Stars In My Eye

 The one on the left in the photo is the cornea replacement. Can you see the stars in my eye????

Here’s the story.  He opened my eyelid stitches and left them open!!!  I can see!  Like I need glasses and no clear focus but we are in the first inning!  

Then he said I’m not going to lie to you. (Chills) when he receives the donor cornea it comes in a vial filled with fluids. After transplantation they send some of the fluid to a lab for culture. 

Mine grew some bacteria. However he sees none of the bacterial growth in my eye. That would generally happen in the first week. 

 Anyway I have a list of preventative drops and meds in case.

And you can actually see the stars in my eye!  

 #quiltswissy #quiltsanddogs

 Finished with my eyes appointment. He opened the stitches holding my eyelids together and looked at the surface. He is very pleased because the membrane has integrated with the Eye beautifully. He took out the stitches running around the outside of my eye which are the knots I had been feeling in the corner of my eye. He is over the moon happy with my progress. I have another appointment next Wednesday and he said he may take the stitches out and open my eyes by then. I am about a week to two weeks ahead of the normal patient he sees. #quiltswissy #quiltsanddogs

Surgery Plus One Week

 Had my Dr Heigle appt at the crack of dawn this morning At 7:20 AM. He was very pleased with the condition of my eye.  I still have a pretty nice black  eye!  He said the swelling is less than he usually sees at this point and that what he can see through the gaps in the lid looks like it is beginning to clear. This happens when the Amniotic Membrane begins to dissolve and integrate into the eye as a base material for epithelial cells to fill in the wound area.  I wear an eyepatch when I go out in public because I imagine it is pretty shocking to see an eye sewn shut.  So if I have to wear an eyepatch it might as well be blinged out, right? 

I am pretty surprised that as much as I’ve talked about this procedure, most people still didn’t realise my eye would actually be sewn shut.  I guess it is sort of inconceivable..  I know it was for me!  

Amniotic Membrane or placental tissue is collected from the placental area of the birth materials in humans.  It is only taken from caesarean births, to prevent further external contamination, and is the part that faces the baby  AM is rich in Stem Cells which is why it is superior  for limiting scarring and promoting anti inflammatory response.  

It is all so interesting!!

Corneal Transplant

 It was a chaotic week, getting baby time in with new grandson Briggs, physicals with various doctors and meals at my favorite restaurants.  

On Wednesday Nov 11, 2020 I rode up the elevator to the sugprgery all by myself.  Frank was not allowed.  It was scary, very scary to be so alone.

During the surgery Dr. Heigle kept asking for lefties, righties and tires.  My sedated mind imagined he was building Hot Wheel Monster Trucks. 

Now my eye is sewn shut for the next month. And I look like I’ve been in a bar fight!  The sensations are interesting, like when my other eye reacts to light I can feel the shut one react as well.  

I took a shower today and washed my hair and I feel Marvelous!!!

Seeing Eye Basset

 

I got woken up this morning at 7 AM by a voice saying 

“This is your call!”

Got the cornea transplant surgery scheduled for next Wednesday 

Nov 11, 2020

Now it gets real!!

My surgery packet is all filled out, physical is scheduled for Monday.

I spent the day with Carrie and the Baby.  Got to feed and change a poopy diaper and got spit up on.  

The true Grandma Experience! 

Baby Boy Arrives In Record Time!

 (The photo with the phone in it is a comparison between Sawyer and the new baby.)

Carrie arrived at the hospital around 12:30 am. Got admitted,

moved to a room and prepped.  They came in to do an epidural and I got there about 1:30 am. Nurse came in and said let’s do a practice plush...... noooooo!  Don’t push, call the doctor.

After 3 pushes baby boy is born at 3:45 am. 

8 lbs 4 oz and 21 inches long

And I was having breakfast with Frank at Waffle House at 5:30 am.

Over and done and out.  

New Project and A New Mask

 I have a new project putting together a Tshirt quilt for a friend’s daughter.  I should have my head examined. 

Look at that sexy new look!  This is the mask I bought at the Walter Anderson Museum in Ocean Springs, MS  I miss that place!  Too bad I couldn’t live there all the time. 

Oh well, baby should be here on Tuesday, and I wouldn’t want to miss that, right?