Oh say, I Can See!!

You never appreciate peripheral vision until you don't have it and then suddenly have it again!

I went for my post-op visit this morning.  On the way to Kaiser in Sacramento, I was remarking that the GOOD thing about not having vision on one side is that the rising sun didn't get in my eyes.  That perk would not last long.

We arrived at Kaiser and, since there were no clerks on duty, as directed we just went into the waiting room.  Soon other people with eye patches joined us and we compared notes.  "How are you doing?"  "How are YOU doing?"

When Dr. Quiroz came to get me, I learned she was the only person in the office.  No nurses or clerical staff working.  As she led me to the exam office, another woman was coming out and giving her a big thank you hug. I guess we all pretty much felt that way.

I know I did when she removed the bandage and I could READ THE EYE CHART!  Well, only the first two lines, but I READ THEM and I almost kinda read the third line.  (It was a D and a Q and I told her it looked like two Os.  She told me things would get better as the eye healed.)

There is a stitch holding the new lens in place and that will be removed sometime before the end of the month.  She told me she is going off to Brasil for 10 days to visit her husband's family in Florianopolis, so naturally we discussed Brasil.  I asked her if she spoke Portuguese and she said she knows a little (but when I left and said "muita obrigada" -- thank you very much -- and she responded "bom dia" -- good day -- I guessed she hadn't progressed very far yet!)

Ever since we left the office, I have been experimenting with my new vision.  I have to wear sun glasses when I am outside for awhile and the eye still needs eye drops for a few weeks, and it will be a month at least before I can go to the optometrist and get examined for new glasses, but I CAN SEE!!!!!

I was aware of the change as soon as we got on the freeway and I was aware of cars (and big trucks) on my right side again.  Kind of a shock to have them coming along side of us suddenly.

I still close my right eye every now and then (but oddly enough it doesn't automatically close as it has been doing for a very long time).  The prescription on my glasses is wrong for the new lens and so the eyes don't mesh well together.  In fact, when I remove my glasses, the right has almost the same as the left as far as vision, though the astigmatism makes what I'm seeing somewhat cloudy.

I don't know what it's going to be like when everything heals and the swelling inside the eye goes down (I am not aware of it myself), but anything is an improvement over what it was two days ago and I am very happy.

I called my mother this morning to report that my surgery had gone well, though I knew she wouldn't remember I was having surgery--and she didn't, but she was happy it had gone well, though she was disinterested in the details.

Her stepson, who visited her yesterday, had texted me at some point to let me know that she had misplaced her apartment key and he wasn't sure what to do.  By the time I received the message, it was too late for me to make any suggestions, and when he called me today, I realized it would not have done any good at all even if I had returned his text.

Apparently she was very upset about losing the key and he checked everywhere, even in the cushions of the couch and her chair.  He said she was extremely upset and he had never seen her like that before (sounds like she was with me a few days ago)  They managed to get a new key made and so the crisis was averted but when he was getting ready to leave her clock was chiming the wrong time, so he opened the door to see if he could reset it...and there were her keys, inside the clock. 

To my knowledge this is the first time she has done something like this, which is classic Alzheimers behavior (putting objects in weird places).

It's time to check on assisted living for her and now that my eye surgery is over, I can take on that task this week, finding out what resources are available to her and how much extra it will cost....and then whether or not her long term care insurance will cover any of it.  The nice thing about Atria is that "independent living" and "assisted living" are in the same place.  She wouldn't have to move, but she would have more assistance from people who would come to her to do things like manage her meds and make sure she gets to meals.  That would take a huge weight off my mind.

But tonight I am not going to worry about that.  I can see again and I'm going to enjoy that happiness and not concern myself with my mother at least until tomorrow.