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Don't you love to hear about someone's surgery? Well, that's what this is about. Eye surgery. So look away if you're not interested! ;) Actually, there's nothing too gory about it--other than it was surgery on my eye!

My cousin got here around 9:30 and we left for the eye clinic right away. Traffic wasn't bad and we got there right at 10:00. That's when the problem started! Seems the parking deck was full and we spent 25 mins going in circles, up and down, looking for a place to park! We weren't the only ones. There were a couple of cars ahead of us and several behind us doing the same thing! This was the first time we'd had this problem and it was something we hadn't considered! Finally, we saw some people standing outside their car and managed to find out that they were indeed about to leave. If you see people looking for a parking space why would you be standing around instead of getting your rear-ends in your car to leave?! We parked and went inside, after talking about how dumb it was to be standing around in a parking deck!

The inside of the eye clinic is confusing to me but my cousin seems to have it down pat. We got to the waiting room and it was packed! I signed in and we sat down but were on the move before long. The first person took a picture of both eyes and a computer made a print-out of what kind of lens I would need. From there, we went downstairs to give info to an administrative type lady and she passed us off to a nurse who asked more questions. Everyone wanted to know my name, birthdate and what I was having done. The nurse wrote an abbreviation of what I was having over my right eye. I had said I was going to put a mark over my eye so as to avoid a mistake! She also asked if I had a living will--yikes! And I consented for pictures to be made of the surgery if they wanted. I might end up in a medical book, or my eye might. Someone on that floor was having something to eat that smelled good--especially to someone who hadn't eaten and was hungry!

The surgical unit was next and, of course, the first thing they want you to do is put on this loverly gown that would go around me about twice and.....it had a matching robe AND, a lovely powder blue shower cap looking hat and to top it off, a pair of maroon socks! Is that a fashion statement or what?! I had trouble getting the gown to stay on until I got my cousin in the room to help me! Then after I'm dressed, the woman handing out the gowns tells me she's found a smaller one and don't I want to change--in a word, NO! My clothes were put in a plastic bag and put under a bed that would go into surgery also. My cousin keeps telling me she wished she had brought her camera--haha! They brought heated linens over, which with the heat outside I wasn't sure I wanted, and covered me with them. (It was alittle cold inside!) Then the waiting started. For awhile, I had a steady stream of people coming by to ask questions and tell me what their function would be. The anaestheologist told me what would be happening but first he had to put an IV in, of course. I thought he would put it in my arm, but no, it was going in my right hand. He thumped around on my hand which hurt and found a vein he liked and got the needle in. At least, any future shots would go in the IV. The surgical unit patients started clearing out and I was really hungry! My cousin brought some cheese sticks and crackers and had a snack around 2. She asked me if I minded her eating and I kiddingly said it was okay to torture me! We thought I had been forgotten but at 3, I was on the way to surgery. I was first told I'd be put to sleep but that was changed to being under but not knocked out all the way. I was awake but numb when I had a c-section with my daughter and I didn't want to feel anything going on in my eye! He gave me something just before we left and after I made it into the operating room, I was out. Actually, for the 2 and a half hours, I was in and out. There was a show of colors going on when I was awake. Bright purple, yellow--they said that was common when the retina was being exposed to light. When I felt like I was awake more than I wanted to be, I moved my fingers so the anaestheologist would know I was awake. I could hear the drs talking and they were listening to an old Michael Jackson cd.(The Way You Make Me Feel) Had I known before, I would've suggested some Sting! I also heard the lazer when they used it. Meanwhile, my cousin was getting concerned because we didn't think it would take long and she asked a couple of times if I was still in surgery. The drs said they had to be careful getting the blood out of my eye so as not to damage my sight. They took the veins out and did something to discourage more from growing, took out my lens and replaced it with another. I would've liked to have seen what they took out of my eye but didn't think about it in time.

They took me to recovery and said since my blood sugar was so low, 91, I could have anything I wanted to drink--no diet sodas! They fixed a Sierra Mist with cranberry juice and graham crackers with peanut butter. My first meal of the day and it was great! And now, I know how to keep my blood sugar down-just don't eat for almost 24 hrs! Simple!

They wouldn't let me do anything. You're suppose to limit your movement, etc. I was put in a wheelchair and pushed to the parking deck. My cousin went to get the car while the nurse stayed with me. She was originally from Harisburg, PA, where a friend lives. She has 7 cats and that's what we were talking about. It had been awhile since my cousin went to get the car and we were wondering whar happened to her. The nurse pushed me inside to see if we were being paged and we saw my cousin drive by! (Think Jerry Lewis--Hey, La--dy!) The nurse left me and ran out to stop her from going up! I got in the car and it was over, thank goodness! (My cousin was nervous about driving in B'ham and alittle shook up about my surgery, so when she went to get the car she ended up at the exit and the woman told her to circle the block. When she got close to the entrance again, an ambulance startled her and she missed it and had to go around again! And then when she got to where we had been, we were just inside the door when she went by! It was funny and I'm still kidding her about it!)

I went home with her so she could be sure I didn't croak and we went back to the eye clinic Fri. They took the patch off my eye and, at first, I was concerned 'cause I thought I had a hole in my vision in my right eye. I realized it was the lighted box on the wall, just at a very different angle. Turns out my eye was not moving from the block I got for surgery and I was having double vision! Whew! That was almost a heart-stopper! That has stopped. thankfully. I have 4 different eye drops to use everyday until I go back next week (I hope I can get a few IN my eye!) and a pair of Stevie Wonder sunglasses! I have to be careful about lifting, etc for awhile. My eye hasn't really hurt much but it is alittle red and they want me to sleep in a patch for awhile.

For the first time in almost a year (next month), I don't have veins dangling inside my eye---YAY! I can already see better and I hope it'll get even better with time! Amazing what modern medicine is able to do, isn't it?