Wake Up to Find Out That You are the Eyes of the World

 According to Hunter/Garcia.

Today is the third week anniversary of the second retina detachment/reattachment surgery in my left eye, and as promised, I'm updating this as a guide for others going through this ordeal.

I'm at week three of the perfluorpropane bubble that supposed to last about six weeks, so presumably that bubble is about half gone (although, at six weeks last time, I still had some residual bubble). Looking straight out, the line of the bubble is near the center of my vision, so it has quite a ways to drop. If I look down, I can barely make out the edges of the bubble around perimeter.

Last Monday I predicted that I would get a glimpse of the mostly focused world through that eye again in a few days. I was right. I started seeing the thin line of sight that was actually passing through fluid and back to the retina on Wednesday. Every day since, the band has grown a little wider. It's still above the center of vision in that eye though, so I'm not really sure how close it is to a decent focus, and at what distance it will really focus. The eye surgeon told me that the eye would be more nearsighted than it was due to the effect of the rubber band (excuse me, scleral buckle) they put around the eye elongating the eye slightly. It should only be a few more days until the band includes the center of vision, and I can really see what it's going to be like. I can already see that it still slants right (my Fox News eye), but I'm not sure how distorted it might be.

Speaking of the rubber band, I continue to adjust to it. I can alway tell something is a little off, like having a bit of grit in the back of the eye, but it's not really painful. I've cut my pain regimen down to 1 or 2 doses of acetaminophen a day; the eye feels pretty decent when I get up, but through the day, occasional eye movements elicit a twinge of pain, not horrible, but something I'd rather avoid. Bending down too far might cause pain too. Eventually, by later afternoon, the acetaminophen is called for and then one for bed, more for arthritis than eyes. 

Today the eye drop routine declines to once per day, a steroid to suppress inflammation, and another drop to counteract the steroids tendency to raise eye pressure. I continue to goop on the antibiotic salve they added to the mix. It seems to help some. The white of the eye is still somewhat red and tender.

My prediction for next week is that I'll be able to see text clearly in the widening band of better vision. I hope that it will be good enough (and close enough to my old prescription) that I can actually read with it.