October 31, 2016
Charmaine from the U of C called today. She wanted to go over all of the instructions for Den’s Cataract surgery tomorrow. She went over the usual…..
- Nothing to eat or drink after midnight
- Hold all meds until after the procedure (he could take them immediately following in post-op)
- Come as early as possible…we are the first scheduled, so if we got there early we would most likely get in and out fast!
Once she was done, she transferred me to Brittany for pre-registration. All that was needed was to go over and double check that nothing had changed…medications, insurance, address. Nothing had changed, of course, so it was a very quick conversation.
I told Den that everything was set for tomorrow. He was so excited. Dr. Reidy and the entire staff at U of C had never let us down and Den was actually looking forward to tomorrow!
November 1, 2016
After we dropped Em off for her Biology class, we headed for U of C. It is always strange to get there before the sun comes up. We arrived and had Den checked in before 730AM. Den was very antsy. He was anxious to get this done and get his binocular sight back. Den had had such a good result with his left eye, that he was looking forward to seeing again with his right eye. They called Den back to pre-op just after 8AM. I got to go and sit with him once he got changed into a gown and they checked all of his vitals. By 9AM, all of the paperwork was done and the lab work that was needed had been done. (Since Den is on blood thinners, before any proceedure they have to check his INR to make sure it is in range.) Den’s INR wsa 2.0…so everything was green lighted! Just before 930AM, they came to take Den for his procedure. I went out to the waiting area and settled in. Roberta had taken Den for the last cataract surgery, so I didn’t know how long the wait would be. I was suprised when it was all over and I was called to go sit with Den in the recovery area. Den only had to stay for one hour to make sure he had no adverse reactions to the sedative that he was given. I was given all of the eye drops (three again) and the instructions for his home care. I was told that Den’s follow up appointment tomorrow was at 1145AM at the eye clinic.
So off we went, home again before Em was even out of school for the day! Later that night, Den told me that he had no irritation, unlike the last time. We had a nice quiet evening.
November 2, 2016
Today is Den’s follow up with Dr. Reidy at the Eye Clinic. We arrived early as usual and today we were not disappointed! We got in and out before our scheduled time! Dr. Reidy checked Den’s eye and said that everything went very well yesterday. This time there was no need for a stitch, so it should heal faster and have a lot less irritation. Den’s vision was greatly improved and Dr. Reidy said that he would check it officially at the next visit. Den was not allowed to drive for 5 days, but after that his vision should be clear enough for Den to resume all activities.
Den's LVAD 