LightChucker
Enlightened
If my avatar is visible, you will notice that I wear a patch over the blind eye; that is because the eye ball has withered and the pupil is not in alignment with the good eye. (Kinda distracting for my audience.)
It has been over 2 years since the final attempt to save the sight in my left eye from a detached retina. I underwent 11 surgeries, by 3 different surgeons, over a period of 5 months. All attempts failed. It was excrutiatingly painful and traumatic. Then, just when I was about to go back to work, a kidney stone put me back on the table. So, I was off work for 6 months.
The last eye surgery left me with a puddle of silicone oil in the eye ball. Its purpose was to hold the retina in place while it healed. As you know, oil floats on water, so this required that I maintain a "face-down" posture at all times for weeks. In fact, I had several surgeries like this that required me to do the face-down thing.
Unfortunately, the oil will eventually cause the eye to inflame, especially if it comes in contact with the cornea. The surgeon warned me that I should not sleep on my back. Two years ago, that was not a problem, I would simply sleep on my sides. But since then, I have developed back problems that make it very painful to sleep on my side. Now the eye is becoming increasingly painful, and sleep is very difficult. I am left with only one option: remove the eye and replace with a prosthetic. This will allow me to sleep on my back and stop the pain from the eye.
Surgery is scheduled for "April Fools Day" - 4/1/2004 at 8:50 AM Central Time.
The procedure is called "evisceration". DO NOT CLICK ON THIS IF YOU HAVE TROUBLE LOOKING AT SURGERY PICTURES!
In a nut shell, they remove the pupil, clean out the interior of the eye ball, drop in a foam ball, sew it closed, put in a temporary plastic shield, sew the eye lids together, and let it heal for 6-8 weeks. After it heals, an artist creates a plastic mold of the cavity under the eye lids, and creates an exact duplicate of the good eye. They even move together. In the pictures, it shows that they drop in a clear plastic ball, but that is an old technique. Today, they use a porous, white, plastic material that looks like a styrofoam ball.
They will also tighten the lower eye lids on both eyes. This is to prevent conjunctivitis. It seems that if you tend to get bags under your eyes (like I do), it can pull the eye lid away from the eye ball and lead to an infection. So, they remove a little sliver of skin to bring the lid back into contact with the eye.
I am very anxious about doing this, because since having all those sergeries 2 years ago, my overall health has gone in the toilet. For example, I have had a TIA (small stroke) that is caused by atrial fibrillation (irregular heart rythm). To treat that, I must take blood thinner to prevent the formation of blood clots. Unfortunately, I must stop taking the blood thinner for 4 days prior to the sergery, and 4 days after. That means I will be at high risk of another stroke or heart attack. To mitigate that, I must give myself injections of a different thinner, called Lovenox. I have to inject this twice a day - in my stomach. OUCH! The belly gets very black from bruising.
Any way, I would appreciate your prayers. Maybe turn your favorite light on for me that day at about 8:50 AM, Central Time. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink2.gif
Thanks for reading.
Chuck
It has been over 2 years since the final attempt to save the sight in my left eye from a detached retina. I underwent 11 surgeries, by 3 different surgeons, over a period of 5 months. All attempts failed. It was excrutiatingly painful and traumatic. Then, just when I was about to go back to work, a kidney stone put me back on the table. So, I was off work for 6 months.
The last eye surgery left me with a puddle of silicone oil in the eye ball. Its purpose was to hold the retina in place while it healed. As you know, oil floats on water, so this required that I maintain a "face-down" posture at all times for weeks. In fact, I had several surgeries like this that required me to do the face-down thing.
Unfortunately, the oil will eventually cause the eye to inflame, especially if it comes in contact with the cornea. The surgeon warned me that I should not sleep on my back. Two years ago, that was not a problem, I would simply sleep on my sides. But since then, I have developed back problems that make it very painful to sleep on my side. Now the eye is becoming increasingly painful, and sleep is very difficult. I am left with only one option: remove the eye and replace with a prosthetic. This will allow me to sleep on my back and stop the pain from the eye.
Surgery is scheduled for "April Fools Day" - 4/1/2004 at 8:50 AM Central Time.
The procedure is called "evisceration". DO NOT CLICK ON THIS IF YOU HAVE TROUBLE LOOKING AT SURGERY PICTURES!
In a nut shell, they remove the pupil, clean out the interior of the eye ball, drop in a foam ball, sew it closed, put in a temporary plastic shield, sew the eye lids together, and let it heal for 6-8 weeks. After it heals, an artist creates a plastic mold of the cavity under the eye lids, and creates an exact duplicate of the good eye. They even move together. In the pictures, it shows that they drop in a clear plastic ball, but that is an old technique. Today, they use a porous, white, plastic material that looks like a styrofoam ball.
They will also tighten the lower eye lids on both eyes. This is to prevent conjunctivitis. It seems that if you tend to get bags under your eyes (like I do), it can pull the eye lid away from the eye ball and lead to an infection. So, they remove a little sliver of skin to bring the lid back into contact with the eye.
I am very anxious about doing this, because since having all those sergeries 2 years ago, my overall health has gone in the toilet. For example, I have had a TIA (small stroke) that is caused by atrial fibrillation (irregular heart rythm). To treat that, I must take blood thinner to prevent the formation of blood clots. Unfortunately, I must stop taking the blood thinner for 4 days prior to the sergery, and 4 days after. That means I will be at high risk of another stroke or heart attack. To mitigate that, I must give myself injections of a different thinner, called Lovenox. I have to inject this twice a day - in my stomach. OUCH! The belly gets very black from bruising.
Any way, I would appreciate your prayers. Maybe turn your favorite light on for me that day at about 8:50 AM, Central Time. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink2.gif
Thanks for reading.
Chuck
