It has been 3 weeks since I had the surgery.
The doc sent me home with a patch over my eye and one page of instructions. I was a little tired when I returned home so I took a nap. Ate very lightly and had a good night's sleep.
The day after surgery I had an appointment to see the doctor. He removed the patch and checked out my eye. I COULD SEE THE TOP E ON THE EYE CHART!! He said that it all looked fine and gave me a prescription for a couple of kinds of eye drops--an antibiotic and steroid. I used them four times a day. There was little pain, just some discomfort. I wore sun glasses because the eye was dilated for several days.
I had another appointment one week past surgery. I think it was just another check to see how the eye was healing. I drove myself. THIS TIME I COULD READ THREE ROWS ON THE EYE CHART. It is still poor vision, but the vision could keep improving for months. The doctor said that I should use the eye drops just twice a day now. That's double progress. I was cleared to golf 10 days post-op.
Two weeks after the surgery the doctor said that I could bike. I always forget all my questions when I am at the office. Luckily, my doctor's office has a great staff to answer my questions on the phone.
Now I am using the eye drops just one time a day. I have biked once and played nine holes of golf. The doctor said that I had to wait for one month before I could go swimming. Coincidentally, I have another doctor's appointment on the one month anniversary. I want to ask about jogging that
day. AND, hopefully, I will be able to read further down the eye chart.
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
My" 25 Gauge Vitrectomy Membranectomy" aagh!
What a mouthful, but that is what the paper said when I signed the releases prior to surgery on the 14th.
I couldn't eat or drink after midnight. Just a minor inconvenience. Arrived as instructed at 11:30 a.m. at the outpatient surgery center.
Signed those papers, changed into the "gown" and started with eye drops. Plenty of time to relax for the 1:00 surgery. The nurse put in a port for the anesthesia. I was to have a "conscious sedation. "
About 1:00 the doctor and I went to the OR. I could hear and see, but not sure that any of my muscles would have responded if asked to do so. The surgery was over within the hour. He removed the vitreous fluid and the membrane that was covering my retina.
My recovery was quit easy. I had a patch over the eye. Felt tired and a bit loopy. I think that we left for home about 3:00. I took a nap and generally took it easy.
Kudos and gratitude for husband Don. He is my hero. And my nurse and driver!
And thanks to friends that fed us Wednesday and Thursday night.
I couldn't eat or drink after midnight. Just a minor inconvenience. Arrived as instructed at 11:30 a.m. at the outpatient surgery center.
Signed those papers, changed into the "gown" and started with eye drops. Plenty of time to relax for the 1:00 surgery. The nurse put in a port for the anesthesia. I was to have a "conscious sedation. "
About 1:00 the doctor and I went to the OR. I could hear and see, but not sure that any of my muscles would have responded if asked to do so. The surgery was over within the hour. He removed the vitreous fluid and the membrane that was covering my retina.
My recovery was quit easy. I had a patch over the eye. Felt tired and a bit loopy. I think that we left for home about 3:00. I took a nap and generally took it easy.
Kudos and gratitude for husband Don. He is my hero. And my nurse and driver!
And thanks to friends that fed us Wednesday and Thursday night.
Sunday, August 25, 2013
Vitrectomy membranectomy--eye surgery
About 10 days ago I had surgery on one of my retinas. I post this in case this happens to any of you and also for my own recollections.
This is the history of my left eye. One year ago at a routine eye exam, I found out that my left eye was slacking and not seeing. My eye doctor did some tests and declared it a macular hole. He referred me to a retina specialist. I was there within the next week. The specialist's testing (apparently more sophisticated machinery) revealed that it was not a macular hole, but a membrane that had formed across the retina. He called it an epi-retinal membrane. I think it is more commonly ( if any of this is common) known as a macular pucker.
The cause is "idiopathic." It means that the medical community so far does not know what caused it, not that I am an idiot. I admit I felt pretty stupid that I hadn't noticed that my left eye was so bad. I could just say that my brain is so smart it just used images from my right eye so I didn't miss a beat.
Now that the diagnosis had been made the doctor said that we would just watch it. The internet is quite useful to learn about these issues. I returned to be checked in November 2012 and we wintered in Florida.
In May I had another check up back here in Iowa. The vision in the left eye was worse. I could also tell that my depth perception was unclear. I was having difficulty seeing the bottom step. That raises the concern of falling. Why do we have to worry about these issues? Anyway,we scheduled the surgery for August 14.
So that is the history of my left eye.
If you want to see if you have this issue, just cover one eye at a time and look at straight lines--both vertical and horizontal. My lines are not straight. When I look at the ocean I don't see a flat horizon. My ocean has little bumps--like small islands out there.
I'll write about the surgery and recovery later.
This is the history of my left eye. One year ago at a routine eye exam, I found out that my left eye was slacking and not seeing. My eye doctor did some tests and declared it a macular hole. He referred me to a retina specialist. I was there within the next week. The specialist's testing (apparently more sophisticated machinery) revealed that it was not a macular hole, but a membrane that had formed across the retina. He called it an epi-retinal membrane. I think it is more commonly ( if any of this is common) known as a macular pucker.
The cause is "idiopathic." It means that the medical community so far does not know what caused it, not that I am an idiot. I admit I felt pretty stupid that I hadn't noticed that my left eye was so bad. I could just say that my brain is so smart it just used images from my right eye so I didn't miss a beat.
Now that the diagnosis had been made the doctor said that we would just watch it. The internet is quite useful to learn about these issues. I returned to be checked in November 2012 and we wintered in Florida.
In May I had another check up back here in Iowa. The vision in the left eye was worse. I could also tell that my depth perception was unclear. I was having difficulty seeing the bottom step. That raises the concern of falling. Why do we have to worry about these issues? Anyway,we scheduled the surgery for August 14.
So that is the history of my left eye.
If you want to see if you have this issue, just cover one eye at a time and look at straight lines--both vertical and horizontal. My lines are not straight. When I look at the ocean I don't see a flat horizon. My ocean has little bumps--like small islands out there.
I'll write about the surgery and recovery later.
Friday, July 12, 2013
Golf at Ballybunion
Today Don & I golfed with Jeff & Chris at Ballybunion, Ireland. We played the "old course" which dates back to 1893. It is a links course with no trees and many steep hills. Definitely challenging, but we were up to the challenge. None of us ran out of golf balls. My pedometer totaled more than 9 miles. Probably won't be doing any jigs tonight.
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Post cruise
Today we arrived back in Copenhagen, Denmark.
It was a very nice cruise. Our weather was all good and the seas calm.
We loved Estonia and Stockholm. It was good to revisit St. Petersburg. It was 7 yrs. ago that we were there with Bethany Christian Services. Also visited Warenmunde, Germany and Helsinki, Finland.
We really would like to spend more time in Sweeden. The countryside was beautiful as we sailed out of port.
We caught a taxi from the port to the airport, but we also had the driver show us the Parliament and the palace on the trip.
Now we have several hours before our flight to Ireland. Jeff & Nancy are already there. We are renting a car at the Dublin airport to drive to Shannon for our rendezvous.
It was a very nice cruise. Our weather was all good and the seas calm.
We loved Estonia and Stockholm. It was good to revisit St. Petersburg. It was 7 yrs. ago that we were there with Bethany Christian Services. Also visited Warenmunde, Germany and Helsinki, Finland.
We really would like to spend more time in Sweeden. The countryside was beautiful as we sailed out of port.
We caught a taxi from the port to the airport, but we also had the driver show us the Parliament and the palace on the trip.
Now we have several hours before our flight to Ireland. Jeff & Nancy are already there. We are renting a car at the Dublin airport to drive to Shannon for our rendezvous.
Sunday, June 30, 2013
Saturday in Amsterdam
It was a gray morning and chilly in Amsterdam.
After we enjoyed the huge airport, Schipol, we figured out the train to center city. Unfortunately, our schedule was too early for most places to be open. We walked the old brick and cobblestone streets for a couple of hours and took pictures of churches and canals and had coffee in a little French cafe.
We had our lunch at the airport and awaited our departure to Copenhagen, Denmark.
After we enjoyed the huge airport, Schipol, we figured out the train to center city. Unfortunately, our schedule was too early for most places to be open. We walked the old brick and cobblestone streets for a couple of hours and took pictures of churches and canals and had coffee in a little French cafe.
We had our lunch at the airport and awaited our departure to Copenhagen, Denmark.
Saturday, June 29, 2013
Rolling in the summer of 2013
We are on a new adventure. We left Johnston on Friday at noon. There had to be different plane from Minneapolis with a different seat configuration. The staff had areal task to get everyone rebooked for the new plane. After a delay we left about 40 minutes late. However, we still arrived in Amsterdam early.
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