We have a great report after Clay's appointment today. They took the patch and tape off his eye and he was able to open it. The first thing he noticed is that he could read his watch without his glasses. His watch has big digital numbers, but he could not read them before the surgery unless he had his glasses on.
Overall his sight now without glasses is about what it was before surgery with glasses. It's different, though. He describes it as looking through a fish eye. He has to get used to having more depth perception than before. But he is actually walking around without his glasses and not running into things! I imagine that after the eye heals they may fit him with new glasses which would make things even better. He's busy looking at everything to see what he can do with his new and improved eye. Things are looking really good. He has at least achieved the 50 percent chance of improved eyesight. Yay!
For further updates see Comments on this entry.
So you want to have three?
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"Three is the new two" responded a friend of mine when soliciting feedback
on the idea of adding another child to our flourishing brood. Later on, I
came t...
10 years ago
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There are ups and downs to the healing process. Last night there was some sort of film forming over Clay's eye which significantly limited the eyesight. Also some of the eyedrops he has to use are very painful because of the recent surgery. Hopefully that will be better in a few days.
On the up side, this morning his vision is nice and sharp again. He keeps exclaiming over how bright all the colors look. He describes the process of focusing as being a lot like an old-style video camera. He can look at something intently for a couple seconds and then it will come into focus for him.
He sees a lot of what he calls "refractions". Hopefully those will clear up or become less noticeable with the healing process.
All in all, things are looking good.
Clay had another follow-up appointment with the surgeon on Monday morning. They took out one external stitch while he was there. There are some sutures in the eye that won't come out for several months. Overall things are looking pretty good. The doctor said he is pleased with Clay's progress - and I think so is Clay.
There are times when it has been frustrating though, because it's not a steady improvement. Sometimes he has quite good eyesight in the mornings and then he gets a film over the eye and he has very little sight at all. The doctor explained that's the natural healing process. It is getting a little better each day.
The eye gets pretty tired sometimes and he has to be careful not to overdo. The post-surgery instructions say it doesn't hurt for him to use the eye as much as he wants, but it does get tired and he finds he needs to rest it by not looking at the computer or TV or focusing on anything for a while.
Focus is a new skill Clay is learning with his new cornea. If he looks at something for a few seconds sometimes he can focus in and see it more sharply. It's an effort though, and if he tries again a few minutes later maybe he can't do it. That's what I mean about frustration. But overall I think things are a little better each day.
Remember how Clay described that looking through his new cornea is sort of a "fish eye" effect? He figured out what that was. Peripheral vision! He hasn't had peripheral vision in many years so he did not recognize it at first. Then one day he was walking down the long hallway of our apartment building and noticed he could see the apartment doors on the right side. Cool!
Clay is of course afraid of possible rejection of the new cornea. As he puts it, he doesn't want to reject it because "this is a good one!" So I asked the doctor what he would experience if that happens. The doc said he would have decreased vision. But he also said that's not even possible until at least a month after the surgery. Clay is taking anti-rejection eyedrops 4 times a day. He has a fancy sports watch with 4 different alarms on it set up to remind him, and he is very good at taking the drops. He will be taking them for at least a year. I think the risk of rejection is pretty slim for him.
Clay goes back to the doctor in 3 weeks.
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