Tales from my Left Eye...Part 2

Taken on 2/24/2012 w/o the glasses.  Yes, my eye is swollen and red.  Sighing...but I am still cute.

After straightening my desk and spending some time talking to the office manager, I went back to my office to gather up my things and I had several missed calls and a voice message. My cousin called me back numerous times and the killer was the voice message, “Shana, call me back. I know you are in your car having a meltdown.” Um, no I wasn’t. In fact, I didn’t cry one time after talking to her or since really. No really? I explained in my are you serious voice, that I was getting my affairs in order to be off for 2 weeks and no I am not crying. Then she says do I want to spend the night with her tonight or she spend the night with me so I want be alone and worrying about the surgery. I emphatically said, “No!” I am staying home alone tonight and no the guy isn’t coming over because I will be cleaning my house up, like old folks do. I told her I would see her in the morning. I explained I am not upset about the surgery, I was crying because I am not in control of things and I do not like depending on anyone. Geez, Louise!


Leaving my office, shaking my head at my cousin’s overreaction to the situation, I called my sister and let her know of the situation. She asked what most everyone asks, “How did you do that?” Dr. Massey asked if I had been hit in the eye. My response, “No, because if that had happen I wouldn’t be sitting here right now, I would be in jail, Sir.” Of course, my sister becomes disturbed because of my earlier antics and my cavalier responses to her questions. When I hung up from her I knew she would be all over WebMd. And she was.

When I got home I finally ate and then talked to the guy and got some reassurance from him and took my ass to sleep. I was worn out. I woke up and began cleaning, washing, vacuuming and even ran to the bank and drug store for prescriptions, all in the name of getting my affairs in order. I finished everything in about 2 hours and then started packing my small suitcase for a week’s stay at my cousin’s house. All I really needed with pjs. LOL! I then talked to my brother who had the same surgery when he was incarcerated and he gave me the ends and outs of it. But, he did what I wouldn’t have done and that was walk around for 3 weeks blind in his right eye. Hell no. I had a shadow that I could see through and I went to the doctor. After fielding phone calls, because I just told you all the people I talked to about the surgery I took a long bath and prepared for bed. Surgery was the next morning.

I had to be at the hospital at 9:30 am for pre-op, because the day before I just didn’t want to deal with it anymore I had things to take care of. Pre-op went well because they were able to find veins quickly and not have me looking like a druggie with track marks. My surgery was scheduled for 11 am, but during pre-op I was told it had been moved to 12, but I actually didn’t go to surgery until 2 pm. During this time I was in my pre-op room until a little after 11. I told the nurse to not let my family in the back because they were going to make my anxiety level rise and right then I was calm. I had 3 cousins waiting for me in the waiting area. My sister called my cousin at 9:30 making sure she knew the ins and outs of what was going on. Really? Anyway, the nurse followed my requests, but low and behold I hear these loud folks coming down the hall. Yep, the family. The folks at the desk didn’t know of my request. Thankfully, I was moved to the holding area within 15 minutes of them being in my pre-op room. Shaking my head.

In holding, is where they set up my IV and such, but mostly it is where everyone is waiting to go into surgery. All your business out there as they ask the same questions over and over again. Hell, I got scared the anesthesia was going to give me memory loss listening to two different patients complain about losing chunks of memory after being under. What the hell? Anyway, I manage to always say my left eye was the one to be operated on the fifty-million times I was asked. I was so glad when Dr. Massey came to mark me eye so I wouldn’t have to keep saying, “Please do not mess with the good eye.”

This is what I remember from surgery. I was wheeled into the surgery room, which was hella bright and I moved to the other table/bed and then I was knocked the hell out. This is what happened from Mayo clinic site:

Indenting the surface of your eye. A procedure called scleral buckling involves suturing a piece of silicone rubber or sponge to the white of your eye (sclera) over the affected area. The silicone material indents the wall of the eye, relieving the tugging of the vitreous on the retina. When you have several tears or holes or an extensive detachment, your surgeon may create an encircling scleral buckle that goes around the entire circumference of your eye like a belt. The buckle usually remains in place for the rest of your life.


Draining and replacing the fluid in the eye. A vitrectomy is a procedure to remove the gel-like fluid in the center of the eye, along with any tissue that is tugging on the retina. Air, gas or liquids are injected into the vitreous cavity to reattach the retina. A vitrectomy is often combined with a scleral buckling procedure.


Injecting air or gas into your eye. A procedure called pneumatic retinopexy involves injecting a bubble of air or gas into the vitreous. Over the next several days, the gas bubble expands, sealing the retinal tear by pushing against it and the detached area that surrounds the tear. With no new fluid passing through the retinal tear, fluid that had previously collected under the retina is absorbed, and the retina is able to reattach itself to the back wall of your eye. Depending on where the retinal detachment is located in your eye, you may need to hold your head in a certain position for several hours in order to keep the bubble in place.


I woke up at about 4 something in the afternoon, talking. I was in post-op waiting to go to a room and I was talking the nurse to death. What time is it? Why is my stomach hurting so bad? My eye doesn’t feel too bad yet. What is my blood pressure? I am not nauseous, yeah. Uh oh, my eye is hurting. She was like your room will be ready in ten minutes, but I am going to take you there in five. I think ole girl was ready for me to go. Before I left post-op, Dr. Massey came in and told me everything went well and he asked me how I was feeling. “I am fine, but my stomach hurts!” Then he went to give my family the post-op instructions.

My nurse from pre-op was my nurse for post-op. We were still laughing about what sociable drinking means. Inside joke. I told her to wait 15 mins. before getting my family and let me go to the bathroom first. You see, I had to use it before the surgery but was too scared to have to drag the IV with me and it just seemed too inconvenient. So we took care of that and I was sipping on water and eating crackers when my cousin came in to the room. After about 30 minutes I was ready to go. I dressed myself and everything. This was after the nurse showed me how to sleep face down for the night. Yeah. There is a system to that madness. And as we were leaving I got real nauseous and was like oh my goodness. Loritab on an empty stomach is not the business. Plus, I knew I shouldn’t be throwing up with this eye. Oh, the eye was covered in a patch and a shield. There are videos of the surgery online if you want to see it, me not so much.

Luckily, I was able to get to my cousin’s house with no mishaps except scaring the guy on the phone when he called. I laid down for an hour and woke up feeling better. Although, sleeping on my face is so not comfortable, but with drugs easier.


More to come…