'One eyed Willie'

5:40 am - Thursday - 48 F degrees (see, I told you it's getting cold in SoCal), 31% humidity, wind 12 mph out of the north......yep we've got us a Santa Ana stirring things up in Fontana......didn't see that coming.

My appointment for my 'pre-op' stuff and actual surgery was 7:15 am......no doubt you noticed at the beginning of yesterday's blog post that I was at my laptop at 4:46 am......I was there because I knew if I didn't get my blog post done then it would not get done, and I have faithfully posted every single day of the year since early October in 2012 when we began our first stint at Amazon.  I even posted within hours of my double hernia operation from the hospital in order to not miss a day.  I knew after the procedure I would probably not feel like posting, and I was right.....I pretty much napped on and off all afternoon......but I get ahead of myself.

After getting drops in my eye to dilate it, a valium to relax me, another pill to reduce pressure in the eyeball there was a numbing shot (big needle) right in the orbital socket, followed shortly there after with another shot right in the eyeball......didn't feel a thing.....just a little pressure.  The valium helps it all seem like some out of body experience, for which I am grateful! I was finally walked into the operating room around 9:30 am. The procedure takes about 6 minutes beginning to end.....no lie.....I was completely awake and completely aware of everything going on......at one point I said, outloud, "Wow, that was quite a light show!"......the doctor replied, "Well then, you know exactly when I inserted the new lens.".....he then said...."We're done Clarke", and they were.  They put a bandage over my eye to keep the eyelid shut, then some cotton over that, and then a 'patch' that reminded me of what a fly eye looks like.......

On the way home.....

Breakfast of champions

......before I went into the pre-op room I told TLE that I would like a late breakfast (I had been fasting since 8 pm the prior night) consisting of an In-N-Out burger, fries and a Dr. Pepper, and that is exactly what I got!

We were home by 10:30 am, and I spent most of the rest of the afternoon napping.......

Nap time

......I was up way too early, and it was time to catch up a little on lost sleep.

So, what is my impression of my experience having intraocular surgery?  There is a lot of ground work which must be completed......the initial evaluation by the surgeon, a physical by your primary care physician, blood work, and the filling of a prescription for special eye drops (Ofloxacin - an antibiotic, and Prednisolone - a steroid to reduce swelling).  Next up is a second appointment at the surgeon's office to do tests upon, and to measure your eyeball, an finally the day of surgery.  I chose to use Pacific Eye Institute (Upland, CA) based on a recommendation from our long time Optometrist, and I have no regrets.  They did a wonderful job from beginning to end of keeping me informed, followup phone calls to remind of my appointments, and to be sure I had gotten my blood work and physical exam done, and finally a few hours after I had returned home to be sure my recovery was proceeding properly.  I am very impressed with them I can, and will highly recommend them to others in the future.

Well, that was my day, and what a day.....stay tuned for the results!

Thanks for stopping by!