Well, it's time for another surgery and I never finished blogging about the first one. I will write a short summary to update you all, but will have to leave out some amazing details.
My DSAEK turned out to be a DSEK. Not a huge difference, just that the automated cutting of the donor tissue is eliminated with the DSEK. It went well. I began to panic a bit during the surgery as I felt a bit of pain so they ended up putting me into a deeper sleep. That's the last thing I remembered. The recovery was the worst part. Due to chronic back, neck and jaw pain from injuries sustained in a car accident in 2003, the lying on my back for the first 24 hours after surgery was horrible! Excruciating pain! I finally got the right amount of meds to be able to sleep, but every 3 or 4 hours, I woke up in pain. I was only allowed to be up for 20 minutes to use the restroom and eat. Then, it was down 2 hours, up 2 hours for a few days. That was more bearable. The day after surgery, I went in for my post-op appointment and they took the bandages off. It's not like in the movies where they take them off and you can miraculously see clearly, although I could see more than most people see that soon. 20/200 was my vision.
My vision was slowly improving, but at my 3 month, it has dropped from 20/40 to 20/70. Not good. There were no other signs of rejection or anything though. No obvious reason for the change and even though I could see better in the exam room, the glasses didn't seem to help at all out in the lobby. This was discouraging. They were beginning to suspect the graft had failed and the possibility of a re-do on the same eye, rather than doing my other eye was discouraging but real.
A few weeks ago, I got checked again and the glasses are now helping, Praise God! Not as much far away, but very clear for reading and seeing road signs and such for driving. I'm hoping to get my other eye done this Tuesday. I will see what Dr. Terry says at my pre-op appointment and 6 month check up on my surgery eye. He was wanting to do a DMEK rather than a DSEK when the glasses weren't working. I will make my final decision after getting his opinion. Please pray for that decision, that the choice would be obvious by then. The DMEK requires tilting the head back off the bed as well as the lying on the back for the first 24 hours and then the 2hrs up and 2 hours down is for more days. There's also a chance of needing re-bubbles (from the tissue not adhering as well-my mom had 3) which puts you back to mostly down and 20 minutes up for a break and eat. My mother was lying down for a full 10 days with her second DMEK. I really don't want to go through that. I do have meds though to hopefully help me get through whatever is necessary. I know God will help me. My husband will be there with me again. He will read to me, get me whatever I need, make our meals, etc... He is such a blessing. I thank God for him. Well, that's my update for now.
Please continue to pray for me and for us as we travel. Maybe my husband can update my blog for me. We'll see. I would love to hear from friends and family while I'm there. Message me on facebook for the address. :)
