On Thursday, September 7, I underwent invasive surgery to reattach two tears of the retina in my right eye, and laser surgery to repair some holes in the retina of my left eye. The surgery was performed at St Luke's Hospital in Chesterfield by Dr Matthew Thomas of the Barnes Retina Institute, and I am forever grateful for the skill of the doctors, nurses, and technicians who saved my eyesight.
Dr Thomas estimated that the retina in my right eye was within a few weeks to a few months of total detachment, which would have left me permanently blind in that eye. Since patients with a detachment in one eye are at higher risk of a similar occurence in the other eye, he advised repairing the less severe damage in my left eye before it could progress.
The best thing about the whole deal (beside the eyesight thing), was that it all happened "blindingly" fast. I was diagnosed on Wednesday morning at 10:15 a.m. by Opthamologist Sydney Hanish, who referred me to Dr Thomas, who confirmed the diagosis and scheduled the operation for 9:30 a.m. the following morning. By about 3:30 p.m. Thursday, I was sitting in my kitchen in a semi-comatose state due to the lingering effects of anesthesia. I didn't even have time for any drug-induced hallucinations while I was under, which is kind of a shame 'cause I was hoping to meet Elvis. Friday morning, I was at the Barnes Center for Advanced Medicine having my facial skin removed along with the post-operative bandages and eye patch. As you can see from the photo, my right eye looks pretty beaten up. Thank God it wasn't my good side!
I want to thank Gimlet and Mrs MercMan for being with me at the hospital and the follow-up. Knowing they were there gave me great strength and peace of mind. Just the thought of them made it all bearable. I also want to thank Grandma Gimlet for staying at our house, keeping us all going, and making sure Daisy the Puppy didn't have to stay in a kennel while we were gone. And finally, Grandpa MercMan for running me around to all those specialists the day before the operation and offering to help with any household projects that needed to be done.
To anyone who has ever experienced "floaters" in their eyes, or seen flashing lights at night without cause, don't pass it off as normal. I had more than one optometrist tell me that they were "no big deal", and in truth, in most cases they aren't. Only about one person in a thousand who has floaters ever faces the threat of retinal detachment. Still, if you have ANY symptoms, my advice is to see an Opthamologist for an evaluation. Most likely, there'll be nothing to worry about. But for that one in a thousand, early detection means the difference beween simple laser repair surgery and the invasive ordeal required to save me.
