When last we left off I was sporting an eye patch and looked something akin to 'One Eyed Willie' of Goonies fame. Fortunately it is only a 24 hour thing, and first thing Thursday I was transported by TLE back to Pacific Eye Institute for my follow up examination. Once again I drew an early appointment.....7:30 am, which meant another early morning for me. Thursday was also the day TLE had volunteered to watch our grandson, Brayden James, for our daughter Sharon, which meant she had to drop me off around 7:15 am in order to be at Sharon's home by 7:30.
I was called into the examination room a tad after 7:30 am, and the attending nurse immediately began to remove the eye patch and attending bandages......was I ever looking forward to that. That eye patch was the most uncomfortable part of the entire process from beginning to end, including the large needle stuck in my eye. As she pulled the final piece of adhesive tape holding my eyelid in place my left eye was suddenly flooded with light....and not just light.......pure white light. As my eye focused I found I could read things across the room easily.....in fact it took me a second or two to begin to realize this was a whole new world......I haven't been able to read (with my left eye) anything further than a couple of feet for a year.
Very quickly she placed a black disc over my right eye and asked me to read the letters being projected on to the wall 10 feet away.....just a week before I could not even read off the largest letters......I read them out loud with growing excitement......the letters continued to get smaller and smaller, and yet I read them in rapid fire succession.....finally she came to a very small line that I could not read. I hear her say "Wonderful! You are one line from perfect vision in your left eye!"......yes, it is wonderful.
A minute, or two later my doctor, Dr. Fabricant, comes into the room and shines a small light into both my eyes, pauses and then pronounces the lens implant a success. He extends his hand for me to shake, and I clasp it tightly with both my hands, and with tears beginning to well in my eyes, say "Thank you sooooo much doctor........you have given me a gift!".....he turns his head to look at me directly in my eyes and says....."That is what I love about this job!".
So, my vision is restored in my left eye, and now I am seeing colors, and shades of colors I haven't seen for years.....I feel like I am living inside a high definition TV........
......I am a happy guy....I only have to wear glasses to read now. TLE has loaned me some of her off the rack reading glasses, and they work wonderfully!
TLE returned from Sharon's home with Brayen James in two to drive me home around 8 am. I spent the rest of the day by myself enjoying and getting used to my restored vision, and all the brilliant colors I am now seeing. When you lose visual acuity and clarity over years and years you don't realize how much you have lost until it is suddenly, overnight, fixed......wow! I have this new found depth perception, too!
TLE was home by 4 pm after a fun day playing with Brayden James......I enjoyed the day being alone, which is a rarity for me....I am rarely alone......and I enjoyed the time. I do have to wear this eye guard every night now for the next month to give my eye time to recover, plus I cannot exercise for 5 days, wash my hair for a week, or rub my eye for a month.....according to TLE I am a major eye rubber....and I have to put drops in my eye (see yesterday's blog post for the eye drop descriptions) for the next month, also. Other than those minor inconveniences I have been cleared by Dr. Fabricant to resume driving. According to TLE she feels much better about me driving a 20 ton rig down the road at 60 mph!
Thanks for stopping by!
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