eyes open for now. Which means I'm not going to re-read or edit at this time. Take it as you see it. And be glad you can :)
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