holding pattern

So, I went in to UCSF today to try and figure out why my vision in my left has been declining so rapidly since the first day after my surgery.

• The day after surgery my eye pressure was 15 (14 is normal, with an allowance of 2, give-or-take), and my vision was 20/80.

• Today my eye pressure is 20, and my vision is 20/400 (uncorrected, 20/200 is considered legally blind).

The good news is that the surgical resident was able to adjust my sight to 20/30 with his ophthalmic equipment. The bad news is that he cannot give me a script to see with for at least a month while my eye is continuing to heal/adjust, so right now I cannot see out of my left eye and have to wear an eye patch 24/7. Prior to surgery I only had to wear the eye patch when it was sunny out. :-(

The surgical resident was not able to address why my eye pressure is increased, nor why my vision went from 20/80-to-20/400 in just a few days. Nor was he able to address whether my eye will continue to decline. He was only able to tell me that they weren't sure why my vision was so bad to begin with; that even prior to surgery my eye had stumped several doctors.

I will return to see my surgeon, Stephen D. McLeod, MD, on Wednesday, September 16.

The tech who measured my eyes told me that I should have gone into the hospital when my eye was red, swollen, and in pain last week, especially since I was seeing floaters. She mentioned that they might have been able to take me back into surgery to figure out what was wrong. Granted, she is a tech, not an ophthalmologist.

A million thanks to Bradd Haley for taking me to the hospital today, and spending the afternoon with me. Thanks for the tenderness.

I'm going to go to sleep early tonight. I'm tired. And tomorrow is another day.

Onward & upward... (let's hope).