Posts Tagged ‘surgery’

• The new normal

  Date: 2008.10.27 | Category: Life as we know it | Response: 1

  Last Thursday I went under the laser and got my vision corrected. Most people that get corrective surgery get LASIK and notice immediate results. Due to the thickness of my cornea and the military’s restrictions on LASIK I got PRK, a surgery that requires much longer recovery times. At the moment, I am sitting 3 feet away from my monitor and I can see what I am typing – unaided. My vision is still quite blurry but I have been told that it will improve with each day. My vision will probably stabilize in a month. This is the new normal and its kinda weird.

  The surgery was bizarre – they numb you and mess with your eyes for fifteen minutes and then its all over. You don’t feel anything and you really don’t feel any pain until 6 hours after the surgery is complete. The pain, as best as I can describe, feels something like getting 20 eyelashes in your eye at the same time. They give you good dope and numbing drops to deal with the pain and after a while its not that bad.

  I’m extremely sensitive to light and my eyes do get tired quickly. I did get the “bandage” contacts removed earlier today so that should help with the fatigue of my eyes. Things will only get better over the next few days.

  The recovery process sidelined me last weekend and prevented me from going to a dog race in eastern Washington. There won’t be another race until January but at least I’ll be able to see that one with my own eyes.

• Two weeks until I go under the knife

  Date: 2008.10.09 | Category: Life as we know it | Response: 1

  I finally got a chance to head to the naval hospital in Bremerton for a pre-op consult. I’d been up for almost twenty hours by the time they started some of my tests so it took a few times to get the results right. If I had been working on dayshift, I wouldn’t have experienced any of these problems. The doc recommended that I have PRK on my eyes instead of LASIK.

  The first four days of recovery will be the worst as I will be wearing a contact lens bandage while the cornea of my eye heals. Some people experience minor complications with the surgery but they are rare at best. I’m just hoping that I’ll be able to snowboard and drive without glasses. If I have to carry a pair of glasses around to read I won’t complain – its got to be better than fogging up every time I walk into a building from November to March.

  I’ve got to run around some paperwork for command approval but they’ve already approved the initial part and I don’t know why they wouldn’t approve the second. I’ll only be out for four days initially and then should be able to drive and get around as normal.

• The Obligatory Christmas Letter

  Date: 2007.12.18 | Category: I was too lazy to organize these | Response: 0

  “Whatever does not destroy me makes me stronger.” — Friedrich Nietzche

  
      This past year has been a roller coaster ride of events for our family. None of us could have foreseen what was in store for us this year.

      and Becky didn’t get the chance to race the dogs much at all last year. About a week before they had planned to leave for the Wyoming race, Jessica had to be taken in for emergency surgery. She was originally scheduled to have her gall bladder taken out in February. Her body didn’t seem to want to wait that long, so after many trips to the E.R., they decided to just get it out of her a.s.a.p. It took her a few months to get back to normal but she is doing much better now.

      Then, in March of this year, Joe hit the big one. That’s right, 50. We had the black balloons, black beads, and black cake to celebrate. We took him out mid-night bowling and he had a great time. Although he had received his present about 9 months before his actual birthday, he was still in good spirits. In case you didn’t hear about his big present, Becky bought him a 2007 Firefighter Special Edition Roadking Harley Davidson. I think it’s the best present he has ever received. He loves it and they take it out every chance they get.

      In April, Joe took a trip to the Doctor for a sore throat that would not go away. This led to many tests and the eventual prognosis of tonsillar cancer. He had the tonsil removed and was given 8 weeks of Radiation and Chemotherapy. It was hard on his body and he lost quite a bit of weight. It was a chore to try and eat. Unfortunately, the only thing he could eat with out too much pain was chicken noodle soup. The ordeal was hard on us all. This is the strongest man we know, the one who runs into burning buildings to save lives, so it was quite hard for us to see him in pain. A few months after the treatments he went back to the Dr. for another PET/CAT scan where he found the cancer had gone into remission. He is now on an amazing road to recovery – unfortunately for us, as he has begun to recover we have seen his appetite return in full effect – we can barely afford to feed him.

      September was a stressful yet exciting month for us all as well. On September 22, 2007 Leanne and Jeff were married. It was the event of the year. The wedding was beautiful and so was bridezilla, I mean the bride. We were all so happy to be part of that magical day. After the wedding they fled to Maui for 10 days. They loved it so much and had such an amazing time; they didn’t want to come home!   

  All in all the year has been a test for us. It tested our strength as humans and as a family; however, it seemed to be a bit of a blessing in disguise. We had so many people who offered to help us in anyway they could. Thank you everyone for your support through the tough and joyous moments of this past year.

  Happy Holidays everyone, and a wonderful New Year to you all.