So, this surgery was a bit of a chance. They were messing with my "good" eye, which was not comforting. However, I was well aware that I was dealing with the best in the state, if not the region! Even after nearly a year since my last surgery at the Moran Eye Institute, the staff still recognized me in the surgery center! It was very "homey" for me and I was relaxed and well both going in and coming out.
I was willing to take the chance offered as I love reading and writing and have found it painful to read books and articles at all and can only type comfortably. I was so excited to see how the surgery had gone. The doctor, Dr. Hoffman, assured me prior to starting the operation that I would see an immediate difference and that it would just continue to improve over the next two to three weeks. But, coming out of surgery, I was faced with one very white eye patch pasted firmly over my eye with instructions not to remove it until Tuesday morning.
I will admit that patience has rarely, if ever, been my strong suit, so it was a most miserable night of questions and wondering. Good thing the anesthesia hadn't worn off. Even so, I was up shortly after midnight and wasn't able to sleep. That is, however, normal for me after surgery, so I knew to expect it and to deal with it. I did finally go back to sleep for a little while.
And then it was time. I couldn't wait any longer. But the tape was firmly plastered to my face and I had forgotten to mention that I am a bit allergic to plastic tape. Even hours after I had yanked it off with great ceremony, one was easily able to identify where the tape had been by the large red splotches. Let me tell you, not a comfortable moment when I grabbed and pulled. I tried to do it slowly, but the pain was just too much, so it came off in a second or so when a took hold of the patch firmly in the middle and just pretended to be pulling all my skin off. Wait a minute - that wasn't pretense!
And the disappointment overwhelmed me. I saw double worse than before. I wasn't thinking about the fact that my eye had been covered for several hours after having been traumatized. I wasn't thinking that I might not be giving it the time it needed outside of that small whitened space to adjust to light and pattern. I just started to cry. I was sure it hadn't worked. And it appeared to be worse than before I'd gone in.
So, me being me, I decided to knock off the tears and go take a shower. A shower is the answer to everything, right?!?!?!
And I got into the shower and realized that I could look down quite significantly and still see only a single line in the tile instead of two at odd angles. And then I realized I could look out of the left side of my eye - something I had been told there was nothing that could be done on - and see a single version of the frogs that decorate my shower curtain.
Hallelujah! Not only had it improved where I had been told it would, it had improved where I had been told there was no hope! WOO HOO!!!
Then I cried again - in the shower nobody knows how much is tears and how much is just water - but I was crying big tears that burned my eye. I stopped pretty quick, but not before I thanked the powers that be. God, my friends, my family - the prayers that have gone up for me and my family. This year I have been so very blessed!
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