Tuesday, October 5, 2010

on account of the eye. . .


Last Thursday, HF had surgery to fix a lattice degeneration in his left eye. He should've had the surgery done two years ago, but knowing us, we tend to take a while to get medical procedures done. For example, about two years ago, I was told by my dentist that I needed a gum graft because the gums above my incisors are starting to recede. I'll get around to it. I've also yet to follow up on my broken ankle from 2 years ago. I may or may not ever follow through on that. HF still has a chipped tooth. But he doesn't mind that one so much because he thinks he looks tough. On an encounter, one might think, "Ooo, I better not mess with this guy. He looks like he's been in a fight or two."

Anyway, HF has been to the eye doctor a handful of times leading up to the surgery. The worry was that not doing the surgery would cause a detached retina, which would eventually cause blindness. So during surgery the doctor discovered that HF did indeed have a detached retina. He thinks that it was caused by the blows to the head that HF receives ocassionally through being a RAD instructor. That wouldn't surprise me as he's taken a few bludgeons to the head. Probably a combination of both that and waiting the two years to get it taken care of. However it happened, it is a blessing that he was able to get the problem fixed.

Problem is, he's having a hard time recovering. He was supposed to be up and at it and 100% by 24-48 hours after the surgery, but he's still suffering pretty bad. He has double vision, headaches, nausea, a blood shot eye, etc. They think this is caused by the abnormal amount of anesthesia used during surgery. HF's brother and his wife, decided that this would be a good time to visit and not understand why we weren't up to hanging out. But I digress.

Day one: I kept waking up because he was moaning and groaning in bed. I had the foresight that he would probably vomit, so I placed a garbage bin on the floor next to his bed. He vomited violently and then passed out again. I stayed up cleaning up and tucking him back in. I had to try not to vomit myself upon hearing him and smelling the vomit, but we will probably not eat Philly Cheesesteaks for a looooooong time. Too bad because those were some good cheesesteaks! I realize this is TMI (too much information).

Day two: I convinced HF to come rest on the couch downstairs while the rest of us went about our business. Beau, the almost 2 year old, lovingly brought over a plastic toy hamburger patty to share with HF and then right before placing it in his hand, he changed his mind and chucked it at his face faster than a speeding bullet. You can guess where it hit HF. In the eye. The eye recovering from surgery. I removed the child and the patty and went in the kitchen and shook in silent laughter in the pantry. Later that day, I went upstairs to check on HF in bed and decided that I would gently and sweetly smooth his brow. I found out that the eyebrow area above his eye was also very painful to the touch. His recuperation at home quickly was becoming the little house of horrors.

HF recently completed a two-week vacation that went by in a flash, so this is nice having him around a little bit more even though he is in bed the whole time.  And I do love sleeping next to him at night. And just so you know, he only completed two things from the honey-do list during his two weeks off. . .

7 comments:

Handcuffed Heart said...

Oh Sweet Fuzz Family! Could it be any more crazy? Well yes, I'm sure it could be. Thanks for the update! How about an eye picture!?!? lol.

Sister Copinherhair said...

Hey, what's a good story without a little TMI? ;)

Hope he is feeling better soon.

Unknown said...

Sorry to hear he is having a rough go of it! Hope all is well soon! It is so not fun to be in pain and not be able to do much about it!
Hugs to you all!

Lt said...

Think I'll be passing on the Philly Cheesestakes now too.

Best wishes on his recovery.

Slamdunk said...

Get well soon HF. And taking a beating from the kids is part of the healing process.

SGoodrich said...

Sorry to hear about the slow recovery. Hope he is much improved! Your nice to take such good care of him.

firefighter / paramedic said...

wow I thought we had the market cornered on the chaos. 2 kids and wife is having hip surgery. heres some wishes for a quick recovery and smoother sailing