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Every 10 to 15 years my eye pressure gets out of the control of eye drops and something needs to be done. That time has come again. The pressure has been creeping up for the past three months and today I had a visit with the regional glaucoma specialist in Albany (NY) to make a plan.
The doc doesn't exactly remember *me*, but he remembers my right eye. I was in the process of having an ultrasound of the right eyeball after surgery that went bad in 1985 and the interior blood vessels began to hemorrhage. It was the first time such a hemorrhage was documented with ultrasound and he published an article about the episode that no doubt aided his career.
He doesn't want to take any chances of bleeding again, so this procedure will be done with a laser as was the last two procedures in 1999. I'll be unconscious long enough for the team to stick a needle through the lower lid and into the area behind the right eye. Hopefully the procedure will be over before I regain too much consciousness, although I remember part of the last procedure.
The laser destroys a small portion of the eyeball where fluid is produced, thus lowering the fluid pressure. Aside from the risk of the multiple surgeries I've already had, the biggest risk is that the pressure stays too low. Somehow, I can't really imagine that as an outcome. I've been using five eye drops in that eye for may years.
The insurance claim is settled for the fire and work on the house begins tomorrow. We'll be replacing the garage with a wooden "Amish" garage. These building are really nice. You may have seen them being transported down the road during off hours. The garage is a 24x24 and comes in two halves (like a double-wide) that are assembled on-site. The building is very well constructed and it will actually be superior to what was here, although the siding won't match the house like the old one did.
I'm doing some of the tree cutting myself so the money for that part of the work can cover the big trees that I can't do. Surgery won't be scheduled for a few weeks--they are trying to recover medical records from the earlier surgeries--so hopefully I can't get everything done before then.
Last year was pancreatitis, this year is glaucoma, but aside from medical crap, it's a damn good summer so far!
Stay cool!
---here's wishing you all the best for eye operation
