Frustratedearthmother's Journaling Journey

[NH Homesteader]

on the pregnant dream. I am 5 years older this time around and I SO feel the age difference. Won't do it again after this either!
A thousand dollars??? I spent $140 on mine 2 years ago. They're horribly scratched from falling in the goat pen a few times... Oops. I never found contacts that worked for me because I have dry eyes.

Good luck restraining yourself to 6 does!!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I have dry eyes too...or I'd be wearing them. But, I did try them and know the contact itself causes no discomfort. However, having glued to your eyeball and not being able to get them out is NO fun at all!

Good luck restraining yourself to 6 does!!

Even harder to restrain the bucks, lol!!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

We had a scare this morning - and not sure it's over. DH has noticed that that he's having blurry vision in the eye that just had the cataract surgery. Even more disconcerting is that his peripheral vision in that eye is decreasing. First thought - detached retina. We were getting ready to head off to the ER when the surgeon's associate (the doc on call) called back. He went through a series of questions and mentioned that "yep" it could be the beginning of retinal attachment which will earn you an emergency trip to surgery. ARGH! But, while some of the symptoms match - there are other symptoms that he's NOT having. We've got the doc's cell number and he told us to monitor his symptoms. Right now he's got NO bright lights or new floaters in the eye. That's a good thing. If he develops any - we head to the hospital.

There is another side-effect of the surgery that matches his symptoms called negative dysphotopsia. Seems to occur in about 20% of cataract patients. I swear if there's a side effect of anything - dh will get it. May or may not need a laser surgical procedure to help - or maybe - the symptoms disappear on their own in 9-12 months. Usually they 'observe' for 3 to 4 months before they even think about taking any action. Poor DH - he just can't catch a break.

 

[NH Homesteader]

Ughhh hope it's not an emergency surgery situation! Glad it happened while you're both home

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Thankfully his vision didn't get any worse as the day progressed. I was so dreading the possibility of emergency surgery. I finally got a couple things done today. Mowed everything - it needed it badly. Managed to squash the he(ll) outta my thumb while closing a gate. It was bad enough that it bled outta the base of the nail. I'm kinda glad it went ahead and bled because at least it's not got all that throbbing pain/pressure under the nail. That's the good news -the bad news is that it is still extremely sore. Yay, just what I needed. It hurt so bad that I had ice cream and then wine and then more ice cream, lol. Still hurts.... shouldn't eat more ice cream though.

 

[baymule]

Your poor husband. And poor you. Cause we all know who takes care of who.

Slamming your thumb....ouch. At least it bled out. I've done the heated by cigarette lighter, sharp pocket knife, drill the blood spot under the fingernail before to get relief. Ouchy on that too.

Have some more ice cream.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

We headed out to the doc's office this morning. We actually had to go to one of their other offices (they have several) in downtown Houston. The office we usually go to is kinda on the outside edge of downtown. This one - more in the middle of town. I hate driving to downtown - especially since Dh's vision is so bad he can't help me as much as I would like him to.

Doc examines his eye and finds exactly nothing wrong. Now, why did he find nothing wrong you might ask? Because his eye is too cloudy to see anything on the inside even with maximum dilation. It's supposed to be clear enough to see through - that's the whole point of the cataract surgery....GRRRRRRRRRRRR!

He doesn't "think" it's a detached retina because that's extremely rare...but he does have some of the symptoms.

He does think there is a possibility that DH had a bleed in that eye...but the laser work he did in the previous surgery was supposed to prevent anything but a small bleed.

There is another possible side effect that can happen after cataract surgery that has matching symptoms - but those symptoms don't USUALLY manifest until several months after surgery. (But, remember that THIS cataract was a side effect of the vitrectomy surgery that wasn't supposed to happen as quickly as it did.)

Maybe an overactive immune response?

Who knows? Nobody! And, I'm a very unhappy PI$$ED off person right now. Poor DH! He had two days of good vision - he was so excited. Now he can't see again...that's just horrendously cruel.

We have our regular follow-up appt. on Wednesday. Hoping for a miracle between now and then.

 

[NH Homesteader]

UGHH! So the doctor was like... Who knows, go home? How frustrating for your husband!

 

[baymule]

that really sucks. My sister had cataract surgery not long ago and had cloudy eyesight. She was real disappointed. It happens more than what is reported. All I ever heard about cataract surgery is what a great thing it is. Not always. Her Dr told her that it would clear up, but it may take awhile.

downtown Houston ain't no walk in the park. All those one way streets that go the wrong way that you want to go. Parking is insane. If your DH can't see, how is he supposed to go to work?

 

[frustratedearthmother]

UGHH! So the doctor was like... Who knows, go home?

That was pretty much all he could say. He took some magnified pictures of the interior of the eye and didn't see any arterial occlusions (which is what he thought he might find). After that there's not much he can do until the fogginess clears up I guess. I intend to get more answers at tomorrow's appt.

If your DH can't see, how is he supposed to go to work?

That IS the million dollar question. I think he could actually do the work. He has been dealing with these vision issues for so long that he's got a system worked out. Did you know that there is a magnifier built into a computer? He can move this computer generated magnifier over the screen to help see. It's not perfect, and it only works on a small portion of the screen at a time. Also, he carries a couple of hand-held magnifying glasses with him of various strengths. But, it is a struggle. It takes him longer to do things, and it's such a strain on him that he comes home exhausted after just a 4 hour audit.

Driving would be the other, and biggest, issue. We talked last night about him using Uber to get around for a few weeks - just until we get some answers. It would maintain his job, even though he wouldn't bring home much after paying for rides every day.

Also, next question. He's got a cataract in the other eye. We don't dare follow through with having the surgery on that eye until we get answers and a resolution to this one.

We've done a couple internet searches on qualifications for disability. Vision has to be as bad as 20/200 with correction. He is technically 20/200 in both eyes - but with his glasses he can be corrected to 20/40 in his "good" eye (which also has a cataract). So - disability is out. Unemployment is out if he quits a job because they say he should go on disability. Disability says he's not disabled enough.

Life is about to get a lot more interesting...