Category: health

Corrected

Well,  I survived my surgery. Lol  As you

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My eye

can see,  I’m on the mend.  The doc says the procedure went very well and he was able to accomplish everything.

Apparently, the problem has been brewing for some time.  The lower orbital bone was very thin due to constant pressure over a long period of time.  The final conclusion is my condition is genetic and the previous latent sinus infection may have just helped bring it forward sooner. He said had the bone completely disappeared,  the fix would have been much more involved. I guess in an odd way,  the infection turned out to be a good thing. 

The procedure itself was pretty simple.  The goal was to insert a polyurethane ‘sled’ into the orbital sheath that surrounds my eye. It sits above the orbital bone but below the eye.  He didn’t have to cut my face at all; he went thru the eye lid.  Basically,  he made an incision in the orbital sheath, shoved the sled in,  and then placed it properly.  Apparently,  he had to make some last minute modifications as the eye sinkage was down and backwards or inward.  The inwards part is what is believed to have caused the double vision.  Anyway, he was very pleased with the procedure and said it went as well as it could have been expected. 

My vision was immediately better,  even from my initial recovery from anesthesia.  The range I could turn my head without incurring double vision was greater and my eyes take less time to focus. At the follow up visit the next day he said I should continue to expect small gradual improvements as the swelling goes down and it heals.  I can no longer see a difference in my eyeballs,  they look perfectly even again.  [1]On close inspection,  you could actually see that my right eye was lower and slightly sunken in compared to the left one.   My eye still looks a bit sunken but that would be from all the swelling.  Lol  He seemed a bit proud of himself when measuring them.  I guess it isn’t a perfect science and ‘results may vary’. I still have some double visions but even that is reduced and the angle to incur it is back to levels that would be very livable even if I saw no more improvement. 

He thinks my vision,  in regards to the diploma,  will return to normal once all the swelling goes down.  In the event it doesn’t,  any minor corrections can be accomplished with contacts/glasses.  They would not go back in to ‘adjust’  the sled unless there was ‘slippage’.  Again,  he seemed to indicate the sled was a perfect fit and I shouldn’t expect any problems.  Since,  I already need contacts for my slight near-sightedness in the same eye,  it would just be a matter of adjusting my prescription with a slight prism enhancement.

So far,  my daily vision is better.  I’ve noticed several improvements including  no more feelings that my eyes were routinely fighting with each other for focus.  It sounds odd but I’d begun to notice my right eye was weaker. Anytime,  my head tilt didn’t compensate for proper view,  the right eye would sort of just give up for a bit then finally refocus.  That affect is all but gone now. The double vision at sharp angles and looking up is still present but greatly reduced.  I’m hopeful each day will bring additional improvements.  Either way,  I’m eagerly awaiting being all healed up.

I don’t think I realized how much it bothered me until after I had the surgery.  We pretty much take our vision for granted in our daily comings/goings.  Before the surgery,  it had gone from being a random annoyance to a daily struggle.  It would often take minutes vs seconds for my eyes to gain cohesive focus in the mornings. Anything outside the front facing slightly downward view would become two images.  It was odd noticing how much detail was lost when trying to ascertain between two distinct images. My apprehension level went up every day as my vision decreased. People had started commenting on the angle of my head as I had developed an unconscious habit of tiling my head up to compensate. Ironically,  work life was impacted the least.  I think because I already tend to view my monitors slightly below eye level.  Anyway,  the daily coping would have only lasted so much longer. Now that the surgery is over my eye sight is amazingly better.  Seeing the abrupt difference really brought home how bad it had gotten.  I’m incredibly grateful it went ok. 

Now, I just need to wait it out.  Daily eye drops and lots of ice for the swelling. Time will tell if my vision is 95% or 90% restored.

References

References
↑1 On close inspection,  you could actually see that my right eye was lower and slightly sunken in compared to the left one.

Eyeball

I’m scheduled to go in for my second (and hopefully) final procedure tomorrow. As mentioned, the first procedure was to clean out the latent infection in my sinus.

I’ve officially been diagnosed with asymptomatic chronic maxillary sinusitis, otherwise known as silent sinus syndrome. It is somewhat uncommon but basically my right sinus is reduced in size. The infection could have been part of that, it could have been genetic, or both. Regardless, the reduced sinus is putting negative pressure on my orbital socket. Basically, it is pulling my eye down.

The procedure tomorrow requires the doc to insert a ‘sled’ into my eye to restore the orbit to its normal position. In most cases, patients with diplopia symptoms, like myself, go back to normal or almost normal vision. I certainly hope I fall into the ‘normal’ category.

It is considered out-patient procedure and I should only need a day or two recovery. Last time I had more recovery from the anesthesia than I did the procedure itself. lol

This will be the 4th official implant. Both collar bones and one leg. If I turn ashen grey and start spouting "we are borg", you know I’ve turned into an evil cyborg bent on world domination. Until then, fingers crossed everything goes well tomorrow!

Loopy

Well, I’m finally feeling almost normal again. It only took four days after the sedation for it to happen. I must say I’m a little bit surprised it took so long. Everyone keeps telling me my body needs more rest but I’ve never taken this long to ‘bounce back‘ before. I have very little physical discomfort but the light-headness and down right crankiness has stayed with me. The Pup says I’ve been a little more silly at home the last few days. [1]I’m never cranky with him. Yes, I realize it could be my age. But I’m also thinking it has a lot to do with my lack of gym attendance. I haven’t really been consistently working out and I definitely feel the difference. The last couple surgeries were much more invasive and I was nowhere near this messed up aftewards.

I ended up calling off work early yesterday as I just couldn’t focus and my crankiness was getting the better of me. [2]Never a good thing. lol I guess I should have taken more time off. Coworkers have noticed and commented on how much more of myself I am today so I guess it has showed.

I had my Post Op appointment with the doc yesterday and he didn’t seem worried. He indicated it wasn’t unusual to feel some after effects. The procedure was a success and there appears to be no need to do any follow up work to clean out the latent infection material. He did spring the news that he wants to refer me to yet another specialist for the final surgery. Just what I need, another round of copays and visits. But to be fair, I guess I’d rather have someone who already does the work I need vs just taking a stab at it. I’m looking at 4-6 weeks, which puts it right smake in the middle of the holidays. Work will be so pleased. (NOT!)

References

References
↑1 I’m never cranky with him.
↑2 Never a good thing. lol

Recover

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​I had the first of the two procedures to correct my vision/eye problems this week. The first one dealt with going into the sinus to clean out the fluid filled cyst like thingy. The procedure went off without any problems. I did have to be sedated but beyond that it went fine. As you can see from the pic, they had me in a lovely outfit prior to the procedure.

The doc wants the area to heal up completely before they do the second procedure to put in the little metal plate. I’m hoping to have it done before the new year but it could go into January. Basically, the doc will slide the plate into the bottom of the orbital sheath around my eye to lift it back into its proper spot. This should fix my diplopia completely. [1]Fingers crossed

*

On a side tangent, I’ve been through several surgeries in my life with 2 in just the last 10 years. None of them really worried me in the sense that I wouldn’t wake up from it. Even though I’m pretty much healthy as an ox, I’ll admit to having been a bit worried something bad would happen this time around. I guess there is still a small part of me that is just having a hard time believing my life can be this happy and content. I’m beating my poor little id and telling it to stop worrying but I just don’t think it knows any other way. lol

References

References
↑1 Fingers crossed

Clean

Well, I finally got news on the eye/sinus problem. I’m scheduled to go under the knife early October to clean out the fluid/infection/cyst thingy. I hope they take pictures. I had a dream the other night that it was an alien like Sigourney Weavers’. heehee Naturally, it was a queen!

Anyway, it has taken a while to get the info. First, the ENT doc was out of town for two weeks. Then he had a family emergency which pushed him out for another week. And apparently, he only does his surgeries once a month. Bizarre for me but I guess it makes sense from a cost factor. The insurance foots the bill so who am I to complain?

The CT scan did show the bone for my right socket was intact. However, even with the infection/cyst, my right sinus is smaller than it should be and apparently is the culprit for my eye problem. In the most ironic twist, the infection has possibly prevented the problem from being discovered sooner. It could have also just shrunk from an original larger size that dislodged the eye from its normal position. Either way, I’ve noticed the effect is progressing in small increments but still a ways off from impacting my daily vision.

As expected, I’m in line for two procedures. The first, while considered invasive, is the cleaning which I really wouldn’t call a surgery. The second is slightly more complicated and involves adding more metal to my body. I wonder if I can call myself a cyborg now that I’ll soon have 4 different metal plates in my body?

(Arnold voice) I’ll be back!

Sinus

In my continuing eye saga, turns out I don’t have any eye muscle problems either. Actually, my right eye is now 4 cm lower than my left eye. This is what is causing my double vision. [1]It’s only when I look at sharp angles but he did say it would not go away on it’s own.

The MRI revealed good and bad news. Good news, my brain is clean of tumors, cysts, or legions. Oh and it looked really pretty too! haha  Seriously, this was a big worry for me. Being adopted, I do not know any of my medical history. It was very comforting to know I don’t have ‘da tuma’s.’ as my Maw-maw use to call’em.

The bad news is they did discover a large fluid filled object under my right eye. It looked to be about half the size of a golf ball. The doc thinks it is left over from some previous sinus infection. It tends to look more fluid than mass so probably not a benign tumor. [2]Tumors rarely look perfectly shaped. They often have tendrils and branches

In a dramatic turn of events, leave it to me to go one step further and have something even more bizarre wrong with me. There was no apparent bone under my right eye socket. The doc said in 30 years he had never seen a case like mine. Go figure. Anyway, this could be part of why the eye is suddently dropping. I’m off to get a CAT scan later today to see if the bone was somehow blocked by the fluid or if it is truly missing. The latter will determine if I need two surgeries or one to fix the problem. The first procedure isn’t really a surgery as much as going in to clean out the mess. After they slurp it all out and test it, I’ll mostly likely have to go back for a surgery to replace  the missing bone with a metal plate or a mesh. (If it is indeed missing)

On a tangent, I’ve had two motorcycle accidents in the last 10 years and neither resulted in face or head trauma. He said had I actually broken the bone in either accident, I would have had significant swelling. Going back further the only eye trauma I can think of was being sucker-punched in Jr high school by a bully. It was last day of 7th grade and when we all jumped up to leave, he popped out and punched me right in the face. I had a very large bruise for quite some time afterwards. (Oh and that little stunt got him expelled permanently.) Beyond that, I can’t think of much face or eye trauma that could have broken the bones. Of course, I’m wondering if I never had it for some odd reason and the sinus issue only brought it forward? Who knows.

The doc thinks I’ll see a 100% improvement in my vision after the surgery. He also indicated both procedures wouldn’t debilitate me for more than a couple days at most. And I can still wear contacts for the slight eye problems I did discover at my original visit to the Optometrist.

For now, the saga continues.

References

References
↑1 It’s only when I look at sharp angles but he did say it would not go away on it’s own.
↑2 Tumors rarely look perfectly shaped. They often have tendrils and branches

Eye

No more glasses for a while. Turns out my eye-fix isn’t going to be as easy as previously thought. I got my glasses and they were nice but didn’t really seem to be helping my main problem, diplopia (double vision).

On the follow up visit, when I explained the issue it was discovered I have more of a eye muscle problem vs actual vision issues. Ok, to be fair, I still have the slight near-sightedness and astigmatism but those are much more minor and require very little fix.

I got referred to a specialist who was a very nice Russian fella. And yeah, I do have some eye muscle issues. My left eye is a bit out of sync when looking at strong odd angles. If I tilt my head down while looking upward I get strong double images. Left or right, is the same to a lesser degree. The fix would be glasses with prism support to force the eyes back into alignment.

The doc mentioned a possible thyroid related problem that sometimes causes said problem. He sent me off for some blood work. I looked it up and should it turn out to be related to that, it usually goes away with treatment. I don’t really have the other issues that come from hyperthyroidism but it will be nice to rule it out.

He is actually sending me out to get an MRI. While no indicators, he wants to make sure there are no brain (read ‘tumor’) problems. Being adopted, I know nothing of my hereditary issues so it’s always a bit worrisome for me. I was a tiny bit concerned but not having any other symptoms is also reassuring.

The most likely scenario is I’ll end up with a different prescription to correct my vision. Even better, he said I’d still be able to get contacts with the prism support!

Blood work is done and the MRI is in two weeks. The follow up with the specialist is a few days after that. Hopefully, I’ll have some definitive answers by the middle of August.

Sight

I’m reminded of the Thundercats cartoon as I write my rant today. Not exactly sure why but the comment from Lyono, “Sword of Omens, give me sight beyond sight.” *giggle* Anyway, my old ass had to finally break down and go get an eye exam this past weekend. Ironically, my sight isn’t as bad as I thought but I have two different problems which seem to interfere with each other. Said interference is what led me to believe my sight was awful.

I have a slight astigmatism in my left eye and a slight near-sightedness in my right eye. One causes me to see double vision from time to time [1]mostly when I turn my head at odd angles to see far or really close and the other causes me to see text a bit blurry from time to time. Both are very minor so far and only require small corrections. But because the fix for one can interfere with the other I had to get a pricier version of my glasses/contacts. Naturally, I had to have an issue that required more than my insurance allowance.

I could have been a stingy ass and not gotten glasses at the location where I got the exam but knowing they make most of their money off of the glasses, I opted for my first pair there. My insurance covered the bulk of the cost. The contacts are covered as a “secondary pair” but are also covered less.  I left with having only forked over $200 out of pocket. Most of that went to cover my frames. [2]Read designer frames that I could have easily done with out. Sometimes, I think I am just too generous and thoughtful. The contacts arrive later this week and the glasses the following week. The frames I chose are rather fragile looking but are supposed to be very durable and remember their shape. Considering I ride a motorcycle we will put that statement to the test.

The optometrist was so funny. She was slightly older and could have totally been a valley girl in her youth. She was very nice and covered every possible question I could have asked. We discussed my options since I ride a motorcycle and work behind a computer screen all day. I had thought of getting the contacts for the motorcycle (the distance fix) and the glasses for the reading. Sadly, that wasn’t a good choice as I couldn’t wear the glasses over the contacts at work. Again, leave it to me to have issues that conflict with each other. 

I technically don’t even need to wear them that often. I’m hoping the contacts work out as I can see trouble for the frames. The lenses have to be multi-focal and I get to go thru a trial week to see how I do. Apparently, adjusting to multi-focal contacts are harder than glasses. If I can’t adjust, I’ll have to go to a glasses-only approach. Again, I’m really hoping the contacts work out.

The eye-dilation procedure was a bit scary. It made everything super blurry and omfg did the light hurt! They gave me those little wrap around your face sunglasses to walk home in and event the 4 block walk almost did me in! Holy hell!  I was so teary-eyed by the time I got to the apartment I had to stand in the entry way for about 10 minutes to let my eyes readjust.

Of course, I’ll post pics! heehee

References

References
↑1 mostly when I turn my head at odd angles to see far or really close
↑2 Read designer frames that I could have easily done with out. Sometimes, I think I am just too generous and thoughtful.

Feedback

Interestingly enough, I got a ton of feedback from my PrEP post. Mostly in private though. .People reached out to me by email, pvt messages, and even texts to share their thoughts. Most were supportive and a few who disagreed in varying degrees.

I was just struck how so few people were willing to go on the record, so to speak, about the decision. The general consensus I got was that it was a very personal decision and many didn’t feel it should be up for debate by others. This in itself was a bit encouraging. It means people are ignoring the stupidity over ‘shaming’ and making informed decisions about what is best for them. The flip side, in an age where a complete stranger will show you vividly detailed pictures of his anatomy before even meeting, it isn’t so easy to discuss HIV prevention. We have some work to do. If we are ever truly going to get a handle on this we have to let go of the blame and guilt so common associated with STDs in general.

One dissenter was particularly focused on the drug companies making a huge sum of money off of PrEP. I’m not one for conspiracy theories but I also understand greed. But ‘knowing’ something w/o facts or proof isn’t really knowing at all. And frankly the drug companies don’t have to push their drugs on the negative folks. They can just as easily depend on the ignorance and fear to keep the transmission rate high and sell it to you when you convert. And since they aren’t the ones behind the idea to use Truvada as PrEP, it is really hard to sell that theory.

Anyway, I was happy to hear from so many who reached out to me. Some thanked me for my insight and discussion. Some lamented an age of ‘whores’, whatever that means. Overall, the general feeling was of acceptance, not as a solution but as a possible solution. The idea is that you consider it if it would be right for you. And many of my readers seemed to approach it from that perspective as well.

Gym

The Pup and I are back in the gym after an extended reprieve. I say reprieve because only part of it was laziness. hehehe  There was a 2-3 week window there where one of us wasn’t feeling so well. Either I felt fine and he didn’t or vice-versa. While neither of us got the full-blown flu, I think we may have extended the issue a bit by sharing it back and forth. [1]Sick or not, I can’t seem to resist kissing him  Anyway, after that we’d just gotten too comfortable coming home, making dinner, and then curling up on the sofa.

And yes, some of it was pure laziness. We like spending quality time curled up on the sofa together. Be it Tivo, video-games, or movies, the sofa is quite comfy for the three of us. The desire to be in the gym hasn’t left me. I still enjoy it when I’m there but I do find the desire to stay home and cuddle is often stronger. I’m sure we are still in the bonding phase so that is to be expected. However, if I don’t want to turn into a pumpkin, a routine needs to be re-established. I wonder if this is what a lot of couples go thru when they move in together? I’m sure as hell not letting myself turn into a heifer, but I can see the allure. The Pup tends to like sweets a tiny bit more than I. This means I’ve succumbed to keeping more sweets in the apt. And of course, once the temptation is there I’m all for it. 

It’s our first week back and even sitting still today my effin’ chest is sore as hell. I am by no means fat but I feel flabby. hehe My muscles have lost a bit of that tightness that comes from a daily gym regimen. He looks hot as ever (I may be biased) but I’m sure he feels the same way.

Regardless, I ache today. OY! I can only imagine what I’m going to feel like by Saturday after all my muscles have been put the ringer.

References

References
↑1 Sick or not, I can’t seem to resist kissing him