Hello All, 

Thank you all so much for your well wishes regarding my eye surgery, yesterday. 

So my eye surgery was scheduled for 1:30pm and I was told to be at the hospital at 12:30pm.  At approximately 1:30, I was called back into the Pre-Op area to change in to my “gown” (grimace) and have my vitals taken.  This took less than 15 minutes at which time they instructed me to get into a bed where they placed warm towels over me.  To say that I was a little nervous would be a definite understatement. 

All I could think about was the prospect of losing my vision; thoughts like, “Will this stupid room be the last thing I see?  Did I stop to take a good look  at the sun before I walked in here?”  Thoughts like these ran through my mind until I realized that it was 3:00pm and nothing had happened.  Thoughts about my vision quickly gave way to thoughts like, “What the Hell is going on around here?  I don’t believe this!  Where the Hell is Everybody?  It wasn’t like this when I had my tummy surgery.” 

At around 3:30pm I got out of the bed, holding my gown closed in the back (grimace) and found a nurse.   She said she would see why I had not been taken into the operating room.  During the 20 minutes she was gone, I put my street clothes back on and called the friend of mine, who had given me a ride to the hospital and told her I was ready to “get the Hell out of here!!!!” 

To say that I was angry would be the understatement of the year, any year.  (Smile) 

Just as I was preparing to leave the Pre-Op room, all these nurses, including the anesthesiologist ran after me with apology-after-apology.  To be honest, I was fed up with the entire affair plus, I was beginning to think that the unbelievable delay might be an omen of sorts.  After all, I am originally from the south and we believe in such things, sometimes.  (Big Smile) 

To make a long story short, they talked me down off the proverbial ledge of refusal and back into the Pre-Op room where they promptly started my IV and wheeled me into the operating room.  I was still pissed when my surgeon came in, apologizing as well.  To be honest, I was going to vent before I let them put me under but decided against it as doing so would help nothing and only delay the procedure and …

When I awoke, I was told that the procedure had gone smoothly.

During the discharge process, both the surgeon and the nurses told me to get some over-the-counter pain pills; I acknowledged their suggestion and then we left.  About 15 minutes into the trip home, the anesthesia completely wore off.

OH MY GOD!!!!

If I had considered the immediate pain I felt after waking up from my bypass surgery as a 10, then the pain I felt in the car was about a 10-thousand!!!!  We were on the freeway and there was nothing I could do but cradle my head and pray for death. 

You know, after my bypass surgery, I had morphine given to me, which, while not removing the pain, made it bearable.  In the car, with my head in my hands and my hands seemingly on fire, I thought about this.  Which led me to the thought, “These bastards didn’t give me a damn thing for the pain accept some cheap advice.”  This thought got me angry all over again.  (Smile)

My friend, the driver of the car, tried to comfort me but, to be honest, it did no good as all I could focus on was the searing heat between my cheeks and forehead.  At some point along the 40 mile journey back to my house, I could tell that she was beginning to drive unsafely in an attempt to get me to the pharmacy faster.  Not wishing to die in a fiery crash, I raised up from my cameo of a fetal position, on the front seat, wiped the tears that were streaming down my face from behind the eye patch, and said in a calm voice, “Please slow down.  The pain is going away.  I didn’t mean to scare you.  Just drive to my house and I’ll take some of the liquid codeine I have left from my bypass surgery.”

I managed to stay quiet until getting home where I asked her to wait in the car.  When I got into my house I virtually leapt from the first floor to the second where I found the remainder of the liquid pain killer.  I took two big gulps and fell onto the bed.  After about 3 minutes or so, I returned to the car.  After about 6 minutes, the pain magically went away.  (Smile) 

The rest of the evening was, believe it or not, quite pleasant including our trip to the pharmacy.

I purchased some over-the-counter pain pills but, to my astonishment, the horrific eye pain did not return. 

I had my Post-Op checkup today and, while I am not exactly comfortable, I can already tell that my vision is improving. 

The doctor tells me that I should continue to see improvement for the next week or so. 

As I left his office, today, all I could think about was how I had wanted to ring his neck last night for not preparing me for what was to come in terms of discomfort and how glad I was to have had some liquid pain medicine left over from my gastric bypass surgery. 

Just one more reason I am so happy to have a new tummy. 

Mark