Slowly hoisting myself out of bed each morning, I creak and hobble into the kitchen for water. Four weeks in the position I was in takes its toll. My body feels like a shell of its former self. Sitting for too long, or frankly not moving for too long, makes my joints tense and sore. I have been given the ability to understand what arthritis feels like at the ripe age of 25! Lucky me. It has been slowly getting better, but just like it took four weeks to cause this wreck, it will probably take just as long to restore it to as close to normal as I can get. My knees sound like sandpaper if they stay locked for too long. Shoulders, ankles, hips, elbows, wrists (and basically any other joint) pop and crack all day long. BUT they are doing so in a vertical position, so it's hard to complain.
It's strange that only one week had passed since that amazing day when I was given my life back.
I definitely underestimated the level of frustration I could reach with this bubble. It is only in one eye but may as well be in both. The distortion of light and shadows off of the bubble make doing things like reading painstakingly obnoxious. Grocery stores, with that horrendous overhead, fluorescent lighting, cause dizziness like you wouldn't believe. And now bending over (this one is the kicker) makes a wave of dizzy nausea wash over me like a tsunami. Never would have guessed that one; not after being face down for so long would I think that returning to that position, even if briefly, would make me feel like I was barrel-rolling on a roller coaster.
If the light hits in just the correct way, what look like branches of a tree seem to dance in my eye.
Thursday, February 28: Another appointment down. No tears, fluid, detachment. I'm passing with flying colors. And this time I was able to experience having photographs taken of the inside of my eye.
Every time Dr. Grodin does something new to my eyes, I'm always amazed at the technology. At the medicine. And there I sat. With my chin on another rest, staring at another light. Except this one was different. It was more like a television than a bright white strobe being blasted into your eye, that generally renders me unable to see anything for a few minutes. This was a red screen with an "X" in the center. All I had to do was look at it. Watch it change with some bits of green, then a new pattern of red lines. Boom, done. Photos complete. Pretty fascinating.
Everything checked out and I was sent on my merry way. Another week of waiting for the bubble to go down. I was at about 10%. No fish eggs yet. I even asked about that.
"Does everyone get to experience the fish eggs??"
"Yes, that happens to everyone."
"Oh good, I really want to know what that looks like."
Just wait. There'll be another photoshop generated image of this roe that will be floating around, don't you worry.
Oh and when your surgical warning label breaks, zip ties fix that. But they can also scratch you during showers or sleeping. WATCH OUT.
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| Swelling still decreasing. Redness decreasing. Eyes are almost the same size. Still wearing my warning label... |
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