I guess you all kinda noticed that I am still not posting a lot. Hard to see... even with the magnification. You can only magnify so much and then it becomes almost impossible to formulate a thought or even read a post, so it takes me a little longer than before.
Since my last post to this thread we have been doing what Dr. Taylor has advised. Drops and more drops ... black patch over my eye - kids come up to my wife in the market and ask
"who the pirate is" or
"hey mom why does that man have a black patch" ....
I had my first laser treatment in March - 120 shots and then had to wait 4 weeks. 29th of April had my second laser treatment - 500 shots -- yup, that smarts some
but nothing I can't handle. Last Tuesday had another appointment with her, couldn't figure it out cause I wasn't due yet for another laser treatment so I was kinda hoping for a basic checkup to see what/how the treatment program is progressing.
Well.... didn't quite work out that way. She started explaining to Em and I about a new drug that they have been experimenting with for opthalmologic treatments. Not really a new drug but a new application. Normally the drug is used for cancer treatments - part of the chemo regimen. Didn't bother me too much until she said normally it was delivered in very high doses and delivered intravenously. Mind you needles don't bother me much anymore, after 2 decades of being a pin cushion one gets used to sticks. However, then she threw in the curve ball.... in opthalmologic treatments the dose is about 1.5ml delivered via needle into the eye itself
Nope, not happy with that scenario at all.... but since I told her I would do whatever she asked of me, I had no choice but to proceed. Took about an hour to prep - freeze eyeball ... etc. Darn good thing I can't see squat out of that eye cause I don't think I would have liked to see that needle coming. I am not queezy or anything like that - heck I have fallen off of roofs, ladders, got my hands caught under engines and such, whacked my head with an auger truck -- so pain isn't something I am really unfamiliar with
But man, that sucker hurt
Now I gotta give one of my fellow injectees some props .. I guess she was about 70 or so and this was her 6th treatment, so I really had to man up here and take it as it came.... but man that sucker hurt
Probably cause the pressure in my eye was 34 .. which is kinda high so they tell me.
Anyways... that was Tuesday. Friday comes along, Mess Dinner -- all spiffed up in my DMVA uniform complete with medals etc., Em and I went out for an evening of good food, friends and chit-chat. All went well I guess until the main course when my eye really started to get painful. The next two hours were not fun .. the pain just got worse. A beer, 2 glasses of wine and a full glass of port didn't take the edge off at all. We finally got home, started taking my drops hoping that would help -- took almost an hour to get the drops in --- burn like never before. About 10pm Em said that was enough, Sabrina and Duane were home for Mother's Day so Bri along with Em got me out to the van and off to the hospital. Em pushed me in a wheelchair, one of the nurses who knows us asked what was up, Em told her and about 5 minutes later I was in the eye room and the ER Doc (we have known him for 25 years) came in, took one look at me and asked me what Dilaudid did to me. Told him and he asked if I can tolerate Demerol. Yup.. next thing I know I am getting a shot. He let that work for a bit then said, now that we have addressed the pain let's have a look ...... He added 2 more drops to my list, sent me home with some Demerol in tablet form, and orders to contact Taylor on Monday. He couldn't understand how I was handling the pain -- my eye pressure was 35 this time and he knew that had to smart.
Anyways, yesterday was uneventful, had another CAT Scan with the radioactive dye to see whether or not I get a stent or roto-rooter. Will find out soon I guess.
Fun and games ... sure keeps life interesting.