===============================2007===============================

8/18/2007

Not much to report.  Enjoying the warm weather.  Eyesight from my right eye is a complete blur and doesn't look like it will get any better.  Had a pretty bad seizure a few months ago, but am recovering with an increased dosage for my drugs; the new dosage causes a lot of tiredness.  Have a funny story to tell.  At the bottom of my five-inch scar from my December surgery for the transfer of skin from my abdomen left me with a small sore.  It was mainly annoying, because it became irritable from my clothing so I just put a bandage to reduce the irritation.  This went on for the last six months.  Finally I mentioned it to my surgeon during a routine visit and he indicated that it might be a stitch still left in there, so he referred me to the original surgeon who performed the skin transfer.  He indicated that it was a small leftover stitch that wasn't removed.  What he took out was three inches long - at least it wasn't a pair of scissors!  Feels much better now.

4/16/2007

I had a procedure performed 1/25/2007, but it was not a tarsorrhaphy as stated below;  it was a canthoplasty.  I did have a tarsorrhaphy performed on April 9, because the tearing process was not happening in the normal amount of time.   My eye surgeon, at the NY Eye & Ear, stitches the corners of the eye so that the cornea is protected and to help speed up the tearing process by reducing the opening.  Should have an update in a couple of weeks.

1/24/2007

It's been a while, but a lot has happened since my December surgery.  I'm healing slowly.  This recent surgery to close the skin near my right eye has prevented the right eyelid to close/blink i.e. it remains open all the time -- quite discomforting.  Tomorrow I will have a procedure, tarsorrhaphy, and a gold weight inserted in my upper eyelid to help close the eye.  Without this procedure, the eye cannot tear causing eventual blindness in that eye; the absence of tearing has already caused a decreased corneal reflex, one effect is that I have a neutrophic corneal ulcer and exposure keratopathy (corneal disease) - thank goodness for Google.

I wish I had some good news to report, but Pat has a recurrence of breast cancer, which is attacking other parts of her body.  She is undergoing chemo and radiation treatment, and is having a very difficult time with the side effects.