LATEST NEWS!

Sorry I haven't updated my macular hole status lately, but I've been caught up in getting through this, my last year, at school!  Retirement is finally on the horizon.....7 1/2 weeks away, to be exact!

As I posted last time, the retina specialist did an OCT scan on December 7 and the macular hole was now just a sliver!  He wanted me to come back in 3 months for another scan.  In the meantime, it was decided I wouldn't go back to the opthamologist until after this scan.  So here's the latest:

I went back to the retinal specialist on March 15 for another OCT scan.  GOOD NEWS!  The macular hole is now completely closed.  I still can't see very well out of that eye because of the resulting cataract, so he sent me back to the  opthamologist

I went to the opthalmologist on April 14.  She says I have a choice of either getting the cataract removed now or waiting.  If I get it removed she can't predict what the vision will be.  Plus, I'd have to decide if I want to go for improved nearsightedness or farsighedness...too bad you can't have both, huh!  She did say that my other choice would be to wear glasses and the evil eye vision would improve to 20/40.  SO I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO!!  Any suggestions?  I'm asking around and doing  some research on this decision.  HOWEVER, the opthamologist is more worried about the beginning stages of glaucoma in both eyes than the cataract.  I go back to see her for another glaucoma test May 13 to see if it is time for me to start the daily eye drops regimen for the glaucoma.

So, again, it is "GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS"!!!  The macular hole is gone but the resulting cataract has blurred the vision in the evil eye.  Plus....here comes the glaucoma worries.

I'll post again after my May opthamologist visit.....hoping it's all  Good  News!  And praying!  All prayers are welcomed!

Four Months After Surgery

GREAT BIRTHDAY NEWS! (Or "Searchin' for my lost shaker of salt......")

I went back to the retina specialist on December 7 for another OCT scan. The macular hole is even smaller - now just a "sliver" as the doctor described. The doctor said he was "very happy with the results"! Needless to say, so was I. He wants me to come back in 3 months for another scan to see if there is even more improvement! He had me make an appointment with my opthamologist that referred me to him to see about the cataract that has gotten worse since the surgery. So, I have that appointment on December 17. I will then be adding cataract surgery to my macular hole postings. Hopefully, after that, I can blog about things like "life humor" or "great life lessons".

So, how did I celebrate this great birthday news, you ask? Being "environmentally correct", I decided to GO GREEN and have a green lime margarita! Ole! "Wastin' away again in......."

November 2, 2009

I'm all smiles today!

BETTER NEWS THAN I EXPECTED! The Retina Specialist did an Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) scan and the defect under where my macular hole was is reduced in size! Woo hoo! Glory be to the good Lord and the good doctor! I had a little cataract on that eye before the surgery, and he said now it is now more pronounced. He thinks my ophthalmologist might want to remove it soon. (I’ve been told that is no big deal – any knowledge on that procedure out there?) But first, he wants to see me again in 6 more weeks to take another scan to see if the defect has gotten yet smaller or even gone away. After that, he said I could go back to the opthamologist to get my vision acuity checked for new lens for my glasses. He prescribed some expen$ive drops to use twice daily that may further help the healing. God is good!

Let me know if you have any suggestions for designer frames. I want to get frames I LOVE this time! Guess I love to shop for ANYTHING! "Born to shop, forced to work!" That's my mantra....

I go back to the retina specialist on Dec. 7 (the day before my 67th birthday!). I'll get back with ya' then......happy trails to you until we meet again! Stay smiling....I will!

Eight Weeks After Surgery:

PRAISE THE LORD! IT'S BYE-BYE, BUBBLE! After 8 weeks, it's gone! It's actually gone! Yesterday morning it was a tiny black ball bouncing around at the bottom of my vision - and wallah - today it is gone! Yippee! I go back to the doctor on November 2 - four weeks from now. He'll do another OCT image to determine the final outcome with the nerve defect under the closed hole. After that I go back to the opthamologist for a new eyeglass prescription. It will be interesting to see the difference in the acuity 6 months before the macular hole and now.

I'm thanking God that this is almost over and praying that I never have another macular hole. Thanks to all of you for your prayers for my healing - for with God, all things are possible, whether it's Jonah in the whale or the hole in my macula.

Six Weeks After Surgery:

SO-SO NEWS is all I have at this point. I went to my retina specialist last Monday. I had suspicions that something wasn't quite good enough. I could still see straight lines looking curvy and trouble seeing the middle of words with my Evil Eye. I guess enough of the gas bubble had absorbed so that I could get an idea of what was in store vision-wise. The doctor took an OCT image of the previous macular hole. Good News - yes, it had indeed closed. Bad News - there is an area of a nerve defect (damage?) under where the hole closed. I was in such dismay and confusion that I didn't think to ask questions - which I definitely will when I go back in 6 weeks. Like, "Why the nerve defect?" "Is this a common result?" "Did I do something wrong?" "Do I need another surgery?" I won't know what the visual acuity measures in that eye until I am finished with the retina specialist and he sends me back to my opthamologist.

The Nasty Bubble still lingers on - making me feel like there is a black ball sitting on my cheek. It should be gone by the next time I go to the doctor.

So, all this hasn't made me very jovial. Thus, the blah blog. I thought in the beginning I was going to write an uplifting journey for others that get a macular hole after me. Put this story isn't over yet......?

Don't get me wrong. I am thankful to God for my precious eyesight because I know there are those without the ability to see the beauty of nature and loved ones in their lives. I will just have a little quirky thing about vision with my Evil Eye. Hopefully, the right eye will compensate so it is not a hindrance.

A Macular Hole (above)

How a Macular Hole Should Heal (above)

How My Macular Hole Healed

Notice the black area under the closed hole (arrow) which the doctor said was a nerve defect. I still don't understand.

So the delay of a post on my blog wasn't "No news is good news ."

Day 38 After Surgery

Gas Bubble - Ugh!

RAIN, RAIN GO AWAY: That's what we're saying in this part of Texas about now. It has rained for 2 days and we have flash flood warnings. Too much of a good thing! Well, I'm also saying, "Gas bubble, gas bubble go away!" This darn gas bubble in my eye is so annoying and distracting. The doctor said it would go away within 6 weeks, so I figure it should go away this Friday!!!!! Please! I don't know how my sight is going to be in that eye yet. When I close the good eye & try to see with just the Evil Eye, things are blurry and there's a central vision issue when I try to read. I've hated to post anything until I had something really good to say. I go back to the doctor tomorrow, so I guess I'll find out if the macular hole is gone and have the visual acuity checked. At least the good eye is compensating however, because with both eyes I have no complaint - except that @!#$!#% gas bubble and the little black floaters that dance around it. I'll post again tomorrow evening after the doctor does a status examination. Until then, I'll go look for my umbrella and try to coax my little doggie to go outside and do her business with raindrops falling on her head.

Oops - this is a blog I forgot to post before my last post. It was still in draft form. So here it is for what it's worth:


BLIND FAITH: That's how you describe this vitrectomy surgery for a macular hole. Here's why:

1. You notice that one of your eyes has distorted central vision - faces look like aliens and straight lines are curvy. (What the....?@!)

2. You go see your opthamologist who sends you to a retina specialist the same day because this is a big-time problemo - and you are the proud owner of a MACULAR HOLE (a WHAT?!).

3. You have immediate painless out-patient eye surgery to close the hole before it gets worse.

4. What the surgeon does: He pokes holes in your eyes with equipment that sucks out the vitreous gel inside the eyeball - he smoothes over the macular hole - then he blows a gas bubble into your eyeball to press against the repaired hole & keep it shut. (The gas will dissapate over time & your own vitreous gel will replenish itself. - wallah!)

5. After the surgery you are subjected to the torture of having to remain face-down for at least five days. It's like being in a massage chair or table 24/7. Your eye feels fine - it is your strained neck and back that start absolutely killing you from the positioning. Not to mention the boredom of looking at the floor! (CHALLENGE #1)

6. Soon, you can look up, because supposedly and/or hopefully the gas bubble in your bad eye has pressed against the repaired hole long enough to keep the darn hole closed (like holding something you glue until it sets). Afterwards, this bubble keeps you from seeing anything, because, man, you can't see through it! Oh, yes, the bubble gets a little smaller each day, but the fact that you can't see anything on that side of your body, and the fact that your depth perception sucks - well, this could drive you C.R.A.Z.Y. (CHALLEGE #2)

7. But, it's mind over matter. You know you have an excellent surgeon. You know you have researched the results from this procedure ad nauseum and that you will see normal again - soon enough.

8. But, you have to have blind faith that this is going to happen. There's nothing you can do but wait. Six weeks isn't that long, is it? That's one report card for all us school teachers.

9. I do have faith - albeit blind faith - that my outcome will be good. In the meantime, I keep wanting to shut my luckily winkable bad eye, just so I can see "normal" - but I sure hate to do that in public. But you KNOW that you can do anything for a SHORT time - right? (How many times have I preached that to my kids?)

10. SO - when I can put the brush back into my fingernail polish on the first try - and hit the red order button at Sonic on the first try - I will THEN know - that my faith was rewarded, and I'm back to my old honery self - warts and all!

Do you think they'll want to put this description in the American Journal of Medicine? If so, I should have used the APA formatting and style guide to writing. Didn't and won't and shouldn't!