The Eye Operation ...

 

Not as graphic as the last medical post...but this is "Himself"...yes.... "the time did come the walrus(no it was the doctor in this case)said"...Himself" lost  the sight in his eye when he was twelve after a school yard accident that saw another boy throw a hand full of blue metal just as "himself" came around the corner of the building ...it hit him in the eye and detached his retina...in those days the doctors tried to sew it back on....he lay on his back unable to move for about 5 months in Hobart's Royal..but today they would have used a laser and his sight would have been fully restored....the outcome was he was blind in that left eye... while he was working in New Guinea in the early 60's he contracted a fungus in his blood which resulted in him having to have his eye taken out, he has worn a prosthetic eye  ever since(some say a glass eye but it is not glass in this day and age ..it is actually made from the same material they make false teeth from...) one would think his eye a bit lazy if you don't actually know it is artificial...

1...In January this year he contracted a small ulcer in the socket behind his prosthetic eye so a trip to see a specialist here saw him excise the ulcer and stitch up the small hole...it didn't heal...2...back for the second op to re-stitch it...the same thing happened...the 3rd operation saw the surgeon take a small piece of tissue from the inside of his lip between his teeth and and lip and graft that into the socket to repair the hole which was now the size of a pea...no luck this time either...back for the 4th time to restitch ...and the 5th operation was even more radical..the upper under side of his eyelid was cut and pulled down to cover the hole and his eyelid stitched shut...

 

yes you guessed it ...it didn't take...all this time 6 months worth of operations, anesthetics and antibiotics,then waiting for it to heal ...no luck...so when it was suggested the surgeon go in for the 6th time..."Himself" said i would like to see someone in Melbourne...

YEAH!!!!! we had the best Opthamological Plastic surgeon in Melbourne..

 

Last week we made the trip over on the Thursday ...into hospital on the Friday for the operation...

THE OPERATION...

The surgeon has harvested eye socket tissue and cartilage from a deceased donar person which had been specially prepared for transplanting into the socket of "Himself" and in an operation that took 1 hour and 40 mins the deed was done.....

the outcome...

According to the surgeon who we saw in his rooms today...

Very Happy with the results...i would like to see you in three months but i would also like you to make appointment with your local specialist and see him regularly until then...more eye ointments and antibiotics ...and see you in three months...

 

 

the cannula and drip in after the op... only 2 bags of Saline...but the Oxygen stayed on because the SATS were low...

All ready for theatre..except for his red theatre hat which the nurse went to get...

After theatre...all propped up in a nice private room with his nurse Ingrid to check his OBS every half hour...

I had been at the hospital with him since 9am and it was 3.30 pm when i took this last pic...

i went home to my comfortable accommodation....

 

We stayed with Pete and Yvette in Cranbourne..not far from the hospital....i loved being in their oh so comfortable caravan..a queen size bed to myself...a hot water bottle and fan heater (which i really didn't need)..two doonas ..i felt like the princess and the pea...i LOVED it when the rain started to spatter on the canvas section of the pop out sleeping area...i woke up to the singing of the birds each morning ...but Saturday the Islander minister who lived next door held a church  service in his converted garage right next to where the caravan is parked ..they started at 6.45 am...those Islanders sure can sing so i just lay there listening (mind you i dont know what language it was ..maybe Tongan???)....who would go to a boring hotel when i stayed in such luxury and was spoiled rotten....
Thanks Pete and Yvette Josh and Zade...love you guys....Thank you for being my taxi and looking after us so well...
We are so blessed .....