Murphy's Law and other stuff
Yesterday (Sept 7), I received a notice from my sister informing me that her appointment for radiation was running late. She mentioned Murphy's Law was in effect and the 'machine' was down with a number of people ahead of her. Although her procedure is generally very quick, she indicated that she would give it 10 minutes before she left to pick me up for my cataract and lens implant procedure. I replied that I hope Murphy's Law wasn't contagious.
Not long after this, I received a call that had no caller ID. I waited until it went to voicemail and checked messages. It was Doctor Hurley. He was inquiring on the status of my bleeding (it had stopped the day after seeing him) and wondered if I could go in for my procedure Wednesday at 10:30. He asked that I call his scheduler Kiara. Of cousre I called the number he provided and it rang and rang then finally an automated voice saying that there was no one in office, and use the patient portal instead. If I didn't have portal info leave my name and email and they will email me portal instructions. Lastly, it said if you'd like to leave a voice message, I could. I did. I also used the portal. OY!
Around 11:45, Leslie arrived. Upon entering her car, I asked if the radiation machine came back and if she got her treatment. She indicated no to both questions and added that she would just tack on her session at the end of her 20 sessions.
Weather was beautiful and being the day after Labor Day, traffic was surprisingly light and moved along nicely. We chatted away and our exit came up. I did have printed directions which were very thorough. There were quite a few tricky turns. The instructions included visual cues which really helped. A GPS may have worked well, but since I had the directions we followed those. We got there with 15 minutes to spare.
Due to Covid protocols, Leslie was not allowed into the waiting room, so after I checked in, she was told she could wait in the upstairs waiting room with the non-patients. I waited in a huge room with just three other people. I was eventually called in to the 'prep' room after about a half hour.
The prep room was bustling with activity. There were at least 10 people in recliner chairs all ready for the the assembly line. I had a number of doctors, nurses and medical professionals attend to me. Each had a specific task and once completed, they would put a sticker on my surgical head covering. Think of that piece of paper you find in purchased items where it says "inspected by" and their mark, stamp, etc. I was finally prepped and was just waiting my turn. Dr Song arrived and confirmed my info and asked which eye we were working on. Upon providing the correct answer, he took a sharpie and placed an "X" above my eyebrow on my left eye. He gave me some eye drops and took some strange looking tool out of some sealed bag. It looked like a four pronged exact-o knife. To me, it looked like he took a marker and marked the ends of each prong. Then he placed it over my eye and applied pressure. It didn't hurt but it was a strange sensation. Then he said "I'll see you soon". Of course by this time, nature was calling, so I had to ask to be 'unhitched' to visit the facilities. I was apologetic, 'cause I was basically undoing what all the other had done. But, my nurse said, 'No problem at all'. While in the restroom I did look at my eye and sure enough, there were four marks on my cornea. I also noticed all the stickers on my head covering. By the time I returned, someone said, "He's next".
As yet another came to perform their task, the reclining chair I was in decided to teeter totter so my feet were in the air and my head was almost to the floor. It was quickly adjusted and I joked about how I felt like I was in a 3 Stooges movie. Just a chuckle. None of them probably know of the 3 Stooges. (Feeling old).
I was wheel into the laser room and was positioned onto the table. Then my head was strapped into a fixed position. (Think Clock Work Orange). Some kind of plastic device was placed on my eye (looked like an egg yoke separator). Dr Song came in and was very good at providing instructions and how long each 'light show' would last. This took less than 10 minutes. He said, "You did great". So that was the cataract part, now onto the surgical implant procedure.
I was wheeled into the operating room and once again a number of doctors and nurses all doing specific tasks. Lots and lots of eye drops, then more. The anesthesiologist arrived and said he was going to give me something to relax me. They had put a stint in my hand's vein, so I felt a little discomfort when he was injecting. I honestly didn't feel anything. Maybe a little groggy, but the eye drops where like waterboarding. Someone covered both of my eyes and opened part of it so the surgical site was the only part exposed. My eye was so dilated and drowned with drops, all I could see was a bright light.
Dr Song arrived again. Many weee reciting 'things' and repeating to verify what was going to happen. Lots of medical jargon. The procedure was uncomfortable to say the least. At one point I heard an audible "oh oh". I immediately thought of Murphy's Law. I could hear some more discussion and felt more prodding. Finally we were done. Still quite groggy, all I remember is the Doctor saying there were some tears to the capsule that the lens sits on and because he didn't want to make it worse he went with a back-up lens. Knowing that I would be seeing him for a post op the following day, I figured I'd get more information then. Medical professionals descended on my with each doing their task. An eye guard was taped to my forehead and I was eventually wheeled out to discharge.
I was 'parked' next to Nurse Rita who went over my discharge paperwork and my aftercare. I'm glad she did, because I had a very difficult time reading anything that evening. I was given some sunglasses and an extra eye guard. I would have to wear the guard the rest of the day and through the night. Then I'd have to use it just at night or when I napped, for a week.
I was discharged and Leslie was waiting for me in the vestibule. The ride home we used her GPS. It backed tracked us nicely and we made it home with just the normal slow-down spots.
Post Op Appointment
Knowing I had an early appointment, I woke up an hour before the alarm. I managed to put in my eye drops and have coffee. Traffic was OK for a work day. I arrived 15 minutes before the appointment. After check in I waited about a half hour before being called in. An eye doctor gave me drops, measured my eye pressure and gave me an eye exam. I was surprised that my left eye could see so much better than the previous night. (That morning I was able to read the newspaper which surprised me considering all). After my exam and more drops I was told to wait.
I was called not too long after and was brought in to see Dr. Song. He performed some tests and said the the pressure in my eye was high. So he gave me some numbing medicine then it felt like he poked my eye with something. He then remeasured and said the pressure had come down. He said he'd prescribe more drops to take care of the pressure and to take it for a week (until my next follow-up). I asked why there was this pressure. After his explanation, my understanding is that for the procedure they had to inject a gel-type substance and the eye eventually drains it, but it wasn't draining sufficiently. The prescription will assist that effort.
I then asked about the tears and the back-up lens. Dr, Song said, "Your capsule was fragile. The initial lens (Turic) wouldn't fit in the very small space between the capsule and the iris without further tearing. If it did tear, it would require a much more intensive surgery. So I decided to go with the back-up lens (to me sounded a bit smaller)." I asked if the tears heal over time. He said, No. I then asked should I worry. He said, No. Asked what would happen if it tore further. He said that the gel (acquiesce humor) would leak into the capsule area and iris resulting in a need for a bigger operation. I then asked if the back up lens was less effective. To my understanding, it appears that the Toric if used, would take care of all my astigmatisms (apparently you can have more than one). The back-up may fix all or some, but he won't know more until next week. He did say, "The fact that you were able to read the newspaper is a good sign". The Doctor did say that I would be refunded for the cost of the Toric, since we didn't use it. (Yay).
More to come!
