My Eye, Oh My

 The surprise need to come home from Guyana three weeks early was due to the diagnosis of a “full thick macular hole” in my right eye requiring vitrectomy (surgery to remove some or all of the vitreous humor), a membrane peel (removal of clouded vitreous gel and scar tissue off the light sensitive lining of the retina) and the injection of some kind of gas into my eye to stabilize the repair until it is fully healed.  Unfortunately, this treatment could not be done in Guyana. 

Many people have asked whether the time I spend on the computer contributed to my eye problem.  The cause of macular holes is anyone’s guess – although it generally occurs among those over the age of 40 or anyone who has sustained a head or eye injury.  In my case, it could be either!  I am well over 40 but a couple of months ago in Guyana I did a “face plant” in the middle of the street outside of Giftland, my favorite shopping spot in downtown Georgetown.  Then just a few weeks ago I slipped again on a slimy Guyanese fruit while hanging clothes in the back yard, coming down hard on my right knee.  The doctor says the hole was “substantially bigger" than he first thought and “probably occurred much earlier” than I thought, but he assures me there is no connection between a macular hole (which can be repaired) and macular degeneration (which cannot and usually results in blindness).  The surgery was painless but the recovery required looking down at my feet for a week which was quite literally, “a pain in the neck.”  Oh, and I am grounded from any kind of heavy lifting or travel outside of Washington County until the end of August – due to the possibility of blindness caused by “a change in atmospheric pressure.”

Thanks for all your prayers on my behalf.  They really helped.