10/1 Sleeping post-surgery

Sleeping is a big production number for me this first week after vitrectomy.  My eye needs a shield and my head needs to be elevated.  

Who knew positioning an eye shield would be an art form? It needs to be just right so as not to hit any part of my sensitive eye, but still cover it enough so there is no threat of me scratching it while I sleep.  And boy, does it itch!  That means it is healing, so I can't complain....  On my first night, my eye was so swollen I wore the hospital-issue sunglasses to bed instead of the eye shield.  I realized that it did not allow me to sleep on my side, not a good problem to have.  I am glad I could put the eye shield on now: good, restful sleep is priceless.

I also have an arm band that I need to keep on, that warns folks that I have gas in my eye and should not fly.  Nice fashion statement in the neon green, safety first!

I have a cool wedge pillow that has gotten a lot of use this week.  It does a nice job keeping my head elevated without putting a lot of pressure on my back-end.  Regardless, I still look forward to not using it anymore after Wednesday night.

The swelling and redness on my left eye has gone down quite a bit.  There is a bloodshot area under the pupil that is visible when I look up (as I did in my picture in the red sweater), but when i look straight ahead or down, it is not as noticeable.  What I see out of the eye is still distorted, "underwater"-ish, relatively clearer on the bottom and sides but more distorted in the center and in the upper range of my vision.  The miniscus on the upper part of what I see is slowly getting bigger, although the vision above the miniscus is very blurred.  As I was told to expect, my central vision is the most distorted, and I may need to get used to looking at the world sideways from my left eye.  As long as I can still see the world any which way, I can't complain. 

I am easing myself back to work this week, checking my emails and preparing to work from home full days by end of the week.  I am also hoping to drive back to work by October 15 - good target to work up to, I think.  In the meantime, I am taking it easy, as my eyes got tired reading 150 emails.  Wasn't even a full day's work!  Easy does it, gotta take it easy... 

On my way to recovery, it is day 5 after my vitrectomy operation and I am doing fine.  Life is good on the slow lane...