Detached Retina (Part IV)

Yesterday morning very early I had what I hope is my last eye surgery. I also thought that this would be an easy surgery, but I feel that I am back at the beginning. I have all the restrictions that I had with the first surgery except for being face down. So let me get to the details.

Thomas and I left Santa Fe at 5:00am yesterday morning to be at the Albuquerque Ambualtory Eye Surgery Center for a 6:00am appointment. I checked in and got all the paperwork filled out and waited for the nurse to take me back to get prepped for surgery. I realized I wasn't as nervous as before (I guess that by the third surgery it gets a little easier - and I really trusted the team at AAESC). At 6:30am I was taken to the surgery prep area and had the normal things taken care of - vital signs, drops in the eyes, IV started and the eye that was having the surgery was marked. And then I was taken to the operating room. At this point I don't remember much. I do remember the Anesthesiologists coming in to start to put me under. Now I wasn't completely knocked out. I had what is called conscious sedation - this type of sedation induces an altered state of consciousness that minimizes pain and discomfort through the use of pain relievers and sedatives. The next thing I remember is having a lot of pain. And I remember telling the doctor it was hurting (about 5/10 on the pain scale), and I remember the doctor telling me not to move. From here the next thing I remember was waking up in the recovery room. At this point I was told that they had to put me completely out to finish the surgery. I guess I was moving too much and they needed to keep me perfectly still in order to get the lens in the right spot.

Once I was completely awake they sat me in a chair and called Thomas in to give us the instructions.
Just about the same as before . . .

1. Walk carefully, depth perception will be affected.
2. Resume usual diet and meds.
3. Percocet for pain as needed.
4. No vigorous or jarring activities.
5. Do not remove eye patch until next doctor appointment.
6. Do not get operated eye wet.
7. May do light reading and a little TV watching.
8. Follow up doctor appointment Wednesday, November 19, 2008.

So the nurse walked me out and Thomas pulled the car around. And we headed home. I was feeling a little tired but other than that it wasn't too bad. I decided to just go straight to bed and get some rest. I ended up sleeping for about five hours. When I woke up I was feeling a little soreness in my eye but it was tolerable. What wasn't as tolerable was the feeling of having an eyelash stuck in my eye. All I wanted to do was rub it, but I was told not to take the patch off and not to rub the eye. So I took a percocet and just tried to relax. Later I took a bath careful not to wet the eye and went back to bed. I slept on and off all night - that "poking in the eye" feeling was really annoying. I couldn't wait to see the doctor in the morning.

My appointment was at 8:40am and it wasn't coming fast enough. I wanted to find out if things were still looking good and I needed something done about what was in my eye. They call me into the exam room and take the patch off - that helped a little, and they started to check my eyes. My vision is already a little better and my eye pressure was fine. So I was a very happy little boy - I still just wanted this "poking feeling" to go away. Anyway, they dilated my eyes and sent me back out to the waiting area to wait for the doctor. Ten minutes later I was back in the exam room and the doctor was doing a more complete exam. My retina is attached and looks good and the lens was in place and here is where I found out what was poking me in the eye. Apparently when they sewed the lens in place they left one suture just a bit too long. The doctor said he couldn't take the suture out or cut it so he decided to give me some ointment to help ease the discomfort until the sutures self dissolve. So it turned out to be all good news. He even told me I could work on the computer for short periods at a time. I am also unable to return to work for at least two weeks and maybe longer. I made an appointment for next Monday, November 24, 2008 and we left.

I needed to get some prescriptions filled so we went to the pharmacy and got those meds and returned home. They had put all the drops into my eye at the doctor's office but I needed to add the ointment when we got home. Thomas helped me with that and then he went to his Dad's house to check on him and I went to sleep. I had forgot how much this surgery took out of me. I ended up sleeping about five hours. I woke up feeling pretty rested and the "poking feeling" was quite a bit better. I put in all my drops again and the ointment, put the patch back on and tried to eat a little. I wasn't very hungry but I managed a little bit of soup. I did a little work on the computer and then watched TV for a bit. I ended up falling asleep in the chair for a short period. When I woke up I dealt with the drops and ointment again. Now I am trying to get this blog written. I am really optimistic about everything at this point. I am hoping that my appointment on Monday will be more good news - I will keep you updated.

Detached Retina (Update #7)