Cataracts & Diabetes

I can see again...well, with my right eye that is.  I had my surgery on Monday, the 11th.  I had my follow-up appointment with Dr. Baker this past Monday and the right eye has healed and my vision is excellent in that eye.  I was able to see and read the 20/20 line on the eye chart.  I did miss one letter... :)

I had to wait about 4 hours before I actually got into the operating room.  The surgeon that had morning surgeries got way behind from the onset.  That pushed all Dr. Baker's patients back. 

We got to the surgery center at 11 am, was suppose to check in at 11:10am, got taken back to be prepped for surgery at 1 pm and it was 3 pm when I was actually taken to surgery.  The awesome thing was that we were sitting in the car at 3:45pm ready to go get something to eat, finally...and I was talking to my sister, Ernie.

The patient that was Dr. Baker's first, kind of caused a ruckus while we waited.  It was a gentleman in his 80's (?), he kept asking how long it was going to be while he was still in the waiting room.  He had to get up to go to the restroom 3 times which meant having to unhook him from the monitors.  He had the staff running back and forth into the OR to see how much longer.  The third time he had to get up, he was quite loud by then and kept saying he was going to cancel.  The staff tried to placate him which was not working.  He wanted to talk to Dr. Baker.  Dr. Baker tried to reason with him to no avail.  He finally got dressed after Dr. Baker told him he could reschedule.  He no sooner left and I was being wheeled into the OR.  If he had just hung on a few minutes he would have been done. 

I was doing very well, my BP was good, however right at the point of his getting louder, my BP spiked a little.  Different ones of the staff kept coming over to my space making sure I was ok.  At one point my nurse closed my curtain, I was right across from this man.  They all apologized for the delay and the unhappy patient.  Just before I went into surgery, my nurse went out to get Gerry so I could see him for a minute.  I started to get weepy when I saw him so was glad it was just for a minute.  He thought I was already done.

The last thing I remember in the OR was one of the nurses telling me a pipe like thing she was placing in the side of the bed and over me was for my oxygen...and then the next thing was Dr. Baker telling me we were done.  I was given a mild sedative which put me to sleep at the beginning, however supposedly I was awake through the actual surgery.  I could hear a whizzing sound...that was the machine that powered the instrument to suction the cataract out. 

I think I was only in recovery for about 10 minutes.  I walked out to the waiting room, on my own, with help from one of the staff.  Everyone was so nice...must say I had excellent care.  Yesterday I got a card from the OR staff and a letter from the prep staff, apologizing for the delay and thanking me for allowing them to take care of me.  The prep staff sent a Starbucks gift card. :)  I've had on my mind to send Thank you cards and I need to do that.

The next day I had the bandage taken off...since then I have been like a kid in a candy shop...marveling at the vivid colors and being able to see so much...Red is really red, greens are really green, yellows are really yellow...it is so exciting!!  Gerry laughs at me when I tell him about something I've noticed.  I had to wear a shield over my eye all of last week...that was so I didn't rub it or hurt it in any way.  I need to make sure I have sunglasses on when I go outside and it was even advised that I wear my old glasses in the house.  I am wearing them which is helping quite a bit to see things, like read the newspaper and my desktop computer.  I reduced the zoom on the desktop from 200% to 125%.  I can see the words at 100%.

The surgery for the left eye is scheduled for April 8th, about 2 and a half weeks away.  I am so excited to get it over with and get back to doing things that I haven't been able to do for so many months.  I'm looking forward to driving again.

I am doing a lot better with managing my diabetes.  It was so frustrating in the beginning which had a lot to do with not being able to see things.  This past week I've made 3 recipes from one of the cookbooks Gerry bought me.  One was not too exciting, the other two were pretty good, especially the dessert I made...I'm having some now.  My glucose readings have been consistent...not jumping all over the place when I first started testing.  I couldn't eat anything the day of my surgery nor take my medications.  Gerry was concerned about that, especially since it was about 16 hours without food.  They tested me at the surgery center and it was really good...right in the range where it should be.  I was really thankful for that.

I am so thankful my surgery went well, I couldn't get over how peaceful I felt.  I knew it was because so many were praying...I certainly felt those prayers.  I said in a status on Facebook that morning that I was resting in the Father's arms and that is exactly where I was through it all.

I hope to be blogging more, I have missed doing this.