[Trigger warning] surgery photos!

The post you've all been waiting for!

Warning level: EXTREMELY graphic. If you don't like blood, needles, sutures, or thinking about things touching eyeballs, do not click the Read more link.

Before photos (teaser)

Warning level: vanishingly small. These are close-ups of both of my eyes pre-surgery. More (and more exciting) photos later!

Back at work!

Today was my first day back at work. I'm a bit tired but it went well.

Thanks all for your comments on earlier posts; I really appreciate all the good thoughts and vibes :)


Stay tuned for pics of my eye and even some taken during surgery (!)

More than a week later

My eye continues to feel better over time! I've come to think of this in three ways:

• Pain/discomfort: currently it's only minor discomfort, and I'm no longer noticing an improvement each day though it is definitely net better and hasn't gotten worse. I think most of the discomfort stems from there still being stitches in my eye, which I definitely feel when I blink and which my eyelids are no ok with (it just feels like there's something in there...which there is, so that's consistent).
• Vision: still blurry. This doesn't seem to have improved since, like, Saturday or Sunday. And every time I put antibiotic ointment in my eye (3x or more daily) it immediately makes things worse vision-wise, so this is a tricky one.
• How it looks: this is the one that's still noticeably improving each day. As my eye becomes less swollen, the stitches appear to be farther and farther from my iris / cornea. My eyelids are almost back to their normal level of open-ness (they were droopy from disuse before).

Anyway, I want to share pictures but I don't want to make anyone uncomfortable! So we'll start with some simple cell phone shots of my eye, which you can find by clicking the Read more link below.

Warning level: mild. These are close-ups of a super-red eyeball with some stitches in it. No gore (yet)!

So how does it look?

At first, like the gaping maw of some evil sea creature.

Now, a bit better. People say it looks better than they'd anticipated; it still looks terrible to me.

My pupil is larger than usual. There are stitches at 12, 3, 6, and 9 o'clock, about 1-2 mm outside my iris. My eye is white (ish) from the pupil out to this radius, but outside that, it's VERY red and lumpy. My eyelids are out of practice and so droop closed a bit.

Most importantly, though, I can sort of see! It's very blurry and I don't like it to be super bright out, but I can use my left eye a bit. Things should continue getting better and it should both look and function much better next week.

I will almost for sure get a cataract in this eye, which they won't correct for 2-3 years to make sure it's not caused, nor is it causing, any other complications. That will make my vision fuzzy as time wears on.

Anyways yesterday I bought some prescription sunglasses (as I won't be able to wear contacts for 2-4 months) so that's fun.

As I type this, I'm at National airport waiting for my non-stop flight back to Madison. So get ready to visit me!

Why I smell like a salad

I removed the patch this morning!

My eye was truly disgusting. I wiped the guck away and running water over it in the shower was truly wonderful.

My face was a different story. It was covered in guck from two eye patches designed for multi-day wear. I enlisted my mom's help and was proud to see her immediately turn to google. The consensus seemed to be a cotton ball dipped in olive oil and squeezed out, followed by a warm wash cloth with a few drops of dish soap. (The Internet also recommended a third step of acetone-free nail polish remover but that was right out as it was getting nowhere near my eye.)

I lay down on the kitchen counter under bright lights so we could get started. The first part (olive oil) was safe anywhere and we began immediately. Thus the title of this post. The second part (soap) was safe only for parts of my face nowhere near my eye (no soap allowed in there!); in fact in some places we used baby oil only.

Eventually, I was able to touch my face without my hand becoming permanently affixed (before this treatment we were talking inch-long tendrils of adhesive...). Victory!

A waiting game

The patch I'm wearing now is much smaller than the one with a lead shield under it, and I'm in much less discomfort; no pain meds since the plaque removal. It's a bit itchy under there and I can tell its oily and gross. Also, if I situate things just so, I can open my eye under the patch and and see daylight at the edges. 

Looking forward to taking this patch off tomorrow morning :)

Aftermath

IT'S OUT!

The surgery went well. Here's what's next:

• I wear a much smaller patch (lead-free) until Wednesday morning
• Starting Wednesday, I begin using drops:
• Dilating drops nightly (to ease pressure)
• Antibiotic drops 4x daily
• I fly home to Madison Thursday evening
• I begin being able to see well sometime next week ish
• I can drive again in one week
• I can lift 25+ pounds, resume strenuous activity, etc. in two weeks
• The stitches in my eye dissolve in the next 4 weeks, at which point my eye will begin looking better (less red / swollen)
• I see my referring physician for follow-up examination etc. in 2 months and 4 months
• I get results of genetic testing (to determine likelihood of metastasis) in 8-12 weeks

So that's it! More details on all of this (hopefully including photos!) in the coming days and weeks.

Almost there...

I've almost made it! The surgery to remove this thing from my eyeball is scheduled for 12 PM Eastern tomorrow and I can't wait.

I've spent the time since the first surgery doing...not much.

Turns out it's pretty uncomfortable to read or do anything that requires eye movement; my left eyelids are sewn shut on top of the plaque, meaning when I move my left eyeball it moves underneath the eyelids and sutures. Sometimes this is uncomfortable; occasionally it's painful.

It's also uncomfortable to be near bright lighting. Such as...the huge [seeming] windows in the restaurant at breakfast. This screen, even with the brightness turned way down, is kinda bright. So yeah, that's why I haven't blogged much :(

Anyways, I've caved and have been taking the Tylenol with codeine as well as Aleve...the discomfort is real.

I'm looking forward to having nothing sewn to either eyeball! And to having this patch off and being able to shower all of me, not just neck down!