Saturday, August 02, 2008

Update

L's first cataract surgery went off without a hitch! During his post-op appointment, the surgeon said that his vision had improved MORE than she had hoped.

L actually cried with joy when his "new" eye stopped fluctuating long enough for him to see clearly. When he covers his left eye, L can actually see the branches on the trees in our back yard... without glasses! For the past 50 yrs, all he has been able to see without his glasses were colored swirls. Anything further than 5 ft away is crystal clear with his new eye! His close-up vision will be corrected when he is able to get his new glasses. Unfortunately, that won't happen for another 6 weeks.

Wednesday afternoon we experimented with every combination possible that would help L see enough to function until his 2nd surgery. The first thing we tried was taking the right lens out of his glasses. This resulted in double vision. Then I covered the right side of his glasses with black electrical tape. This eliminated the double vision, but he got woozy from the lack of depth perception. The taped-up glasses enable L to read, but only for a couple of minutes at a time as his left eye quickly blurs from the strain that's been put on it.

L returned to work on Thursday, armed with his taped-up glasses hung around his neck for close-up work. He never realized how much close-up work he does with all the prep work involved with cooking, and reading the waitresses tickets. Working with the grill and fryer was a whole other problem. L said he would do just fine, IF he had 5 ft long grill tools. He wound up cooking burgers and steaks purely by feel. Thursday was a slow day so L managed to finish his shift.

Friday was another story...
The restaurant was busy and L's left eye quickly blurred from the strain. This meant that the only things he could see, had to be farther than 5 ft away from him. L had to return home, in defeat, within 2 hrs of starting his shift.

L's 2nd surgery is scheduled for August 26th, which is the next time his surgeon will be here. The surgeon told L that if he couldn't function, she would do his left eye on August 14th, if we could travel to her location. Soooo....it looks like we'll be making the 2 hr trip to the surgeon on August 14-15.

We have been telling our Boss, since May, that both L's optometrist AND his surgeon didn't think he'd be able to function between his surgeries. Did she listen? Nope. She gave her son this coming week off, to travel to Missouri on vacation! Her son is the only other person who is trained to cook the afternoon/evening shift. Will she cancel her son's vacation? Probably not. She'll probably decide to work the double shift herself. This will make her a total bitch to work with during my morning shift with her. Will the fun never end?

The hard part will be keeping L from going stir-crazy for the next 12 days. He can't see well enough to do yard work, housework, read, or run the computer. The only thing he CAN do is watch movies, IF he sits about 6 ft from the TV so he can read the subtitles. (He can't hear well enough to hear the TV.)

The ONLY other thing L can do is have conversations with Z and I. This could be a good thing....but not THIS weekend! Our contractor will be starting our roof and porch construction on Monday. This means that Z and I have to empty out our porches before Monday AND get the lawn mowed before the lawn is occupied by scaffolding and construction equipment.

We'll make it, with our sanity intact, if we ALL keep looking at the big picture. 2 weeks from now L's vision should be good enough for him to function(with the aid of dollar store reading glasses), and we'll have a new roof and porches on our house. Surviving the next 2 weeks will be the KILLER!

22 Comments:

At 8/02/2008 11:30 AM, Blogger Wandering Coyote said...

Glad to hear that the 1st surgery was so successful! 50% done! It sucks hugely, however, that this is making him unable to work until mid-month. As usual, your boss sounds completely incompetent and clueless, and I guess from what you've written about her before, I shouldn't be surprised. It's very unfortunate though. I do hope L can find something to keep him occupied until his next surgery.

It is amazing how much close-up work is done with food prep. And if you make even a small mistake with a knife, you could have a serious injury to deal with.

 
At 8/02/2008 5:25 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

WC:
You are right...at the moment I'm using my taped up glass(es) to use the PC, and even that is fuzzy...I'm expecting to have to work Monday as there won't be any choice, but it's going to be extremely difficult to do..even I didnt realize, like you said, that i use my near vision so much to cook...plus i have to do it with no depth percwption close up. ill comment this if i can get through the word verification!

 
At 8/03/2008 8:35 AM, Blogger tshsmom said...

WC, Boss is a very hard worker, BUT she has NO managerial skills and horrid people skills. NOT a good combination for a business owner. :(

As you can see from L's response, he thinks Boss will want him to work. I can't imagine that she'd be THAT stupid, but time will tell...

 
At 8/03/2008 3:46 PM, Blogger Jeannie said...

Yes - good to hear the surgery went well. Your boss's stupidity is not your problem - well it is if she's a bitch but let it roll off - you have enough to deal with. I know the next while will be difficult for you - but hang in there. My hugs are there in spirit.

 
At 8/04/2008 12:00 AM, Blogger Grizzly Mama said...

You guys hang in there. Dang - life is tough sometimes. So damn tough. I'll be saying a prayer for you all and I would run to that doctor to get the other eye done as soon as possible.

What a blessing that the surgery worked so well on the first eye.

This too shall pass.

 
At 8/04/2008 2:34 AM, Blogger tweetey30 said...

Hey guys. I am sorry your boss is such a B.... I am hoping you can get this all done without any more hassle than neccessary. Its 2:32 and I cant sleep. I am up alone and wondering what to do with myself since I have switched sleeping schedules with my family.. Glad to hear the first surgery went well though.

 
At 8/04/2008 1:56 PM, Blogger NotClauswitz said...

I love getting new glasses, it's like Christmas. What a blessing to have working eyesight!

 
At 8/05/2008 12:30 AM, Blogger Andrea Frazer said...

Congrats on the surgery. I found you through Google. My 5.5 year old has Tourettes and I was researching the difference between DHA and Omega 3, 6 and 9. I think it means that Omega 3 IS DHA. So confusing. I'm getting educated little by little. Meanwhile, thanks for the nice post!

 
At 8/05/2008 2:35 PM, Blogger none said...

excellent news!

My grandmother regained 20/20 when she had hers done.

 
At 8/06/2008 4:37 PM, Blogger Squirl said...

Wow, I'm glad the first surgery went sow well. Here's to the next eye going just as well.

Hang in there you guys. The two weeks is interminable right now, but in the scheme of things it'll be just a moment out of your lives.

 
At 8/06/2008 6:18 PM, Blogger S.M. Elliott said...

I'd recommend buying 3-4 pairs of those dollar-store glasses, just in case Dad loses and/or breaks them as often as Richard does. ;D

 
At 8/06/2008 6:53 PM, Blogger Bridget Jones said...

Like WC, very glad to hear about the successful surgery, and that the other one is coming up soon. The boss sounds like an irresponsible moron. How about TV? Would that help L whittle away the time?

 
At 8/07/2008 7:48 PM, Blogger J C said...

It never ends, does it? Glad the surgery went well. Good luck on the next.

 
At 8/07/2008 9:17 PM, Blogger tshsmom said...

Thanks Jeannie! Boss has kept fairly cheerful. I think she realizes what a big mistake she made.

Grizz, we've been paying special attention to our blessings this past week. It's the only thing that keeps us from sniping at each other. ;)

Tweets, pretty soon your routine will seem normal to you. ;)

DC, L can't wait to double his blessings with TWO good eyes!

MP, WELCOME ABOARD! There's a LOT to research! Every TS kid reacts differently, so if at first you don't succeed...keep researching. Stay in touch and feel free to email me!

Hammer, L will never reach 20/20, but he's ecstatic with the improvement in his right eye!

Squirl, that's what I keep telling L...just look at the big picture. Boredom is our enemy right now.

SME, we may need to buy more than one pair over the 4 week waiting period. His eyes may fluctuate that much.

Bridg, L only likes a few TV shows, and you know how horrible daytime TV is! Fortunately we have several decent movie channels and lots of DVDs. The only problem is that his eyes get tired and blurry before the movie ends.

Thanks JC!
I'm glad you stopped by. I lost your link when Firefox updated and wiped out my bookmarks...again.

 
At 8/08/2008 11:43 AM, Blogger Cherie said...

Happy to hear that L is pleased with his new vision!

This in-between dilemma seems to be the norm - yukky, very inconvenient, and trying. But once his other eye is done it will be a distant memory and he'll be seeing better - way better.

You guys are so creative, finding solutions, coping.

Five foot cooking utensils - funny.

And you have a new roof/porch coming on. Fantastic. I hope you show pictures of it.

Tell L I'm pulling for him! This will be over before he knows it and his life will be transformed. Worth the struggle, right?

Good luck to you and Z with the porch cleaning and mowing. Look at it as good exercise and quality time with your son - ;) - I know, easy for me to say.

 
At 8/08/2008 5:27 PM, Blogger ZC said...

Needless to say, everything we've been doing lately is SO MUCH FUN. :P

 
At 8/09/2008 7:52 PM, Blogger S.M. Elliott said...

Well, I persuaded Richard to buy one of those "granny strings" so he can wear his glasses around his neck. He now loses them 50% less often.

 
At 8/10/2008 8:03 AM, Blogger tshsmom said...

Thanks Cherie!
Yeah, we've learned world class coping skills over the years. ;)

I MUST find time to take pictures today!

Z, GOOD NEWS; it's Pick Up the Contractor's Mess of Scraps Day! mwahahaha

SME, I bought Dad one of those strings too. It'll come in handy when he gets his dollar store glasses. ;)

 
At 8/10/2008 2:06 PM, Blogger The Zombieslayer said...

Glad to hear it went well. :)

That stuff scares me. Anything eye related.

I hope the 2nd one is successful as well. That's really cool with today's technology. Stuff like cataracts will be a thing of the past at this rate.

 
At 8/11/2008 12:21 AM, Blogger Gardenia said...

I understand somewhat your stress. I'm scheduled for surgery right after school starts and I take most of the care for the boy, and then they will be moving out and I can't help and my house is a mess, "H" will be working two jobs - aaaaarrrrrrgh

Anyway I'm so glad that the surgery turned out well, and I pray the second will also and that crazy boss will have some mercy for crying out loud!!!

 
At 8/12/2008 2:49 PM, Blogger JR said...

I'm so happy for you all on the success of the first surgery. I would have cried too. Sorry about the delay in the second surgery, that really sucks. I admire your stoicism to just suck it up and deal with it. Wish I lived closer and could help you out with something. Good luck!

 
At 8/13/2008 4:37 PM, Blogger tshsmom said...

ZS, me TOO! There's only 1/1000 chance of the surgery failing, but with OUR luck....

Gardenia, ARGHHHH is right! Your house will be completely trashed by the time you recover. I wish we lived closer so I could help out. You'll just have to keep muttering our mantra:"Look at the big picture. It will ALL be worth it in the end."

VV, we've had to suck up and deal with a lot worse things. At least this one will be an improvement in the end. ;)

 

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