Mad Macedonian

Medical Update: Operation Vitrectomy Successfully Accomplished

The surgery went well, on Friday. It was an interesting experience, to say the least.  Since I knew the way to and from the Hospital it was one of the few days where my sister Violeta didn’t get lost trying to find her way around Houston. I think the freeway system, here, was making her quite loopy! I was taken into what appeared to be a prep and recovery room, and traded in my clothes for a hospital gown, and hopped into bed. My sister took my clothes, and spent most of the afternoon loitering in the McDonalds down in the hospital basement.

My time was then spent getting prepped for the Vitrectomy (In case ya missed it, here is part 1) and entertaining the nurses with stories of my previous surgeries (ankle, and cataract), both of which were blogged in some form or another. They got a big laugh over how I had stuck a sign reading “drive carefully!” on my butt for the docs to see at my colonoscopy, and how I’d blogged the, um, fun of drinking NuLytely the day before, & more. The nurses were all very professional and did their jobs quite well. Though my request for the Houston Texan Cheerleaders to be on hand to give support was regretfully not something they could make happen (Why not, I don’t know. I mean it wasn’t as if I was asking for the gals in Dallas, after all, sheesh!)

When it was time for my operation someone “drove” me down several hallways to the operating room. I made sure to ask if she was licensed to drive, and was assured she thought she was, just hang on! I thought I was going to be knocked out for the duration, but after various things were either stuck in me, or on me, for various reasons, I was given something that made me numb, and woozy, but not completely unaware of the fun and games  of which I was the main attraction.

It is downright weird to be not only aware that some device is holding your eye open, so some guy in a white gown, and surgical mask, can rummage around in your eye socket with various tools of his trade and, at the same time be aware that the people working on you are holding conversations that you can understand some of. While most of the talk was medical, I can’t swear that they might not have been discussing the weekend football games that the Cowboys and Texans were going to play on Sunday, too.

I fell briefly asleep near the end, awakening just in time to be told it was all over, and the operation was a success, then I was drove back to a recovery room for a while before being allowed to go home, with a patch over the eye, eye drop prescriptions, and other instructions, in hand, and orders to come back to the eye clinic for a follow-up, at 9am the next morning.

(As we remodel the donation buttons are still parked in the sidebars of both blogs, but also at the top of the page here, and here, on Meowsings.)

 

Medical Update: Operation Vitrectomy

 

Good evening, and Merry Christmas, to friends and fans of this blog. The last update on my medical situation was on the 13^th. Last week I had appointments with my doctors, at Ben Taub, and also had an ultrasound done on my liver, related to the melanoma in the left eye. I am still waiting for results from this test and blood tests, and need to go back for another blood test related to determining proper Phenytoin pill level (An anti-seizure med).

As for my right eye the eye drop treatment, that has lasted a month, was not clearing up the condition of the eye sufficiently and this concerned the docs, as there are risks of a retinal tear having caused the issue and retinal detachment as well. The bleeding in my eye needs to be cleared up sooner, rather than later, considering the issues with my other eye, and so they suggested an outpatient procedure called a Vitrectomy. It takes 90 min. to 2 hours to complete, and 2 to 6 weeks to recover from.

I will have the operation sometime this Friday.

800 Musings by a Mad Macedonian

Change is good. So is evolution.

I became a blogger in May 2002, and over the years writing on my 3 blogs and, as my cats, on Meowsings of an Opinionated Pussycat, have allowed me to share the news, and share our opinions, and our lives.

Through those blogs I re-discovered a talent for poetry, and creative writing, and amateur journalism, and I discovered the courage to change my life for the better, a journey that had begun in 1998, and is a work in progress.

I also took up Facebook like just about everyone else on the planet.

Recently I've decided to consider creating a 2nd Facebook account, a page devoted to my writing side, to begin the New Year.

I have been something of a creationist, over a decade of blogging, bringing to life various "personalities", and concepts.

So where do I go from here? What, and where, is my place in the blogosphere, and other types of social media of today?

Eventually, EVERYONE stops by to see what the Mad Macedonian has to say, his place is an establishment of infinite delights: creative writing, & discourses on the many things that interest him, even his everyday life, are some of what can be sampled at Musings. So wear your thinking cap, check your expectations at the door, and don't forget to tip the bouncer (Elvira Mistress of Felinity) on the way out....

Welcome to the 800th post on Musings of a Mad Macedonian, since October 2007, and the 4,537th blog post in my career, over 4 blogs, since 2002.

Medical Update: What I Know So Far and What Next

It has been a week since my last update, and I am posting from a slow computer in the Apt. cafe where I live (I finally took my laptop in to be fixed, spending money I could ill afford, but it had to be done, as what's a blogger w/o his computer?).

My doctor at HEA talked directly to the docs at Ben Taub Eye Clinic on Monday, and I was reached on Tuesday to come in Wednesday morning.

A blood lab was taken for my liver then later in the day I sent 2 1/2 hours being examined by 3 of the top specialists there (And Ultrasound on my abdomen will be done of the 18th, as a cancer precaution in the rest of my body).

They looked at BOTH my eyes.

The news is complex, and worrisome, and before I go further I want to be sure no-one, human or feline, has a freakout.

If I am not going to have one, then my friends and fans are not going to be allowed to have one on my behalf! My 2 sisters are doing their best to ignore those orders for all of us combined. :-D

Measurement-wise my Malignant Melanoma, in the right eye is just over the border from small to medium. Chances of kicking the bucket are slim if not treated as soon as possible.

As for treatment options, there are 3, at least 1 of which Ben Taub is equiped to to, not only MD Anderson.

1. Like father, like son...I lose the eye. It gets taken out, bye-bye issue.

2. Sew Radiation Plaque on the eye for a week or so, then remove it.

3. Radiation Beam on the eye.

With Options 2 & 3...radiation could still damage my vision in that eye (currently 20/20 w/glasses), but there is a very good chance of good vision due to where the tumor is, although I could lose vision in this eye at some point in the future.

As for the left eye, the one that had the blood hemmorhage, and brought this whole mess to my attention...

I am to continue taking the drops, and return on the 17th for another check-up. If the eye is still blurry they may have to do surgery to remove the blood, and restore my vision in that eye.

I have an appointment at another location, in the morning, to get the application for MD Anderson, and learn what documents they need me to provide about my personal and financial, situation. They are very strict on the paperwork requirements, and the sooner I can get what they need the sooner I get in to MD Anderson to see the Doc I need to see....

I chatted with one of the Docs about Disability, and to hear him tell it, as long as I can see out of one eye, and there is work I can do, chances of getting Federal Disability are slim.

Don't know where my 2 seizures, or my ankle (Still have the metal inside even though fixed & am working on strengthening my legs and hips, through exercise) would fit in to this equation, but those are questions for another day.

My unemployment extensions will also end, like everyone elses, on 12/29.

So, will I just end up with poorer vision in a formerly well-behaved eye, or am I destined to be The One-Eyed Mad Macedonian/Mad Houstonian?