August 19, 2002- Well, today was the day I was SUPPOSED to meet with Dr. Azar (the cornea surgeon). When we arrived at 9:30 in the morning we were informed that Dr. Azar had decided to go to Paris instead of visiting with me, I suppose I'd rather go to Paris myself, but, it was still quite an inconvenience. Luckily, they were able to get me in to see another cornea surgeon, his name is Dr. Pineda. His resident looked at my records and my eyes and said it was definately time for the surgery, Dr. Pineda agreed. We decided to do my left eye first considering it is the worst. Dr. Pineda had me sign the transplant confirmation forms and told me to call his secretary to set up an appointment for the transplant, it will be approx. 2-3 weeks because he's busy with other surgeries. I also have to make an appointment with my primary care physician to get a physical to make sure my health is good enough to go to surgery. So, that's pretty much it, need to set up the appointment and get the physical after that I'm set for transplant... I'll update when I have more information...
August 20, 2002- Just updating now that I have the dates for everything. My pre-op physical with my primary is this coming Monday (the 26th) and my cornea transplant will be done two weeks from today (Tuesday the 3rd) it's happening at 3pm,yet I have to get there at 2pm for pre-op stuff and to get my drugs, it is my surgeons 3rd cornea transplant of the day.
August 25, 2002- Started to think about my letter to the donor's family. I've been informed that it's usually better to write the letter pre-op to avoid any distractions with post-op anxieties. I find it so sad that in order for me to be able to see again, someone else has to lose their life. Just the thought of it makes me cry. I've begun to write and I believe I've been able to express a lot, but, is it really possible to express that much gratitude in a letter?
If anyone is looking for tips on writing a letter to a donor family, you can find a guide by clicking here
SEPTEMBER 3, 2001 - SURGERY DAY-I arrived at Mass Eye and Ear at 1:30 this afternoon feeling quite optimistic. It was only when I reached the counter and saw the doctors in their scrubs that I began to get butterflies in my stomach and felt kind of dizzy. After I checked in I sat down for a little over a half hour... which was good, because it gave me time to relax. A little after 2:00 p.m. the nurse brought me in to meet the anesthesiologist. He explained the differences between local and general anesthesia and asked which I preferred. I decided to go with general, considering I've never had surgery before, and I felt nervous about being awake during the procedure.
Then the nurse came to asked me general medical questions and brought me to put on my "drafty dress". I was tucked into bed with sheets and blankets and the nurse put constricting drops into my eye, which gave me a headache. She also put a clamp on my finger which was hooked up to a machine that monitored my pulse. Not too long after that, the anesthesiologist came and inserted my I.V. and gave me anti-nausea medicine. At approx. 4:00 p.m. I kissed my mom and step-dad goodbye and Dr. Pineda and the anesthesiologist wheeled me into the operating room
Once in the operating room the anesthesiologist put sticky patches to my chest and sides which he hooked up to the EKG machine to monitor my heart. After a few more moments he told me it was time to "pick my dream" and go to sleep. He gave me an injection through my I.V. and told me I might feel it going in. Within seconds I was completely out of it and I don't remember anything more till I woke up after the operation.
My first memory upon waking was the nurse reprimanding me and telling me to keep the oxygen mask on my face. After a few more seconds of becoming more alert, I took off the oxygen mask again. My throat was very sore (I later found out it was because they put a tube down my throat to assist with my breathing) and the oxygen was irritating it. Waking up more I began to assess myself. I had a severe headache, my stomach was queasy and the left side of my head was completely numb due to the novocain injection I received at the very end of the surgery. I was completely tangled in blankets, sheets and tubes. My I.V. hand was throbbing and wrapped up tight with gauze. I also noticed there was a scratch on my face which I believe was caused by my wrestling with the oxygen mask. My left eye was taped up with a hard, plastic shield; yet there was no pain.
Once the nurse realized I was awake, she came over and told me I had been a bad girl. She said that apparently I had a hard time coming out of the anesthesia because I was tossing and turning and fighting against it. That is why I was all twisted and wrapped up in my blankets and tubes and they had to wrap up my I.V. hand to prevent it from getting ripped out. She said that when they first brought me in she thought I was a child because that is how most children react coming out of anesthesia. I guess that makes sense considering I'm only 5'2", 100 lbs. The nurse untangled me from my blankets and tubes and and started wheeling me up to the 9th floor. During my ride I asked the nurse what time it was and she told me a little before 7:00 p.m. She said I got out of surgery at approx. 5:30 and it took me about an hour to come out of the anesthesia.
When I arrived at the 9th floor surgical recovery area I was met by my mom and my step-dad. The nurse on the 9th floor gave me Tylenol to help with my headache and removed my I.V. They also gave me ginger ale which soothed my throat and awful cardboard graham crackers which I choked down unhappily. Then I was moved from the bed to the chair to facilitate the recovery process. Then I was given a pill to help reduce the pressure in my eye. Soon after that I was able to get up, get dressed and leave the hospital.
On the way home we stopped to get my perscription filled for perkocetts and get extra strenth Tylenol. Upon arriving home I was still in no pain because the novocain had yet to wear off, but I was very hungry. I got something to eat and laid down on the couch to relax. Within an hour at approx 10:30 the novocain had begun to wear off and I started to get a headache and dull ache in my eye, so I decided to take a perkocett and go to sleep. At 2:30 a.m. I woke up with my eye feeling really watery and stuck together with some sort of gluey gunk. I was also becoming fully aware of the stitches and the dull ache had returned, so I took 2 Tylenol. Within an hour I was asleep again.
September 4, 2002-I awoke at approx. 8:00 a.m. with quite a bit of discomfort. I was fully aware of the stitches, there was quite a bit of draining, a dull ache, and I felt slightly nauseaus. I took 2 Tylenol, but it didn't feel like it helped at all.
At 8:45 my mom and I left for our hour and 15 minute long trip back to MEEI for Post Op appointment. The pain increased throughout the whole ride.
When we got to MEEI we met with Dr. Nguyen, Dr. Pineda's Resident. She informed me that she had been there during my operation and said that I did good. Which I thought was pretty dumb, considering I didn't do anything except lay there. But I was happy to hear that it went well. She removed my patch, put some numbing drops in my eye and used a q-tip to remove some of the "gunk". She then checked the pressure of my eye and said it was 15, which was really good. She looked at my eye with the machines and said everything was looking good. My vision was extremely cloudly, but not as distorted as it was pre-transplant. I was able to see the BIG "E" on the top of the chart, although it was very cloudy. Dr. Nguyen told me that I needed to keep the patch on for the next week and she told me to call if the pain got any worse than it had been up until that point. She gave me a perscription for Ciloxin which is an antibiotic and Predfort which is a steriod. She told me I had to take the Predfort every 2 hours during the day and once late at night and the Ciloxin every 6 hours. We made an appointment to meet with Dr. Pineda on Thursday the 12th and headed home.
During the ride home the numbing drops wore off and my eye became extremely painful again. I couldn't wait till I got home... I had to take a perkocett in the car. The perkocett helped in getting rid of the headache but didn't do anything for my awareness of the stitches. For the rest of the day I laid low, taking my drops as prescribed. The aching and watering continued, but after a conversation with Pineda I was assured this was all normal and the pain would start subsiding in a couple of days.
September 7, 2002-Sorry I haven't written in a few days. There hasn't been a lot new to update. Over the last few days the pain has subsided quite a bit along with the draining. It seems to be that the most pain is in the late evenings and early mornings. But even that seems to be getting better. I'm updating today because I've posted two pictures of me and my eye on a new page on the site. The page is Shasta's Pics. Hopefully I'll be able to update and add more later on.
September 9, 2002- Well, things are getting much better now. The pain has decreased significantly and I no longer have to take the perkocetts. My eye is no longer draining as much, in fact, it tends to be a bit dry so I got some Refresh Liquigel. That seems to help quite a bit. The only problem that I've run into was last night... something that felt like an eyelash was caught in my eye for most of the night. It was quite irritating and painful. Upon awakening this morning the object was gone, yet there was quite a bit of irritation under my lower lid. I contacted Dr. Nguyen and she said that there was probably a small scratch on my cornea surrounded with mucus and she said it should be fine.
Otherwise, everything is going good, I've been able to spend quite a bit of time on the computer (although it tends to dry out my eye) and I spend more time awake then I did in the first days after surgery. Even the vision in my transplant eye is starting to seem less cloudy. I have an appointment in 3 days (the 12th) with Dr. Pineda. I'll update again after I see him.
September 12, 2002- Had my one week post-op today and guess what... I wasn't just being a baby about the discomfort of the stitches. I actually had a loose stitch that needed to be removed. The stitch removal was interesting. The doctor said I wouldn't feel it... he lied. I felt a tiny pin-like prick twice, once when he cut the stitch and once when he pulled it out. Good thing it only lasted a fraction of a second. After the stitch was removed, I felt 100 times better. I no longer had the annoying scratchiness against my lower lid. Other than the loose stitch, Dr. Nguyen said the eye looked "beautiful" and Dr. Pineda said it looked "great". The vision tested at 20/200 on it's own and 20/30 with the pinholes. Dr. Nyugen explained that means that my cornea is clear and at this point, my eye has the potential of seeing 20/30 with correction. Can you believe that?? 20/30!! Although, it can change quite a bit over the next weeks, months and years and could be better or worse depending on the suture removal. But, it looks very promising. Dr. Pineda said I was lucky in two ways, I am young and I had a young donor. He also said that it has pretty much healed up completely. I am to remain taking the Pred Forte every two hours and the Ciloxin 4 times a day and I no longer have to wear my patch during the day. Only at night when I'm sleeping. I am not scheduled to visit with Dr. Pineda again for 3 weeks (Oct. 7).
I also got information today about the donor. She was a 14 year old girl. I was given the address of the tissue bank so I can send a letter to her faimily. One thing I found surprising was that Dr. Pineda didn't know how to go about getting my letter to the donor family. Out of the thousands of transplants he's done, no one has ever asked about writing a letter to the donor family... ungrateful Bostonians.... Perhaps they didn't realize they could write a letter, becuase I don't understand how anyone wouldn't want to express their gratitude to people that, during an extremely traumatic moment, decided to do donate to halp another life. It really is such a gift. I am going to send my letter out tomorrow.
Anyway, I don't think there is going to be that much to update. I think a weekly update will be fine from now on, unless something important happens. I added some new pictures to the Shasta's Pics. page. Check them out and I'll update next week.
Sept. 17, 2002-(TWO WEEKS POST-OP) Had an emergency visit with Dr. Pineda today. My eye had felt exremely scratchy the past few days and I was afraid I had another loose suture. When I got to see him, Dr. Nguyen came in first with a few other medical students. She looked at my eye and said there was a stitch that was a little loose, but it wasn't that bad. She let the two other students look at my eye and she said that my graph at 2 weeks has reached the point that most people are at after 6 weeks. Therefore, my recovery is going very quickly. She checked my vision and it was the same for distance. When Dr. Pineda came in, he decided to check my vision for close-up. I was able to read the 23 line at 6 inches (whatever that means) and he said that was exremely good. He looked at my eye and said there was a suture that was a little loose but he didn't feel it needed to be removed. He said that my own cells will be all grown in over the graph within the next week and I will no longer be able to feel the sutures. He also decided to cut back on my steroid drops because they can cause dryness and irritaion. Now I only have to take the steroid 4 times a day instead of every two hours. That makes me a very happy girl.
Anyway, I'm still scheduled to go back on the 7th and everything else seems to be going well. I'll update again in about a week.
Sept. 24, 2002-(THREE WEEKS POST-OP) Everything seems to be going very well. I'm using my eye all the time now. Considering the vision is better in my transplant eye than my non-transplant eye, it has now become the dominant eye. I watch TV and spend alot of time on the computer and my eye is doing just fine. I still wear sunglasses most of time as the light still seems a bit bright and the sunglasses seem to help the vision a bit as well. My vision has even been well enough that I've been comfortable to go out and spend some time with friends. It's been really nice. The only problem I've been having is, the last few days, the sutures are continuing to be irritating. Some times of the day are better than others. Also, I get a bit of an ache in my eye sometimea and it feels tight. I'm assuming that's only natural. I talked to Dr. Pineda and he said that I should start using Genteal Gel at night to keep my eye moisturized. He also gave me the name and phone number of an opthomologist in my town so that if I have any concerns I can go visit her instead of driving all the way to Boston. Anyway, that's about it for this week.
Oct. 3, 2002-(1 MONTH POST-OP) Well, it's been exactly one month since my surgery. Everything is going very well. The sight seems to be about the same, the only complaints I have is my eyes tend to be dry but that is completely normal. I have an appointment with Dr. Pineda on Monday (the 7th) and i'm looking forward to seeing what the next step is going to be. I'll update after I visit with him.
Oct. 7, 2002- I saw Dr. Pineda today and there's some great news. My vision is now 20/50, WITHOUT CORRECTION! That's from 20/200 only 2 weeks ago. Dr. Pineda and Dr. Nguyen said that the vision is absolutely "amazing". I'm so happy! I asked Dr. Pineda when we could start thinking about the other eye and he said he won't until 3 months post-op, which would be about December or after the first of the year depending on how well this eye is doing. He said he would also start fitting with a lens around that time, but with the way it's going now, I most likely will only need minimal correction. Dr. Pineda removed two more sutures that were loose which increased my comfort level dramatically. He cut down my drops to 3 times a day and said that on Thursday I can stop the Ciloxin (antibiotic) completely. That means I only have to take the steriod every 8 hours as opposed to every 6. I'm very happy about that as well. Anyway, Dr. Pineda scheduled me to come back again in a month (Nov 4). I don't think I'll be able to update every week anymore as there doesn't seem to be much to update anymore. I'll start updating every month after my appointment unless there is something important to write. Bye Bye for now...
Nov. 4, 2002-(2 MONTHS POST-OP) I had my 2 month appointment with Dr. Pineda today. We checked my eyes, did a topography map and also checked for refraction. My vision isn't as good as it was last time. It's not a huge difference, but it's still kind of disappointing. Dr. Pineda said it's nothing to be concerned about. He said the vision will continue to change and he says the vision I have is actually amazing for being such a short time after surgery. We checked the refraction and my vision can be corrected to 20/40 with a lens at this point. Dr. Pineda said that I have a moderate astigmatism from the surgery, and he wants me to come back in 2 weeks so he can rotate my running stitch which should level out my cornea and improve the astigmatism. Doing this should also improve my vision a significant amount.
Today I was also able to schedule surgery for my right eye. It will be done December 17, 2002. Looks like Christmas isn't going to be very cheery... oh well, at least it's getting done.
Well, I think that's about it for now. My stitch rotation is scheduled for the 18th of November. I'll update with information on how that went.
November 26, 2002. Sorry I haven't updated in a while, I've actually been pretty busy, believe it or not. The stitch rotation on the 18th went alright I guess. Dr. Pineda put quite a bit of numbing drops in my eye, so I didn't feel much. However, about half way through, the running stitch broke and Dr. Pineda has to re-knot it and re-bury it. That was quite a pain and made the procedure go on much longer than expected.
The procedure took about an hour and when I left, I felt fine. However, as soon as the numbing drops wore off, I was in a lot of pain. I think it may has been worse than right after the surgery. I went go and went to bed.
By the next day, the eye felt a lot better. Still a bit irritated, however, I think that that is caused more by the drops than anything else.
I had to increase my dose of the steriod to 4 times a day and also take the antibiotic drop 4 times a day for a week after the surgery. It tended to make my eye feel quite dry most of the time. As soon as I stopped with the antibiotic, my eye felt fine. Go figure...
Anyway, my vision still seems the same, no difference. I have another appointment with Dr. Pineda on Dec. 2, one last appointment for this eye before we start with the other. Here we go again...
Dec. 2, 2002-(THREE MONTHS POST-OP)- Had my appointment with Dr. Pineda today. They did a topographical map again, and the "Fellow" of Dr. Pineda said it looked much more normal, still an astigmatism, but much easier to work with. They checked for my prescription and said they could correct it to 20/30 now, which is one line higher than last time. Dr. Pineda also said that there are 2 sutures that are positioned just right that if he removes them, there could be a good change in vision. I hope so!
My second surgery is scheduled 2 weeks from tomorrow. When I go back for my 1 day post-op appointment, that's when he'll remove the two sutures for this eye. All in all, I think it's going good. Soon I'll get fitted for a lens in this eye and my other eye will have a new cornea. Oh, how wonderful it will be to see...
SECOND TRANSPLANT JOURNAL ON TRANSPLANT JOURNAL TWO
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