…and now I have to wait. (I have to try)

The surgeon was optimistic at my post-op appointment, so that’s good. The surgery was intense, or so I’m told. I wouldn’t know, I was out. Just before I went into the operating room for my surgery, the anesthetist was doing his pre-op routine, looking at a chart and monitoring my vitals (I’m happy to say that they’re all there, my pulse just barely). The surgeon turned to him and said, “Put him out for a good two hours, I’ve got to go deeper behind the eye this time.” Then, like an idiot, I pipe up with “Yeah! Dope me up!” That’s why professionalism and that Hippocratic Oath are so important. The anesthetist did his job like a professional, and after about one and a half deep breaths of pure oxygen and I don’t know how much propofol and other anesthetics were coursing through my body, I woke up in the recovery room.

The surgery went well, but in hindsight, it’s probably not a wise move to egg on or taunt the guy (or gal) with control over what will be in your veins during the following two hours. It all worked out well though and as far as I know there aren’t any Junior Mints in my head (if you don’t want to follow the Wikipedia link, it’s a Seinfeld reference).

When I say “woke up” I mean it in the technical sense. My eyes were swollen, sore and blurry and having them open for much longer than 30 seconds was no fun at all. It was just day surgery though so I got to go ‘home’ (the hotel). Nine days after and the swelling around my eyes is gone (I’m told there’s probably still swelling behind my eyes, but I can’t see or feel that, so I don’t count it) and they’re nowhere near as sore, but they’re still red and I’ve got two more days of ointment to squeeze in my eyes. My face looks and feels much better than it did after surgery and I don’t look as much like I’m possessed. I’ve made the reference to looking like I’m from District 9, but I don’t think many people liked that movie as much as me. Anyway, my point is, they were really red and now they’re less really-red. They’re still red, still sore, but they’re improving every day, so that should end soon.

The surgery focused on 5 eye muscles, so my eyes are adjusting to the new reality and the doctor can’t make any final determination on what to do next until the muscles settle and the swelling behind my eyes goes down. So I wait until my follow up appointment in 6 weeks.

Thanks for reading everyone and thanks to Tara Bradbury at The Telegram for her fantastic series on brain injury!