18 days post surgery

Well, I didn't see (no pun intended) this coming. I knew there was something wrong with my left eye when I requested a referral to an ophthalmologist, and despite all my "googling" in advance of my appointment, I never thought the problem would be a retinal detachment. No, that would be too awful, I thought. Turns out, that was precisely the problem.

My first appointment with the ophthalmologist was on the morning of November 17, 2010, and by 5:30am on November 18, I was checking into the Kaiser Hospital in Roseville for surgery. If I had started this blog sooner, I probably would have gone into detail on the shock and fear and denial and anger and onslaught of sometimes conflicting emotions I felt on the day of my diagnosis, but here I am 18 days post surgery.

The shock is past. The fear has mostly subsided, and when it bubbles to the surface, its appearance is fleeting now. Denial is mostly impossible now because my left eye is too impaired to see anything normally. Anger comes and goes and is usually coupled with the frustration that comes from my new limitations. Suffice it to say, for now, that my retinal detachment, surgery, and recovery have been riddled with emotion.

Part of my purpose for starting this blog is, frankly, self help: basically sorting through these emotions, hopefully without further burdening my amazing support team. More than that, I hope this blog will reach others who are facing similar challenges. I hope by reaching out in this way, I will meet others and find hope in their stories - or should I say "your" stories.

Thank you for visiting my blog.