This is a post from a week ago. Lots of personal business matters eating up many hours of the day over the last couple weeks, but we should be back on track soon!
As you may have noticed, I have been a little scarce around here this week. As in I didn't make a post on Sunday, and it's already Wednesday. You night guess from the above title that it was because of a medical matter.
Well, it was and it wasn't, and I'm going to get into some personal stuff for a few minutes today. So if you aren't here for that, then I apologize and ask you to come back next week. Okay?
As some of you know, my husband has some issues with medical matters. He avoided doctors for years, then when he finally thought he might have pneumonia and agreed to see a doctor he ended up spending a month in the hospital and having open-heart surgery. (There's a LOT more to that story, but we don't need to go there!) Then last year he went to get a Covid test before Thanksgiving dinner with friends in Las Vegas and ended up in the hospital for a week and came home with a new stent.
To say that he has some trepidation about medical visits is an understatement - and actually kind of understandable at this point.
So... we have been dealing with a couple things this fall, and he was scheduled to get his first cataract surgery this week. As a result the medical anxiety was kicking into high gear, and I've been trying to keep him distracted from focusing on the impending surgery, which can be a big task.
Then on Monday we called to find out what time the surgery was scheduled for (they only give you a time a day or two before, due to scheduling issues) and found out that he had to be at the surgery center at 8 AM. Anyone who has ever met us knows that we are Not Morning People, and the surgery center was a 90-minute drive from our coastal home.
All this is to say that Tuesday was shaping up to be a complete horror show for both of us. We were up at 6, on the road by 6:30, and reached the surgery center a couple minutes before 8. They took Steve in and I went to wait in the car for the duration. About 90 minutes later they called me to come get him, and I took him to get some breakfast.
There he is with the surgical eyepatch in place.
His post-op check wasn't until 2:30, so we took our time eating, went for a short drive, and finally went back to the center with time to kill. I should have written up a post while we waited, but I didn't. Instead I played stupid games on my phone and listened to podcasts while Steve reclined his seat and slept off some of the drugs.
After the post-op visit we stopped to get him a pair of wrap-around sunglasses, and grabbed a quick lunch before heading home.
Steve, rocking the wrap-around shades over a late lunch.
I had to do all the driving, and by the time we got home we were both exhausted. I went to lay down "for a few minutes" and woke up four hours later!
But Steve was too excited to sleep.
He had discovered almost immediately after the surgery the joy of actually being able to see - even if only from one eye. He could read signs, see vibrant colors, and watch the world around him in glorious detail. At one point he opened up his lunch, took a look, and exclaimed, "Food looks so good!"
Right now the only downside is that he will have to wait a month for the second surgery. I think if he could he'd head back up there tomorrow and get the other eye done.
Even more important than the actual vision improvement, though, is how the results have made him feel. He is thrilled with the outcome, and the change in attitude is heartening. I know the next one will be much less anxiety-inducing.
Why should any of this matter to you? (Aside from the hope that as my friends for the last 2+ years you will share me joy and relief at such a wonderful outcome, of course.) Because at some point all of us, if we live long enough, will probably have to face this same procedure. (I already have, getting one eye done in March of 2020, just before they suspended ALL non-emergency procedures, and I had to wait months for the second surgery.) Please take reassurance from the medically-averse guy in the pictures above, it's worth it!
And the aftermath? We both were able to relax last night and get a good (long) night's sleep. With a little luck the next one will be a breeze!