We also had our own shock in our home this past week. Curt had taken the week off of work and on Wednesday he complained that his right eye was really scratchy and bothering him. We thought it was allergies but if it continued we would have him see my sister who is an optometrist.
Right before dinner, he complained about a black spot he was seeing and that his vision was blurring. Luckily, my sister had an opening that evening and he went in to see her. She called and said, "He has a retinal detachment and it's very serious. He's on his way to a retina specialist." I knew what it was having a sister who is an eye doctor so I freaked out!
Curt called from the parking lot of the specialist's office, waiting for him to arrive and open up the office. He was really calm about it all. The doctor took a look and said he had to have surgery the following morning. The next morning the black area had grown significantly since the night before. Thursday morning we arrived at the eye clinic and the reattachment took 1 1/2 hours. He was awake for most of it. They reattached the retina which was torn in several places, pumped a gas into the eye to keep the retina attached and wrapped a band around his eye.
The hardest part of this whole ordeal is that he must keep that eye facing the floor to achieve the best results until the air bubble gets absorbed. I went out the same day and rented a chair that looks like a massage chair and he spends his day between that and laying with his head over the end of the couch with pillows supporting his head.
Thank goodness for his iPod where he has a lot of stored podcasts and movies to watch. He can't watch television or even read a book. He has to keep this position for one week or more depending on how fast he heals. It is getting harder and harder each day but we take it one day at a time. He can get up to eat and use the bathroom. At night, he must lay on either side. So I've been waking up every few hours to make sure he doesn't slip onto his back. He hasn't yet and each day he heals a little more.
He will have to learn to live with virtually little vision in that eye for 3 months or more. It takes that long to heal from a detached retina. It's a very serious condition and luckily we caught it quickly. He will be more near-sighted and will also develop cataracts at an earlier age.
If you want to see what an eye looks like after retinal reattachment surgery I took a picture of Curt's eye. But if you are squeamish, don't look!
On Friday, I got a call that my daughter and son-in-law's car had been rear ended while at a stop sign. It was a hard hit but luckily they were both wearing their seatbelts and they were on the way to pick up my grandson. It looks like the car may be totaled but at least they were unhurt.
I could do with a little less excitement. I did work on my maedeup while sitting in the waiting room and a number of people came over to ask what I was doing. I always find that fun to share with others.
The actual detachment caused absolutely no pain.
Oh, Poor Curt!!! Sending good thoughts his way.
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