An Eye for an I

Post Alert.

Readers are cautioned that reading this post may result in digust and nausea.  Be forewarned!

For a couple years I've been seeing an eye surgeon.  Seems my left eye wasn't built nearly as well as my right eye.  I had the doctor write out what it was but I can't read it completely.  What can say is that it is well over 40 characters long.  The doctor says it is similar to macular degeneration but not the same thing.  The doctor also says it is a rare condition so it doesn't have any FDA approved treatment.  So every three months I have to go to the doctor's office and get avastin shot in to my right eye with a needle.

yes it is

1) disgusting

2) the same stuff they use for breast cancer treatment.

It appears that it is the same effect.  Shrinks up the blood vessels.

But wait K-Mart shoppers.  That's not all.  This stupid eye also has a hole in the macula.  It's been there awhile.  The doctor said that as long as there was some tissue (not sure what maybe retina?) across the hole he wanted to leave it alone.  But back in October, he changed his opinion and suggested it was time to fix this thing if I was going to.

So I went back for a consultation in Oct and we put plans in motion for fixing this.

- - - CAUTION - - -

If you thought some of the above was disgusting, be warned that was the milder half.

I didn't quite understand what he said but he likened it to a balloon with a hole it.  If you stretch the balloon, the hole get larger and if you shrink the balloon, the hole gets smaller.  Apparently they somehow do this to my eye.  What I do remember is that they will remove a portion of the liquid and inject some gas in to the interior of the eye.  The gas presses on the area and it is supposed to allow the tissue to grow / reattach correctly.  As you might guess, partially filling the eye with gas to keep pressure at the macula hole means the gas has to be in the right place.  And that is the trick.  I have to spend a minimum of the next week face down.  Literally 24x7 face down.

The doctor provide a brochure for renting equipment to assist in face down week.

Next, getting ready for the hospital.