Operations

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OK, today is the day Dr. Cassidy removes the cataract from my right eye. We’ll be heading down to Portland to the Eyecare Medical Group around Noon.

Kate is gonna drive and zMommy will be coming along. I’m told the whole procedure will take an hour and a half. But this is the whole time I’ll be there; the actual “procedure” or removal will take about ten minutes.

I’ve been taking eye drops the last couple days, three times a day. That’s Vigamox and Nevanac. The former is an antibiotic, the latter for pain reduction. Of course, I’m not sure how well I got the drops into my eye. Guess it doesn’t matter as long as some of it goes in.

It’s now approaching 11am. Pretty soon I’ll put on a short sleeved shirt with open collar, as they request, and take the Cyclopentolate. One drop of that. I think that’s to widen the pupil. It’s the reason I can’t drive to the surgery. Also I take the Nevanac again, three times, and will have to stop on the way down so I can insert a drop.

Alright, I guess that covers it. Perhaps I can update this post when I come back, assuming I at least have one eye (the left one) to look out of.
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Yup, I’ve got one good eye now, the left one. Here it is 5:25pm and my right eye is blurry as hell. But that’s to be expected I’m told. I’ll be seeing Dr. Cassidy again in the morning (9:30am) for his further inspection and instructions for the future.

The whole procedure today was fairly painless. The only pesty thing was the inserting of the needle for the I-V in my hand. But whatever medication he gave me was definitely appreciated by me. I was quite relaxed during the whole time that Dr. Cassidy was operating, about ten minutes I guess.

Kate drove well all the way down and back. She said her pinched nerve in her neck was better. We stopped at Gorham on the way back and picked up some groceries, including Hake for supper. Over and out.

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Juan Cole provides an interesting news item from Aljazeera this morning: “Almost all of the wealth generated in Iraq comes from two off-shore oil rigs. Guarding these sites is a priority, not just for war-torn Iraq, but for a world in which oil prices have touched record highs.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdHOc-TbSOQ[/youtube]

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Minor Op

Today I had a minor operation. I am prone to seborrheic keratoses. Here’s a picture of one. Yuk.

This is not a picture of one of mine which are usually darker and bumpier. I’ve had one above and to the left of my left eye for the last several weeks, and my family physician felt it ought to be “looked at”.

From the Wiki, “The main danger associated with seborrheic keratoses lies in their resemblance to malignant melanomas, which has sometimes led to a misdiagnosis of the cancerous lesions.” The Doc felt a biopsy was in order for this one, and also I felt why not remove the whole thing, for “cosmetic reasons”? Since I take the blood thinner, Coumadin, he recommended that the procedure be done in the hospital, so today at 8am I went into the Stephens Memorial Hospital in Norway, Maine, accompanied by Cynthia, for my minor operation.

It took them an hour to “prep me” which wasn’t that bad even though I had not been allowed to consume any food or water after midnight. The nurse was very pleasant and attractive, and it was good to have Cynthia there with me for chatting and extra care. Finally, the hour for the operation arrived, another nurse appeared and gave me some “happy juice” as a mild sedation, and I was wheeled off to the operating room. It was over in a flash, or so it seemed, and I was wheeled back, given a sweet roll and some coffee, and sent on my way with a list of instructions. Cynthia did the driving even though I felt fine. The stitches come out in four days and soon after that, if not before, I should learn that the keratosis was benign…….
:shock:
UPDATE: 2/16/2008 Actually the stitches don’t come out until the 22nd. The dressing came off in four days, namely, today. Now an inch and a half long scar with black stitches is visible beside my left eye. Perhaps a black patch would do?

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