February 2010

The Back Door

The saga of the eye got more interesting.

I went back to the doctor the week after the YAG capsulotomy only to be diagnosed with another tear in the retina, and scheduled another surgery for a couple of days later. He started that surgery, but then called it off when he recognized that there was too much scar tissue in the retina. At that point he referred me to a specialist in "difficult reattachments" at the Edward Harkness Eye Institute at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York.

We drove down to NYC on a Sunday afternoon for a Monday morning appointment with Dr. Schiff - in the middle of a snowstorm, of course. The exam was very thorough, and while Dr. Schiff was careful to not promise too much, he did schedule surgery for that Wednesday. We returned to Saratoga Springs that afternoon, and then used Amtrak to go back to New York on Wednesday morning. The surgery was very long - nearly 5 hours - and when we went in for the followup the next morning, Dr. Schiff was much more upbeat about the prospects. He arranged with Dr. Mayron to do the regular post-surgical followup in Latham. And so far, the repair seems to be holding. I don't have full, regular vision, but I can detect some improvement in the eye. Eventually, I will need to have the oil tampanade removed, and also have a new interocular implant put in.

While the recovery has been positive, the overall experience is still not a lot of fun. The basic issue is that I am not allowed to do much of anything (for example, I can't lift my camera bag), and I don't know when or if that will change.

I do have a few things to look forward to - POE (my last) will be in Elizabeth, NJ in late April. I will be going to Tallahassee for I&CPS in May, and to Houston for the IAS Annual Meeting in October. Linda and I have a week set aside at Brewster Green in early April.

Linda made a decision and bought a new car. She chose a Subaru Forrester - sage green. Nice car!

The picture this time was from our day trip to New York last May. We came across this scene while wandering around in SoHo.