The Eyes Have It

Remember that little ditty:  "I see said the blind man as he picked up his hammer and saw".   Seeing is a gift most of us have and I'm sure take for granted.  When it's gone you realize how much you depend on it.  This week Jack and I have been making trips to the Cleveland Clinic where he got treatment for a detached retina.  Jack's not new to eye issues. He had cataract surgery about 20yrs ago in both his eyes.  He's done very well since then but a detached retina is something that can happen because of cataract surgery.  Plus age, plus being near-sighted as a child, plus being male (more frequently happens to men than women) and a good dose of plain bad luck.   He had some mild symptoms and thought it was something that would go away.  Well, it's going away but that was after 1 1/2 hours of surgery to repair the retina.  We had to be up in Cleveland by 7am today, which meant leaving around 5:30 this morning.  We've had nothing but rain the past few days so we left even earlier just to make sure we'd be on time.  I'm not the best driver in the dark and rain so I told Jack to hold on and enjoy what I called "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride"!   It wasn't too bad but I noticed my shoulders hurting this afternoon from gripping the steering wheel! Ha!   The Doctors and staff were really wonderful.  I'm sure it was due in part to our good friend and Doctor at the hospital where I work..Dr. Gupta...calling ahead and making the arrangements.  I talked to him this afternoon and he said he also talked to the clinic and Docs and told them Jack was a very special person and to get him in quickly!  Way to go Dr. G!  I owe  him big time!  We have to head back up tomorrow morning but not as early.  In the mean time if you,or anyone you know, has had this type of surgery you know they inject a  gas bubble in the eye that stays in there for about a week to keep the repair in place.  What that means is you can't lift your head up for a week.  You have to look down at your feet all the time and sleep with your face down too.  This is not a fun thing and I know this week will be a challenge for Jack.  I'll be doing the driving and many other things around here but I know it will all be good by next week and he'll be back to his normal routines.  If he doesn't go nuts before then.  Jack is not a sit around kind of guy!

Wish us luck!