At some point next Thursday morning, I will be in surgery hopefully only having a cataract removed. There is the chance that I will also receive another corneal endothelial transplant (DSAEK, partial-thickness corneal transplant, endothelial keratoplasty, or whatever you want to call it.) It is what I had done on 4 Dec 2008.
From what I gather, recovery time on the cataract extraction is about half that of the DSAEK (which is about four months.) Seems like I won’t have to wear that awful eye shield as long with only the cataract coming out. After the last surgery, I had to wear it for over a month. Lets not forget the misery on the day after my last surgery. My IOP went from seven to about 30. I puked my guts up all day long from the dramatic change in pressure. Showering was difficult too since I had to make sure I didn’t get any soap or water in my eye. That was only for a few months. Eliz will be shaving my head this weekend so that I only need to use a washcloth to wash my head.
I am very excited about the prospects of seeing more than I see now. Maybe I’ll see well enough to go to the movies again. I’d love to go and see a few Phils games, or even go see an Eagles game (you know, I’ve never been to the Link.) If things go really well, maybe I’ll be able to throw a softball around with Jane, a lacrosse ball with Jake, or even read the mail instead of having someone read it to me.
Of course, there are risks and I do worry about something going dreadfully wrong. I see only light out of my other eye, so any failure would dispose of the fantasies I’ve listed in the previous paragraph and make life a bit more challenging. I have no idea what I would do then. Lets just hope for the best.