What A Day!

Yesterday was quite a day–from 10 to 4 spent at the eye clinic! My cousin wasn’t able to go with me as she had a medical emergency of her own and went to the doctor also! Must be catching! She’s okay.

I had called to ask if I’d be okay to drive after the dye test and they said I should be. The test makes some people sick to their stomachs but shouldn’t affect my vision. I don’t seem to throw up very easily, but just to be on the safe side I had a small breakfast before I went. (I woke up at 2 am and couldn’t go back to sleep!) I had barely sat down in the waiting room  when a toddler who was drinking orange juice released the contents of his stomach! Okaaay! I said it was hard to make me throw up, not impossible! I was trying not to think about it and pretending the aroma of puked up oj was not filling my nostrils, but it was! Even after it was cleaned up!

My eyes were dilated and looked at by a dr that I’d guess by her name was from India. She was alittle rough with the pulling my eyes open part! She asked me some questions among them if I lived alone and who took care of me? That's a good one! I'm a MOM! I said I lived with my son and she asked if he was taking care of me and I said he had CP, so we were taking care of each other. She mentioned the “b” word..as in blind, in talking about how important it is to keep the BS under control or we’d really be in a pickle! Call me silly but I found that very insenitive to say to someone in my situation! And it isn't like I don't have a blinking red light in the back of my mind about this very danger! I've been going to the clinic for over a year now, had lazer surgery, regular surgery with a few extra things thrown in and it looks like I'll be going still longer! I was on the verge of losing it when the aide came to take me upstairs for the test.

 Luckily the man doing the test was very nice and talkative and it gave me time to collect myself. I mentioned that I was alittle hungry and he insisted that I have a small can of orange juice! Oh, the irony! heh I really didn't want OJ but he had already poured it into a cup for me so I drank it.  He took some pictures of my eyes without the dye first. Then a RN came in and put the dye in my arm while he was making more pictures. He said the dye might make my eyes or skin turn yellow but it was not harmful. He showed me some of the pictures which looked something like planets.  It didn’t take long to do this and he took me back to the clinic.

The dr in charge of the clinic came in and sat down to show me some of the pictures we'd just made. He said my right eye had little cysts that were full of fluid, caused by the diabetes, that were keeping me from seeing clearly. To dry it out, they could give me a series of shots around my eye that would gradually get the medicine to my eye or I could have a shot directly in my eye that would put the medicine where it needed to be. They would numb my eye first and it wouldn't hurt--I would just feel pressure. Okay, so he's saying if I have a needle in my eye it won't hurt?! My brain is not buying this! We talked about it some more and he says he's going to let me think about it for a minute! A MINUTE? He also said I could go home and think about it.  I would really like for my vision to clear up asap.  The shots around the eye for several months did not enthuse me but neither did the one shot IN my eye! I decided to crawl out on that very shaky limb and go for the one shot in hopes it was the better choice. He got the necessary supplies and brought one of the young drs in to assist. First he wanted to rub an anti-biotic over the area. He soaked a q-tip in a solution and then rubbed it over and around my eye! Hello, that stung! And he kept saying open your eye! He finally stuck a q-tip under my eyelid and told me to close my eye for a minute! Damn and this was the part that was suppose to numb my eye for the needle! After he takes the q-tip out, he puts in one of those things that keeps your eye open and it's needle time! I was in a chair that reclined and he told me to look back over the chair to the wall and keep looking there. The needle was going in the lower part of my eye and I was hoping they didn't miss the target! I'm sorry but that was not the numb I expected and it hurt more than just pressure. He said I did well and didn't move--what would that have accomplished? When someone has a needle in your eye that seems like an excellent time to be as still as you possibly can!  Thankfully it was over quickly. When I stood up there was a round spot of blood in my eye but I was the only one who seemed excited about it!  I said I really  hoped it would help my eye. The young dr said she did, too, but I might need another one! I told her to bite her tongue! I had to get a prescription and go down to the ER to have an anti-biotic drop put in my eye and then it was off to the races!

It was almost peak traffic time and I was hoping to get ahead of a few of the maniacs! I had to stop by the drugstore that the clinic uses and when I came back to my car there was a uspo vehicle parked in the street almost behind me! I got in my car, cranked it and was thinking of giving him a nudge or laying down on the horn when he came out of a bldg. He seemed to be avoiding my glare! Did I mention there was a parking space next to me? Idiot! He left and a big SUV parked next to me which meant I was backing into traffic blindly but the driver did something nice--he stood at the back of his vehicle and motioned when it was clear to back out. Nice. The traffic was already bumper to bumper and it wasn't 5, yet. 

I made it to the McDonalds that my cousin and I have made a habit of going to after the eye clinic visits,  got my usual fish sandwich and fruit salad and when I got home...I crashed!