The Last Eye

I had a DSAEK in my left eye on friday December 17. This time I asked for and got strategically-placed pillows so I didn’t wind up with sciatica pain, and enough ‘twilight’ anesthetic to keep me out of it until the last five or ten minutes of surgery. Afterward, I was given a diuretic to keep the eye pressure down (the pressure has to be increased in order to help hold the graft in place). I had a violent reaction to the diuretic and spent most of the night in the bathroom deathly ill, writhing in pain. This was a problem, as it was necessary to lie down flat all night.

At the office visit early saturday morning, the graft was 90% adhering.

90% is good unless you’re a cornea graft.

I was sent home to lie down flat again. Monday morning when I returned, the graft was failing and falling off and I was in severe intestinal pain from my reaction to the diuretic. First they inserted more air into the eye in order to force the graft to adhere. This was done with only an eye-numbing jell and was painful. After the procedure, I had to lie flat for two hours – not easy with severe intestinal pain. After two hours they looked again.

It was not adhering.

What followed was a full hour of extraordinarily painful surgery. There was fluid on the wrong side of the transplanted cells preventing them from sticking. They removed it, replaced the graft and filled the eye with extra air for pressure. I thought I would go insane from the pain. The cells started working and they could see my iris for the first time through the cornea. I had to lie there in pain for two hours. Finally the last, shorter procedure of removing some of the pressure. This was the most painful of all (due to the increased pressure) ending with what felt like a knitting needle slowly skewering my eye. I was then sent home to lie down flat for five more days.

The intestinal pain gradually receded and I was able to eat. The graft is now adhering and the cells are working to clear the cornea. I was allowed to get up at the end of that week but still could not bend forward or do anything at all strenuous. I was on antibiotic drops for two weeks and not allowed to leave the house except for doctor appointments (risk of infection).

This week I have been able to make the bed and cook a few dinners. I still need to use a cotton ball to dry near that eye, and can’t exert any pressure near my eyelid (stitches at the top of the eye). Finally I can make it through a day without taking a nap. Must continue steroid eye drops for six months. The eye should gradually stop hurting over the next three months, and the vision should improve over that time. I still feel pain in the spot where the last needle was inserted.

How did I not go insane lying there all that time? My phone. Everyone makes fun of Twitter now, but Seesmic on the Incredible is easier to use (and see) than facebook, chat, Plurk or email. It was my lifeline and contact with the outside world.

I am hugely grateful for each one of the Twitter @’s and DMs, and for all the facebook messages I could not reply to at the time. They were the one bright spot in a harrowing couple of weeks. Thank you so much.

And thanks again to the #cnetfans people who sent the amazing bacon package: