Wednesday

I woke up Tuesday morning and realized right away that there was a problem.  My left eye that had the surgery was swelled half shut and very red.  My eyelid was swelled and it looked wrong.  We assumed that I had an infection in my eye and were instructed to call right away with those types of symptoms.

Thankfully the doctor didn't think it is infected.  Two stitches that are helping to hold the white tissue in place were poking out a bit.  He said that this causes a great deal of irritation on the eye and eye lid.  So after numbing my eye he attempted to pull them out.  They didn't come out so he pulled them a bit and and clipped them off.  Since my eye was numb I didn't feel much and the light was so bright in that eye that I couldn't see which is best.  :)  When the numbing solution wore off I could tell right away that it was much less abrasive to blink.

The surgery is considered successful.  I am slightly cross-eyed which they planned.  The muscle will gradually tighten so they prefer that it be a little over corrected to start.  I can tell the muscle in that eye is very weak because it is harder to stay focused in that eye and it is harder to look around staying focused.  That will come with time.

My head has been feeling considerably better!  The primary goal so far seems to be in sight.  If I do to much with my eyes I get a little more headache-y but I think that would be normal for anyone.  So we continue on!

Easter Eve

A few days have passed since the surgery.  Today is the first day that I can say my eye is feeling a little better.  I've only been using ibuprofen for the irritation but up until today had been taking it every six hours.  Today I didn't take any until this evening.  I'm very thankful that I haven't need anything stronger!

My eye is still pretty irritated though.  I am struggling with seeing well.  With my left eye shut I can see clearly but with both eyes I am still seeing double, especially things at a distance.  I am noticing that my vision is improving each day.  It is rather tiring, though.  I have been exhausted by mid-afternoon.

Tomorrow is a special day to celebrate the risen Savior, the King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords.  Have a blessed Easter!

Twenty-four hours later

The surgery is done.  I was under general anesthesia and as usual, they had challenges with getting an iv in.  Thankfully the anesthesiologist came in and he was able to numb an area in my wrist and then got it in without problems.

For a surgery, it was pretty easy.  It sounds awful to have the surgeon cut into my eye to get to the muscle behind it.  Once I was used to the idea, though, it wasn't so bad.  My eye is very red and blood shot and bleeds off and on.  Yesterday it was too swelled up and full of matter to really open much.  Today I can open it but it looks yucky. 

All that being said, this is probably going to be the easiest surgery to recover from it seems.  I just take ibuprofen sometimes because my eye is uncomfortable.  Because there are stitches in my eye it feels like it is full of sand. The other challenge is that I am seeing double when both eyes are open and after a while that wears on me.  The doctor said that it would take 2-4 weeks for that to clear up but I would imagine that each day will get better.

At this point I am not wearing the prism glasses.  Both doctors have said that I most likely will need to continue wearing them but the level of prism will not be nearly as strong as they were.  If I understood things correctly, the ophthalmologist suggested that it is possible that this muscle will continue to strengthen and in about 10 years I may need to repeat the surgery.  I hope not!  But if I can have 10 years of much improved headaches, it will be worth it.

To answer the question of the day--my head is feeling quite a bit better today.  Way to early to tell if this is due to the surgery.  Part of it may be that my left eye is shut about half the time anyway!

Sunday evening. . . the night before. . .

Tomorrow is surgery number 15 in the string of surgeries for my headaches.  Tonight as I have been contemplating the surgery I have questioned again whether this is the right decision.  Why so many surgeries?  Am I to quick to just jump into another surgery?  But yet I have tested the theory at home by covering one eye and then the other for periods of time.  It truly does help a lot.  Do I think that my headaches will be gone?  No.  My prayer is that the Lord is providing a way to decrease the intensity of the headaches although I trust that He could remove the headaches.

My head has steadily been stronger although some days worse than others.  This last week has been particularly challenging.  Kyle finally gave me a Toradol shot Wednesday afternoon and I felt better Thursday.  Then I had him give me one Friday morning--the last day I could have one--in hopes that I would feel okay Saturday.  I had woken up Friday morning with the headache pretty strong again.  Thankfully the strategy worked and I felt pretty good on Saturday.  That was very important to me because my sweet niece, Bethany had a shower in the morning and my sister-in-law and I were putting on a second shower in the afternoon.  Feeling well was an answer to prayer!

So tomorrow I will have another surgery.  It should be simple and easy to recover from.  I so hope and pray that the Lord will allow me to have more relief from these headaches!